After fighting each other in a controversial contest at the Staples Center in Los Angeles this past September, Samuel Peter and James Toney are set to do it again, this time at the American Airlines Arena in Miami on January 6, 2007.
This is a difficult fight to predict because I thought Toney won the first bout. I can't go by anything other than what I saw the first time around; Toney standing in the middle of the ring, taking the fight to Peter, hitting and not getting hit. I'm hoping that Toney is even more motivated and he comes into the rematch in even better condition.
He doesn't have the power to KO Peter, so it would behoove him to chip away at that body. If Peter loses steam, maybe then Toney can do something significant to the head. More...
No doubt Calvin Brock needs to put the pieces back together. He lost to Wladimir Klitschko but he has finally made it to the mountaintop. What's next for him? What fighters make sense for him to face now? It’s important for Brock to rebuild his confidence before stepping into top level competition, but he could easily be marginalized when there are so many other fighters waiting to get a chance at the champ. All four title holders are taller than Brock by at least 2 ½ inches so here’s the five-point path Calvin should travel to make it back to the top.
James Toney, 69-5-3 (43): Do not fight him. I repeat, do not. James is that precarious fighter who, if you lose to him, you lose and if you beat him, you still lose. He’s old, he’s fat and he’s short. But he has the ability to make every fighter, win or lose, look bad with his superior hand speed, elusive defense and hard chin. Getting a victory over him would pretty much leave Brock in the same place he already is in.
Davaryll Williamson, 23-4 (19): At 6’3, this awkward and lanky heavyweight will always be a danger as long as he has that right hand. But that’s the only weapon Williamson has and a fighter with his wits about him such as Brock will know how to negate it. Currently, Williamson is ranked 6th by the WBA, 7th by the IBF and 31st by the WBC. I'll say that Brock should fight him first. More...
I thought the first four rounds of the Klitschko-Brock match a couple of weeks ago would be interesting but the rest of the fight a bore. I thought there would be a "silent contract" and both would cruise on to Klitschko gaining another spit shine on his record. But Brock showed an elusiveness I hadn't expected, at least for rounds one through four and then the sixth, proving my pre-fight assumptions wrong.
But I think Brock may have exposed a weakness in Klitschko's revamped Emmanuel Steward designed style. A decent defense with some head movement was problematic for the Klitschko jab-right hand combination.
I think to beat Klitschko, a fighter needs to be about a foot-and-a-half away to keep him from getting full extension on his jab, use lateral movement while rotating against that heat seeker of a right hand, negating Klitschko's best weapons. Of course, this is easier said than done.
But Brainiac Brock seemed to handle the tall order of keeping Klitschko grounded for half the fight; were he around for the other half, perhaps he could have out-thought Wladimir. More...
Diego Corrales? Finished. Jose Luis Castillo? Gone. Floyd Mayweather Jr? A distant memory, in the lightweight division at least. Depending on how you're looking at it, the lightweight division is either in a molting phase, shucking off its most popular current names, or it’s making way for the next batch of names that we should know.
1.) Juan Diaz, 31-0 (15): Diaz has quietly become the best in the lightweight division. At a tender 23 years old, he’s been the champ since summer of 2004 and carries a maturity inside the ring beyond his years. If he can maintain 135 for the next seven years or so, he could remain dominant in the division. But outside interests, mainly a future career in law, could prematurely end the pugilist’s reign even though they haven't been able to erode his focus in the ring.
There is nothing he doesn't do well. His defense was already good, but in his winning effort against Fernando Angulo early this month, he’s shown he’s getting even better. The only thing he needs to add for a complete package is power, which the baby bull will get, once shed of his baby fat, if premature retirement or a heavier frame don't get to him first. More...
I remember Shannon Briggs' first loss. He was hammering Darroll Wilson for two rounds and it looked like he was on his way to an impressive KO win, but "The Cannon" ran out of gas and Wilson cleaned his clock. George Foreman was one of the commentators and said that losing would be the best thing to happen to Briggs as Shannon would come back as an even better fighter.
That wouldn't turn out to be true for several more years. Even though Briggs eventually got back on track and won a controversial decision against George Foreman in the ring, the New Yorker wasn't ready to be amongst the heavyweight elite.
Before his fight against Lennox Lewis in 1998, I heard Briggs say in an interview how he beat the man who beat the man, who beat the man (translation: Briggs had beaten Foreman, who had beaten Michael Moorer, who had beaten Evander Holyfield) as if that circular logic meant something. More...
Boxing heavyweight and Detroit native Leo Nolan has been having a difficult time as of late. He’s got a couple belts, an unblemished record and a phone that hasn't rung since August. SaddoBoxing got in contact with Nolan in Florida after a midday workout to find out what his plans are.
SaddoBoxing: Good afternoon, Leo; let me start by asking East side? West side?
Leo Nolan: (laughs) "East side."
SB: You're currently 26-0 with 10 knockouts; who’s up next?
LN: "I have no idea, I'm just staying in shape until the next fight. I'm getting married on the 28th." More...
SaddoBoxing had the opportunity to visit the training camp of up-and-coming featherweight Jennifer “The Bolivian” Salinas before she faces Jessica “Goodnight” Mohs this Saturday night, October 21 on a card put on by local promoter Donofrio Boxing at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hill, Michigan
I park my car at the corner of Fort and Council in Lincoln Park. Michigan and walk down to St. Henry’s Rectory. A black Land Cruiser zips past me with a quizzical-looking woman glancing in my direction before turning down a narrow alleyway. I don't know where to go and after gazing both ways down the street looking for Casa de Boxeo, I chance following the vehicle, walking between the rectory and a broad, squat, white building that could virtually be anything from its lack of signage. The overhanging trees ahead droop, further obscuring the place but the farther I walk, the more I realize I've found the place.
The Land Cruiser is parked in front of the building and across the alley an older gentleman, whom I later learn is Rene Nuñez, is on a cell phone, sitting on a landing on the side of the rectory. Jennifer Salinas comes out in an all black, Bebe sweat suit on her 5’3” featherweight frame with double white stripes down the legs. Grace is apparent in every bare footstep; she dances across the gravel floor to retrieve something from the rear of her truck. More...
Peter Manfredo Jr. meets Joe Spina on Saturday, October 14 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island in a fight billed as “"Put Up or Shut Up’". Both men grew up in the small town within a mile of one another, but while Spina has been in relative obscurity, Manfredo
is known as "The Pride of Providence". Spina has made no bones about his dislike of his opponent and SaddoBoxing caught up with Manfredo at his training camp in California for a response.
SaddoBoxing: Peter Manfredo, it’s a pleasure to speak to you. How are you?
Since the announcement of the Peter-Toney rematch, I’ve spoken to a few people who feel the fight shouldn’t happen either because Toney should retire or because he’s on the verge of a critical injury or because of further rumor of corruption in boxing. I’m glad to see the rematch is going to happen despite the first fight not being a title bout. Granted, my previous article would seem like I was advocating Toney to retire, but I didn’t mean right now.
The first fight ended in a controversial decision. We want more. Is there anything wrong with that?
Maybe I need my head examined. I recall plenty rematches that weren’t title bouts.
Vargas-Mosley II had no belts on the line. But there was enough controversy behind the scenes to garner this rematch despite Shane clearly being the winner the first time.
Bowe-Holyfield III had no belts on the line. But their first two were so good can you tell me you didn't want to see it? More...
I've been thinking a lot about James Toney lately. I'm starting to linger in the camps of people who think he should retire. When do we start seeing the glass as half empty as opposed to half full when it comes to Toney? Without question he will be in the boxing hall of fame someday; if he doesn't that would be the true robbery. But as good as Toney still is, can he still shake things up?
I'm beginning to think not.
With Toney fighting his weight as hard as he fights his opponents he is already limited. A fully conditioned Toney would not be a heavyweight; he would be a cruiser at best and those days are far behind. There have been plenty of heavies who have been out of stellar condition, who have still been competitive, but they usually have had something Toney hasn't. Power. Toney hasn't knocked out an opponent since the elderly Evander Holyfield three years ago. For Toney to move up in weight and no longer have the comparatively chiseled frame he had in the lower weight classes, it's no wonder he hasn't come close to putting an opponent down for a ten count. More...
Thomas Hearns. Oscar de la Hoya. Lennox Lewis. Wladimir Klitschko. Jermain Taylor. Just the tip of the iceberg in a Who’s Who amongst the boxing elite, past and present. These are all fighters churned out by the world renown Kronk Gym. Under the tutelage of Emmanuel Steward there have been over thirty champions who have emerged from the Detroit-based facility, but despite all the accolades and positive attention brought to the area it’s on the verge of closing.
The city announced at the end of 2005 that Kronk would close its doors, but by the efforts of generous donors and Emmanuel Steward it has remained open. I had the opportunity to speak to the man who is a legend in the realm of pugilism about the future, both of the building and the athletes being groomed within its bowels.
Kronk was named after John F. Kronk, a former Detroit City Councilman, in honor of his Polish heritage considering it was in the heart of a Polish neighborhood. Steward first came to Kronk in 1969 with his half brother James where he would coach him to a win in the Detroit Golden Gloves competition. Steward accepted a part-time coaching position of the boxing program at Kronk and history was born. More...
