Boxing News

Former WBO Jr. Welterweight champion DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley, 31-4-1 (17), is in training for another world title challenge on September 15, 2006. DeMarcus was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to grant SaddoBoxing this exclusive interview. He talks about why he is now working with former opponent, Floyd Mayweather Jr’s trainer and uncle, Roger Mayweather, how he has learned from past experiences in the ring, the damage he inflicted on Miguel Cotto when the two fought a couple of years ago, his future plans and much more…

SaddoBoxing: Who are you fighting next?

DeMarcus Corley: "I will be fighting Junior Witter for the WBC Light Welterweight Championship on September 15, 2006 in England." More...

SaddoBoxing recently caught up with Dimitriy “Star of David” Salita, 25-0-1 (14). During the interview, Salita talks about how he got into boxing, how he rates his last performance, what he would do given the choice between observing the Sabbath or participating in a world title fight, why he feels the junior welterweight division lacks a star, and much more…

SaddoBoxing: Dimitriy, how did you get into boxing?

Dimitriy Salita: "I started out in karate and kickboxing. My brother introduced me to boxing and I just fell in love with it."

SB: Since coming to the US, how difficult has it been to adjust to the American style of fighting as opposed to the European style of fighting?

DS: "Actually there is no adjustment. I started boxing in the USA. I am a New York City product." More...

Viper Gets Decision Over Bazooka! Ouma A Bad Dream For Iron Horse!

Saturday night at the theater in New York's Madison Square Garden, former welterweight world champions, Ike “Bazooka” Quartey and Vernon “The Viper” Forrest, faced off in a ten round junior middleweight crossroads bout, each attempting to recapture past glory. In round one of the DiBella Entertainment card, televised by HBO Sports, both fighters started the contest aggressively, but it was Quartey stalking the taller Forrest, using his jab to land the more cleaner and effective punches. In the second round, both fighters engaged in more toe to toe action than boxing. Both contestants scored well, but it was Quartey who got the better of the exchanges.

In the third, Forrest used his jab and picked his shots well to hold off Quartey and win the round. In frames four through six, Quartey stalked Forrest and was the busier and more accurate puncher. Forrest won round seven by connecting with right hands and appeared to stun Quartey.

In the ninth, Forrest was deducted one point for a low blow to Quartey and in the tenth and final round, Quartey outworked a retreating Forrest. Official scores were 95-94 twice and 96-93, all in favor of Forrest. More...

Broadway Boxing, courtesy of Dibella Entertainment, was back at the Manhattan Center in New York last Thursday night. In the main event Dmitriy “Star of David” Salita took on late substitute Shad Howard in a scheduled 12 round welterweight bout. In round one, Salita got off to a quick start by establishing his jab to set up punches. It was clear that Salita was the quicker of the two as he outboxed Howard easily. In round two, Howard attempted to get in on the inside to try and close the gap, having some success and connected with a beautiful right hand. Much of the same action follows in round three.

By the fourth, the two fighters engaged in toe to toe action with Salita getting the better of the exchanges. In round five, Howard was able to penetrate Salita's defense and connect with numerous right hands, appearing to make it a competitive bout. Howard was very effective when working on the inside and enticing Salita to brawl. Unfortunately, the fight was stopped before the sixth round began at the advice of the referee due to Howard sustaining and ear injury in round five. Salita improves to 25-01 (15). According to Salita's publicist Ron Goldman, "The Star of David" is looking to fight a top ten welterweight contender for his next bout. More...

Before the “Golden Boy”, Oscar De la Hoya , 38-4 (30) returned to boxing after a 16 month lay off on May 6, 2006, he said he was only interested in “big fights” and he would only fight twice. He defeated the tough Ricardo Mayorga in 6 rounds showing the boxing world he is still an elite fighter. After considering a list of potential opponents such as Winky Wright, Ricky Hatton, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. for his farewell fight, he settled on IBF Welterweight Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., 36-0 (24).

All signs strongly pointed to a PPV super fight next September. Reports had Mayweather earning somewhere in the neighborhood of $10-12 million dollars fighting Del a Hoya plus a percentage of the pay per view revenue. So Floyd paid Bob Arum, his promoter, a reported $750,000 buyout fee to terminate their contract and turned down a reported $8 million dollar offer, from Arum, to face feared WBO Welterweight King Antonio Margarito, 33-4 (38), in pursuit of the “Golden Boy.” On June 21, 2006, “The Golden Boy” announced he was not ready to retire from boxing, but would not fight for the remainder of 2006. According to my sources, this announcement came as a major disappointment and shock to Mayweather. More...

Click for larger image © Jay McGuigan / Saddo Boxing

On the eve of New York's massive Puerto Rican Day Parade, Puerto Rican sensation Miguel Cotto was back in Madison Square Garden on a Top Rank and DiBella shared promotion. A crowd of 14,369 showed up to see Cotto defend his WBO Junior Welterweight Championship against Brooklyn’s Paulie Malignaggi. It was no secret Cotto struggled to make weight. Malignaggi had taunted Cotto at the final press conference with a drink of water, knowing Cotto had to severely dehydrate himself. More...

There was no shortage of impressive action this past Saturday on the undercard of Miguel Cotto's WBO Light Welter title defense against Paulie Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden. With boxing icon Angelo Dundee in his corner, Notre Dame football star Tommy Zbikowski, 1-0 (1), made an impressive pro debut, going up against Robert Bell, 2-3 (2) at heavyweight. Zbikowski needed only 49 seconds to end the fight, swarming Bell with punches and scoring two quick knockdowns. The fight was waved off after the second knockdown, a very impressive debut for the 21 year old college football star with a solid amateur background. More...

Santana And Starks Both Victorious In Latest Broadway Boxing Show

Promoter Lou DiBella was back in The Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York on Friday night to display another group of his promising fighters. Edgar Santana improved his record to 18-2 (12) with a hard fought decision win over the game Tomas Barrientes, 27-10-1 (17), in ten round junior welterweight bout. It was clear from the first round that Santana was the quicker and more elusive of the two fighters. He used this advantage by establishing his jab to set up punches and score at will from round one through three. More...

Samuel "The Nigerian Nightmare" Peter needed only 2:31 of the first round to dispose of seven foot tall Julius Long at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut last night on a Duva promotion televised by ESPN 2 Friday Night Fights. In his second bout after a disappointing close decision loss to the newly crowned IBF Heavyweight Champion, Wladimir Klitschko, Peter was determined to show all in attendance why he is called the hardest puncher in boxing.

At first, Long used his height and reach advantage, attempting to establish a stiff jab to set up Peter for the right hand. Peter was able to slip Long's jab with ducking and head movement, using his own jab to find his taller target. Peter also used looping right hands to connect when unable slip Long's jab and soon scored a knockdown. Peter also showed better footwork and movement in stalking his opponent to finally close the gap and almost knock Long out of the ring to end the fight in an impressive manner.

Peter hit Long so hard the seven footer appeared to be momentarily unconscious on the canvas as emergency technicians rushed to his aide. Long would eventually leave the ring unassisted. More...

DiBella Entertainment put together another solid Broadway boxing show at the Manhattan Center on Thursday night, much to the delight of those in attendance. In a sold out arena, Silence Mabuza fought Ricardo Vargas in a 12 round official IBF Bantamweight title eliminator. Mabuza was trying to rebound from a controversial fourth round TKO loss to IBF Champion Rafael Marquez, while Vargas had already unsuccessfully challenged for world titles on three occasions.

In the first round, Mabuza started out aggressively, working behind his jab while Vargas was content to stay defensive and feel his opponent out. By the second round, they engaged in toe to toe action, each fighter having a good exchange of punches. More of the same would follow through rounds three through eleven, with Mabuza scoring a flash knockdown of Vargas in the ninth. Vargas would hit Mabuza with what appeared to be an accidental low blow in the tenth round but it appeared to have no affect on the South African for the remainder of the fight. The twelfth and final round was by far the most exciting with the two fighters giving their all in toe to toe action, brawling in the center of the ring.

Judges at ringside scored the fight 120-107 and 117-110 twice, all in favor of Mabuza. SaddoBoxing scored the fight 117-110 for Mabuza, who improves to 19-1 (15) and can look towards a rematch with Marquez. More...

This past Tuesday, Lou DiBella, of DiBella Entertainment, was at Gallagher's Steak House in New York to announce another fantastic card of the monthly Broadway Boxing series to showcase the boxing superstars of tomorrow. The show will be held tonight in the Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center

The main event will feature Silence Mabuza, 18-1 (15), who will look to end his silence and make a big statement against three time world title challenger Ricardo Vargas, 39-11-3 (13) of Tijuana, Mexico in a twelve round bantamweight bout. This fight, an IBF Bantamweight eliminator, is to determine who will get a shot at that organization's champion, Rafael Marquez.

In his last bout, Mabuza claims he lost a controversial fourth round TKO to Marquez from a cut due to a clash of heads, not a punch. Therefore, Mabuza contends, the fight should have gone to the scorecards. Team Mabuza had petitioned for an immediate rematch but met with little success.

Despite that disappointment, Mabuza is focused for tonight's card and is also ready for another opportunity at Marquez. He told SaddoBoxing, "My main concern is to defeat Vargas. By defeating Vargas I will get another opportunity at Marquez. I showed him too much respect the last time. I will not make the same mistake the next time". More...

Don't Bet Against Judah!

When Zab Judah, 34-3 (25), lost his WBC Welterweight Championship to Carlos Baldomir back on January 8 of this year, many boxing fans thought that the prescheduled super fight between Judah and Floyd Mayweather, 35-0 (24), would not happen or at least would be postponed to a later date. Mayweather had the option of facing Baldomir, but that

fight never materialized, reportedly due to Baldomir's high purse demands. In a move that would not be considered unprecedented, HBO, Bob Arum, and Don King chose to proceed with the proposed Judah vs. Mayweather fight, and it will take place this Saturday night. Thus far, this has been a very smart decision as most of the seats at the Thomas and Mack arena in Las Vegas have been sold. There has been an overwhelming demand for media credentials from domestic as well as international media. The interest in this showdown is similar to that shown for such legendary pairings as Hagler vs. Hearns and Leonard vs. Hearns I. There is a definite "buzz" in the boxing world surrounding this fight and the promotion is hoping to beat or match the record sale of one million pay per view buys held by the non-heavyweight fight between Oscar De la Hoya and Felix Trinidad back in 1999. More...

This Saturday James "Lights Out" Toney, 69-4-2 (43), challenges Hasim "Rock" Rahman, 41-5-1 (33) for the WBC Heavyweight Championship of the world at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Given the current state of the heavyweight division since the departure of Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, Toney - Rahman is the most exciting bout in the division and a true crossroads fight for both combatants. HBO will televise.

Rahman, in his second stint as a world champion, has all the ability and physical talent in the world to remain the WBC titlist. His status as an interim champion was recently lifted when former WBC title holder Vitali Klitschko retired and passed up a reported eight million dollar payday to pursue a career in politics, rather than defending against Rahman last November. Who knows which Rahman will show up on Saturday? Will it be the Rahman who knocked out Lennox Lewis and defeated the capable Monte Barrett, or the fighter who lost to a faded Evander Holyfield and John Ruiz?

Toney, a former middleweight and super middleweight champion in the 1990’s, always expressed a desire to fight and win the heavyweight title. After a self imposed exile from the sport of boxing during 1997-1999, Toney returned with a new promotional team, Goosen-Tutor, and not only beat the tough Vassiliy Jirov for the IBF Cruiserweight championship in 2004, but also defeated John Ruiz for the WBA Heavyweight belt on April 30 of last year. More...

Tonight, Juan Manuel Marquez 44-2-1 (33), a major player in the featherweight division, will lace up his gloves to fight for a world title. No, he is not fighting Pacquio, Barrera, or Morales as boxing fans would like to see; but rather lesser known WBA Featherweight Champion, Chris John, 36-0-1 (20), in Indonesia. Is this the same Marquez who was knocked down three times in the first round during a fight with Manny Pacquiao on May 8, 2004, who got off the canvas each time to courageously fight to a disputed draw? Yes, it is the same Marquez. As an eyewitness, I knew then why Mexican boxers have gained the reputation for being great fighters with unbelievable heart. Why isn't Marquez facing the aforementioned fighters? Pacquiao is set to fight a rubber match with Morales in the near future. Barrera was set to meet IBF Lightweight Champion Jesus Chavez until he pulled out of the fight due to an injury.

Marquez was the unified WBA Super and IBF Featherweight Champion but lost both those titles outside the ring. Unable to secure the big money fights with his peers, he opted to make a mandatory defense against Fhaprakorb Rakkiatgym of Thailand. According to Darryl People, IBF ratings chairman, Marquez and Rakkiatgym could not reach an agreement on a purse split. As a result a surprising three purse bids were called, with no bidders. Because of not making his mandatory defense of his IBF featherweight championship, Marquez was subsequently stripped of the title. More...

This Saturday sees Miguel Cotto return to the ring to defend his WBO Junior Welterweight crown against challenger Gianluca Branco on a Top Rank promotion televised by HBO. This marks the fifth occasion that the WBO titlist has put his belt at risk but by the time Cotto had won his fifteenth fight as a professional, many Puerto Rican boxing fans

had already crowned him their heir apparent to Felix "Tito" Trinidad, at that point still a world champion. Thus far, Cotto, 25-0 (21), has not disappointed his fellow countrymen. The left hooking body puncher has won all of his fights and survived near losses to DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley and Ricardo Torres. Along the way, Cotto became a world champion by adding the WBO Junior Welterweight title to his resume.

2006 marks Cotto's fifth year anniversary as a professional fighter and he stands at the threshold of participating in career defining contests. Trinidad defeated De La Hoya and Vargas in his two big fights and in order to succeed "Tito" and build a boxing legacy of his own, Cotto must now face and defeat the top fighters in and around his weight class. Qualified opponents that could potentially test Cotto in such a manner would be Ricky Hatton, Jose Luis Castillo and Floyd Mayweather. Its no secret that for years now, Cotto has had problems making the 140lb division and if those super fights do happen, it will likely be at welterweight, where the pride of Puerto Rico plans to campaign in 2007. More...

On Saturday, Shane Mosley, 41-4 (34), will battle Fernando Vargas, 26-2 (22), at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada in a WBA Junior Middleweight title elimination bout on HBO pay per view. Many boxing insiders are picking Mosley to easily outbox Vargas, and win a unanimous decision victory. Why? These so called boxing insiders believe Vargas is a “shot fighter”,

because of suffering brutal defeats to Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Vargas has also suffered back injuries and battled weight in order to remain in the 154lb division. On paper, Mosley also defeated one of Vargas' conquerors, De La Hoya, and previously won three world championships in three weight divisions (lightweight, welterweight, junior middleweight). But apart from Oscar De La Hoya, whom has Mosley beaten? This young man, Mosley, won his first world title, the IBF Lightweight Championship on February 8, 1997, by defeating Philip Holiday. Failing to secure significant unification bouts with other champions from other sanctioning bodies, he abdicated his title and moved up two weight classes to the 147lb division after making eight successful lightweight title defenses within two years. More...

Those of us who are true followers of boxing understand the difference between a skilled fighter and an unskilled one. Boxing technique is not merely throwing punches as hard as possible, but rather punch combinations, stances, head movement, defense, stamina, etc., all coordinated by intelligence. If a fighter has great punching power and technique to boot, there is a great advantage over his opponent. The first fighter that comes to mind is Mike Tyson, 50-6 (44), who had exceptional punching power and technique. He is arguably the most exciting former heavyweight champion ever. Inside the boxing ring he displayed speed, power, stamina, intelligence, and uncanny boxing skills. He also brought back excitement to the heavyweight division, which Larry Holmes, Tim Witherspoon, and Pinklon Thomas failed to do, after Muhammad Ali retired. He used his abilities under the guidance of mentor Cus D'Amato and trainer Kevin Rooney, to become the youngest heavyweight champion ever at the age of twenty one on November 22, 1986. At the beginning of his career, he was one of the most disciplined fighters in the ring boxing fans would ever see. More...