Bowe Knows Comebacks Former heavyweight champion Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe, fighting for the first time since 1996, successfully returned to the ring with a second round stoppage of journeyman Marcus Rhode in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Bowe, who improves to 41-1 with 33 KOs, dropped Rhode (29-26-1, 25 KOs) four times before the bout was halted at the 2:45 mark.
The comeback of the 37-year-old Bowe came after two brutal disqualification wins over Andrew Golota in 1996 and a 15-month jail sentence. And though his return sparked controversy in boxing circles, Bowe reportedly passed all medical exams prior to the fight.
In an undercard bout, another former heavyweight champ, Oliver McCall, also returned with a KO, stopping Vernon Woodward in the third round.
Mayorga Accused of Rape With just one month to go before his October 2 clash with Felix Trinidad in New York's Madison Square Garden, former welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga is in trouble with the law again after a warrant was issued for his arrest following rape allegations in Managua.
According to Agence France-Presse, a 22-year-old woman accused Mayorga of raping her in a local hotel on Wednesday morning. According to the woman, who was said by police to have suffered bruises on her chest and ribs, allegedly from punches, Mayorga had taken her out on the town and had drank whiskey before the alleged assault occurred. It was confirmed by hotel employees that the two had taken a room and were seen talking to each other as they left the hotel at dawn.
Dirrell fights his way into the Quarterfinals US middleweight Andre Dirrell fought his way into the quarterfinals at the 2004 Olympics today with a second round stoppage (27-7) over Algeria's Nabil Kassel. Dirrell will face Cuba's Yordanis Despaigne, whom he has split two previous bouts with, in the next round.
Team captain Ron Siler wasn't as fortunate in his bout, dropping a 45-22 decision to Tulashboy Doniyorov of Uzbekistan in their flyweight matchup.
In Friday's action, US lightweight Vicente Escobedo was eliminated via a 36-18 decision to Rovshan Huseynov of Azerbaijan.
I Love The 90's - Bowe's Back; Are McCall and Ibeabuchi on the Way? With boxing's glamour division in the doldrums, some of the 90's heavyweight heroes may be on their way back to try to recapture past glories. The one confirmed comeback is of former heavyweight champ Riddick Bowe, who at 37 will be returning to face 23-23-1 Jeff Lally on September 25 at the Fire Lake Casino in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Adding to the nostalgia revue could be another former heavyweight titlist, Oliver McCall, who was just released from prison and is already calling out James Toney, and feared contender Ike Ibeabuchi, who is up for parole.
Olympic Boxing Results 18-year-old Vanes Martirosyan finished strong against Cuba's Lorenzo Aragon Armenteros in Olympic action in Athens today, but couldn't overcome the veteran's early lead and was outpointed in their second round welterweight bout, 20-11. Martirosyan becomes the second US fighter to be eliminated from this year's games.
The team's top medal hope, light heavyweight Andre Ward, made his debut today after receiving a first round bye, and he outscored Italy's Clemente Russo, 17-9, to advance to the quarterfinals.
Light welterweight Rock Allen, who also received a first round bye, makes his debut later today against Bulgaria's Boris Georgiev.
US Goes 1-1 so far Today in Olympic Action; Estrada up this evening 17-year-old light flyweigth Rau'Shee Warren became the first United States boxer to lose in the 2004 Olympics, dropping a 22-9 decision to China's Shiming Zou in first round action today. Heavyweight Devin Vargas had better luck though, stopping Morocco's Rachid El Haddak in the third round due to the outscored rule (27-7).
In today's closing bout, US super heavyweight hopeful Jason Estrada made his Olympic debut with a 30-11 decision win over Tonga's Ma'afu Hawke.
Yesterday in Athens, team captain Ron Siler advanced to the round of 16 in the flyweight division with a 32-18 decision win over Australia's Bradley Hore.
US Keeps Rolling in First Round of Olympic Games In action on Sunday and Monday in Athens, welterweight Vanes Martirosyan and lightweight Vicente Escobedo lifted the United States record in this year's Olympic Games to 3-0 with lopsided wins.
Martirosyan outpointed Benamar Meskine of Algeria 45-20 on Sunday to move to the second round of competition. Today, Escobedo earned a trip to the round of 16 with a third round stoppage of Colombia's Jose David Mosquera. The bout was stopped automatically when Escobedo had outscored his foe by 20 points, 30-10).
In action for the US on Tuesday will be team captain Ron Siler, who battles Bradley Hore of Australia in a flyweight bout.
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Gomez Shotguns MacKillop; J.C. Gomez Shocked by Azcuy Welterweight contender Manuel Gomez easily dispatched one-time prospect Ian MacKillop at the start of the third round of their Telefutura-televised main event in Laredo, Texas last night. Gomez, who improved to 27-10-1 (20), blasted MacKillop with a perfectly timed counter left hook after the Los Angeles-based Canadian landed a right to the body. MacKillop, now 18-4 (10), was sent hard to the canvas where referee Ruben Carrion waved the one-sided contest off 25 seconds into the round.
In the co-featured bout, heavyweight contender Juan Carlos Gomez was caught cold by fellow Cuban Yamplier Azcuy in the first round of their 10-round bout. Azcuy, a little-known Las Vegas-based prospect, nailed Gomez with a lead right hand one minute into the opening round. Gomez, who dropped to 37-1 (31), staggered back into the ropes where Azcuy pounced on him, landing a series of overhand rights to the temple of the former WBC cruiserweight champ until the referee was forced to step in. Azcuy improved to 11-1 (7). - Fischer
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Saunders Takes First Pro Title Pittsburgh, PA -- Rayco 'War' Saunders captured the NABC cruiserweight title with a majority decision victory over James Walton at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh Saturday. Fighting in his hometown, Saunders controlled most of the first seven rounds with a relentless inside attack, but Walton completely took control late and clearly won the last three rounds. The judges scored the bout 97-94, 96-94, and 95-95.
Saunders improves to 12-3 and plans to continue to campaign at cruiserweight, despite unofficially weighing in fully clothed at 182 on Friday. Saunders joins O'Neil Bell, Taurus Sykes, and Michael Grant as fighters that have beaten Walton, who drops to 19-5. - D. Gerard
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Lopez Shuts Out Garcia Streaking middleweight contender David Lopez improved to 23-12 (14) with a shut-out unanimous decision win over veteran journeyman Kirino Garcia in the main event of an ESPN2-televised card from Tucson, Arizona last night. Lopez dropped Garcia in the fifth round and won all 12 rounds, according to the judges who scored the bout 120-106 in his favor, but more impressive is that the lanky southpaw fought the final seven rounds with one hand.
Lopez may have broke his left hand when he dropped Garcia, who was docked a point for a low blow in the third. But Lopez still dominated Garcia, now 35-25-2, with his right jab and superior legwork over the second half of the fight. With the win, Lopez extends his impressive win streak to 5-0 (4), which includes KO victories over previous undefeated Lonnie Bradley and Jerson Ravelo. - Fischer
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Rubio Stops Hill in Seven Mexican KO artist Marco Antonio Rubio won his U.S. debut last night with a seventh-round stoppage of Jeffrey Hill in the main event of an HBO Latino-televised card from Hidalgo, Texas. Rubio, who improved to 27-1-1 (24), had to overcome a shaky start as Hill, now 24-6 (19), stunned him in the first round with a lead right hand. However, the 154-pound contender repeatedly hurt and slowly broke down Hill over the next four rounds before dropping his opponent in the sixth and finishing the job in the seventh, when referee David Avalos waved it off because Hill was no longer protecting himself from Rubio's sharp and heavy punches.
In the co-featured bout, lightweight fringe contender Efren Hinojosa out-worked and out-boxed the very game Jose Luis Soto-Karass over 10 rounds to imporve to 28-2 (17). Soto-Karass dropped to 16-5 (15). - Fischer
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DKP Announces Monster PPV for November 13 John Ruiz will defend his WBA heavyweight title vs. Andrew Golota and Chris Byrd will defend his IBF belt vs. Jameel McCline in the co-featured bouts on a stacked pay-per-view card planned for November 13, according to a press release from Don King Productions, the promoter of the event that does not yet have a site.
A 115-pound title unification bout between WBO title-holder Mark Johnson and IBF titlist Luis Perez was also announced as part of the card and former heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman is scheduled to appear in a 10-round bout. An opponent for Rahman, who is on a four-fight win streak, has not been finalized but former champ Evander Holyfield and contenders James Toney, Fres Oquendo and Lance Whitaker are being considered, according to the DKP press release. There&Mac226;s also a possibility that Rahman or Toney could meet the winner of the Sept. 4th WBO title fight between Lamon Brewster and Kali Meehan on the Nov. 13 card, according to the press release.
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Maskaev Decisions Defiagbon; Minto Stops Maddalone Former heavyweight contender Oleg Maskaev improved to 29-5 (23) with a 10-round split-decision win over prospect David Defiagbon last night at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Maskaev dropped Defiagbon in the sixth round and staggered the Nigerian in the final round to take the fight on scores of 98-92, 96-93 and 94-95. Defiagbon fell to 21-1 (12) on the ESPN-televised bout.
In the co-featured heavyweight bout, undefeated prospect Brian Minto survived a first-round knockdown and a few rocky moments late in the 10 rounder to score a come-from-behind stoppage of Vinny Maddalone in the final round. Minto, who was behind on all three scorecards, improved to 18-0 (11). Maddalone fell to
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Aguiniga Barely Escapes Cruz; Reyes Repeats Win Over
Bernal Junior featherweight prospect Jose Aguiniga barely improved to 24-0 (12) in front of a hometown crowd at the Convention Center in Oxnard, California after narrowly out-pointing Cristobal Cruz by a split
decision in a 10-round featherweight bout televised by Telefutura.
Aguiniga, who landed the faster and more accurate punches over the first half of the bout, won by scores of 95-94 (twice) and 94-95. However, Cruz, who dropped to 25-8-1 (15), was the aggressor and was able to out-work a tiring Aguiniga over the second half of the bout. Telefutura's commentators scored the bout 97-92 for Cruz.
In the co-featured bout, lightweight prospect Rolando Reyes improved to 22-3-2 (13) with an eight-round unanimous decision over Omar Bernal. Reyes, who won by scores of 79-71 and 78-72 (twice), dropped Bernal twice in round two with short right hands. Bernal fell to 25-6-3 (19) with his second decision loss to Reyes. - Fischer
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Lacierva Stops Perez on TNF Young veteran Jorge Lacierva improved to 26-5-4 (18) with a sixth-round stoppage of Jesus Perez in the main event of an ESPN2-televised card from the Memorial Hall in Joplin, Missouri. Lacierva, a former title challenger at 115 pounds and a minor titlist at bantamweight now campaigning at featherweight, dropped Perez three times in the sixth before the referee stopped the contest at 2:01 of the round.
After struggling with Perez&Mac226;s awkward style for five rounds, Lacierva, 26, broke through with a big looping left hook that sent the rangy Colombian reeling into the ropes and to the canvass at the start of the sixth. A wide arcing overhand right from Lacierva sent Perez, now 21-6-3 (11), to the canvass again before a series of rights put the former bantamweight title challenger, who has now lost four bouts in a row (five of his last seven), down for the third and final time. - Fischer <----Back to HomePage
Anchondo Decisions Chacon; Wins 130-Pound Title Unbeaten "Mighty" Mike Anchondo took home his first world title last night at American Airlines Arena in Dallas when he decisioned former featherweight champ Julio Pablo Chacon over 12 rounds to win the interim WBO junior lightweight championship.
All three judges scored it 119-108 for La Puente, California's Anchondo, who improves to 25-0 with 18 KOs. Argentina's Chacon falls to 50-6 with 35 KOs. Anchondo scored the only knockdown of the bout, dropping Chacon with a left to the head in the final round.
In the HBO Latino-televised co-feature, super middleweight propsect Enrique Ornelas upped his record to 19-0 (13 KOs) with a seventh round stoppage of Miguel Martin (17-2, 8 KOs). Martin's corner asked for the bout to be halted after the Texan had taken a series of heavy blows over the previous couple of rounds. <----Back to HomePage
Forrest, McCain and Filmmaker Petition Pardon for Jack Johnson Today Former world welterweight champ Vernon Forrest, senator John McCain and award-winning documentary producer Ken Burns will release a detailed legal petition seeking a posthumous presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion, at Russell Park (in front of Russell Senate Office Bldg. on Delaware Ave.) in Washington, D.C. today at 12:30 p.m.
The petition, which is based on findings from Burns's upcoming film on the life of Johnson, concludes that the 1913 conviction of Johnson for violating the Mann Act was discriminatory in intent and conclusion. The petition will be filed on Tuesday with the Department of Justice.
In January 2005, PBS stations will air "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson", a new documentary by Burns that chronicles Johnson's controversial career. <----Back to HomePage
Al Gavin 1934-2004 Boxing lost one of the good guys today with the passing of legendary cutman Al Gavin, who passed away at Winthrop Hospital in New York after battling the effects of a massive stroke suffered last week. He was 70.
"He was one of the greatest people in the world," said longtime friend Sal Musumeci. "He was loved by his family and so many friends. There were hundreds of people that came to see him and the love that people had for him was enormous. The man was just an all-around great man, and we're going to miss him."
Gavin is survived by his wife of over 50 years, Joyce, and their three children, Barbara, Maureen, and Alan. His family was by his side throughout his stay in the hospital and Al passed away peacefully after a brave fight befitting one of the fight game's best.
Among the hundreds of fighters Gavin had worked with throughout the years were Lennox Lewis, Micky Ward, Vito Antuofermo, Kevin Kelley, and Eric Harding.
"No one could ever say a bad word about him," said Musumeci. "If he made a committment, he was there for you.". <----Back to HomePage
Rivera-Damgaard Sanctioned for October 2 in MSG Rivera-Damgaard Sanctioned for October 2 in MSG After an aborted April bout with Ricardo Mayorga due to 'El Matador's failure to make weight, it looks like Jose Rivera will again get a chance to perform in Madison Square Garden, this time in a WBA welterweight titledefense against Denmark's unbeaten Thomas Damgaard on the October 2 undercard of Mayorga's bout with Felix 'Tito' Trinidad. In a press release issued by Rivera's camp today, it was stated that the WBA has officially sanctioned the bout for October 2, with Rivera's manager Steve Tankanow saying, "Team Rivera is very pleased that Don King is making it possible for this fight to be at Madison Square Garden on one of the biggest pay-per-view events ever and in front of so many of Jose's fans." <----Back to HomePage
Cintron Gets Title Shot on July 17 Unbeaten welterweight knockout artist Kermit Cintron will get a sooner than expected title shot, as it was revealed today that his July 17 bout with Teddy Reid (part of an HBO Boxing After Dark tripleheader) will now be for the interim WBO welterweight crown, with Antonio Margarito jumping up to 154 in September to challenge for Daniel Santos' junior middleweight title. If Margarito defeats Santos, he will stay at 154 pounds; if he loses, he will be required to face the winner of Cintron-Reid or be stripped of his welterweight belt. <----Back to HomePage
McCline Agrees to Face Byrd Taking a lot less money than you would expect a heavyweight title challenger to take, Jameel "Big Time" McCline has followed the advice of his promoter, Cedric Kushner, and agreed to Don King's $100,000 offer to face IBF champion Chris Byrd at a place and time to be determined. This offer apparently means that King will have no options on the heavyweight contender should hebeat Byrd. King is reportedly meeting with Byrd and his wife Tracy today to discuss the bout. <----Back to HomePage
De La Hoya With New Reality TV Show "THE CHAMP" LOS ANGELES, April,19- Six-time World Champion Oscar De La Hoya and television powerhouse Endemol USA, have teamed to discover young, raw boxers with potential to become a top prizefighter. The hopefuls will push themselves to the limit as they train and slug it out in hopes of winning every fighter&Mac226;s ultimate dream &Mac246; a possible shot at a titleholder and a professional contract with De La Hoya&Mac226;s Golden Boy Promotions in the unscripted series, THE NEXT GREAT CHAMP (working title) on FOX.
Over the course of the series, only those who have what it takes will advance from challenge to challenge, round to round, and fight to fight. The stakes to be the last man standing are high as THE NEXT GREAT CHAMP will win a large cash prize, a possible title fight and a boxing contract with Golden Boy Promotions, leading to the chance to follow in the footsteps of the great De La Hoya.
The Fight Fans Boxing Schedule Is Now EXCLUSIVELY FOUND ON MAXBOXING.COM "The Fight Fans" boxing schedule which as served as the #1 boxing schedule in the world is now exclusively found on MaxBoxing.com. "The Fight Fans" boxing schedule is updated multiple times daily and often used as the bible of boxing programming and events for the industry.
Founded and created by Martin Mulcahey in 1997, "The Fight Fans" boxing schedule lists every fight in the world going on, on and off broadcast television.
Previously "The Fight Fans" boxing schedule could be found syndicated throughout the internet on various boxing sites. "I thought it was time find the schedule a home, and what better place then MaxBoxing, the leading boxing website on the internet" said Mulcahey.
Visit "The Fight Fans" boxing schedule now By Martin Mulcahey
Arguello Sues Videogame Makers Former world champion Alexis Arguello made headlines today when the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press reported that the hall of famer was suing videogame publisher Electronic Arts, as well as Sony and Nintendo, over the use of his name, likeness, and style in the videogame Knockout Kings without permission.
Terms of the suit, which was filed in Los Angeles' Superior Court, were not disclosed. The LA Times reported that Arguello's lawyer has plans to file a suit on behalf of another boxer this week.
Electronic Arts is one week away from the release of its latest boxing game, Fight Night 2004. Both Knockout Kings and Fight Night contain computerized versions of pro boxers from Muhammad Ali to Roy Jones Jr. Arguello is not one of the 32 boxers included in Fight Night 2004.
