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LIITR Rundown: Shane Mosley Talks Mayweather and Mora |
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Written by dawid cymerman
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Friday, 27 August 2010 15:22 |
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 Joins us on this week's show as Gabriel Montoya tries to talk about that other combat sport right off the bat, but gets very quickly shut down by Dave Duenez. Before our hosts can even bicker about all that, Pomona's sweetest calls us to talk about his upcoming fight.
On September 18th, Shane Mosley (46-6) faces Sergio Mora (22-1-1) at the Staples Center. We have him answer all the doubters, who are picking against him in this fight. People are doubting Shane after his performance against Floyd Mayweather Jr (41-0), where he looked great in the early going, but seemed to lose steam later on in the fight. Listen as he explains exactly what happened on that night, and how he prepares to face another boxer, albeit one that will fight in spots. Mosley also touches upon who may have the hometown advantage at the Staples, drug testing with regards to himself and Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2), and how he may approach a Mayweather rematch, should it ever come into fruition. Mayweather or Pacquiao, Shane Mosley professes that he is ready to rock and roll with anyone. Just then, we put Mosley's former foe on air, David Estrada (24-6), who asks for a rematch. Listen as Shane Mosley shares words of boxing wisdom with Estrada and does hope for another encounter, provided Estrada follows the advice. Both guys bid farewell and Shane shouts out his Twitter. Next, we patch in some fans and to talk about Mosley-Mora and talk about Shane's odometer and all the great miles he has traveled, taking us along with him. One of those fans is Shane's
long-time friend Hassan Abdul Rahim. He tells us a few things that a warrior like Shane isn't likely to talk about, and describes Shane as a fighter who due to his advanced age is not fighting harder, but smarter.
Brandon Gonzalez (12-0) calls us next to talk about the transition from training under Ray Woods, to working with Jeff Mayweather. He also speaks about his next opponent, Byron Tyson (9-1-2). Even though he admits to having seen no tape of Tyson, Gonzalez's experience sparring with world class fighters and his diligent preparation give him confidence. Gonzales also talks about what happened with the proposed David Lemieux (23-0) fight and why Lemieux's camp might have backed out. He tells us what type of a fighter he considers a "puncher", or "heavy hitter" and leaves us feeling good about the potential matchups at middleweight and super middleweight in the years to come.
Maybe a little late, this weeks' biggest news includes Antonio Margarito (38-6) getting licensed to fight in Texas. In other news, Alexander Povetkin (19-0) had an exhibition bout against Bruce Seldon (40-8) on July 29th, which is now under investigation by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission. It seems no one was informed about this bout and it looked more like an official professional boxing match than an exhibition. Seldon was also under suspension for using a performance enhancing drug in the Fres Oquendo (30-5) fight. In more exciting fight news, Sergio Martinez (45-2-2) is finally getting his rematch with Paul Williams (39-1) on November 20th, with no location set as of yet. This time, Martinez's WBC middleweight belt is on the line. Lastly, Mikkel Kessler (43-2) drops out of the Super Six tournament due to an eye injury, possibly leaving the door open for another fighter to step in, or altering the tournament's format.
 Kathy Duva, Main Events promoter, calls us next and touches upon the health of the sport of Boxing, how TV networks contribute to the sport's decline and about HBO playing the role of a promoter. She talks about the potential of Boxing being a league like some other sports and talks about its uniqueness. The problem she sees with Boxing today, is that there is a lack of business competition. She also sees it as a sport that relies on aged superstars and does not know how to build new ones. These days, Main Events is building Tomasz Adamek (42-1) and Zab Judah (39-6) the right way, having learned from their mistakes with Joel Julio (36-4). She understands the significance of important million-dollar fights, but also recognizes the benefits of having 3-4 smaller fights a year, rather
than a huge annual fight that could turn out to be a one-time deal. In her opinion, keeping a fighter busy and his skills sharp can make him as much money in the long run, if not more. Having beaten Michael Grant (46-4) convincingly, we ask Kathy what may be next for Tomasz Adamek, and she hints that it may be someone his size for once. Check out what Kathy Duva says when David Haye's (24-1) or Alexander Povetkin's (19-0) names gets mentioned. Lastly, she discusses Daniel Mitchell (5-2-1), who on the undercard of Adamek-Grant, quit fighting, inconsistently citing an injury to one eye, then the other.
Next, we preview Ivan Calderon (34-0-1) vs. Giovanni Segura (24-1-1), and our next edition of Fighter vs. Writer. We applaud the fact that Puerto Rico did not allow Javier Capetillo, Antonio Margarito's former disgraced trainer, to work Segura's corner. Dubbed "Opposites Attack", our next edition of Fighter vs. Writer actually features two fighters, albeit of opposite genders, duking it out on XBox Live via Ustream.tv. We have John Molina (21-1) going against Kaliesha West (12-1-2). Both fighters call into the show and hype up their upcoming encounter. If the riot that ensues on air is to be any indication of how fun the event will be, you do not wanna miss it!
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Last Updated on Saturday, 28 August 2010 19:49 |
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Time to Meet – Wilkins Santiago |
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Written by By Barbara Pinnella
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Thursday, 02 September 2010 20:48 |
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 Wilkins Santiago had everything going his way. He has been boxing since he was nine years old, and was a successful amateur fighter on the way up. It took him only seven or eight months after he came home to be right back where he started, getting a fight with the 2009 National Champion at 165 pounds, Terrell Gausha. He lost that fight but went right back to the gym and worked harder.
You might have noticed that I said ‘after he came home.’ Santiago was away for awhile, and not under good circumstances.
“From about 19 years old to about 22 was when I began slacking off. I got impatient and started drifting off into the streets, and got involved with drugs. That’s where it all went downhill.”
One could say that. He served five years in a penitentiary for drug trafficking. “I was in my mid-twenties, which most will say are the most important as far as boxing years. But I take it for what it was worth, I made the best of it. I got my education and ended up going to college for two years. I definitely took advantage of the situation.”
Wilkins was doing some training while incarcerated, until the boxing programs were stopped. “There was a riot that happened at one of the prisons here in Ohio, Lucasville, so they threw the boxing program out the door. The prisoners were getting really big and the C.O.’s were getting whipped. But I was still doing my running, calisthenics, and my conditioning. 
“I threw my hands here and there, and after a while people got the idea that I don’t do it to start any trouble, that was my career on the street. They started seeing newspaper clippings. Actually, I had a newspaper come to the prison when I first went in and they did a big article on me, basically for the youths; how someone can have such a great career going and follow temptation to the street life. It told them how I just threw it out the window in a second without even thinking about it.”
He might not have thought much about things then, but that is different now. He doesn’t dwell on it, but it is an important part of who he is. “I definitely learned something from it. It made me a better man, both mentally and spiritually. I believe in not giving up. When you have goals, there might be obstacles and hurdles in front of you, but I’m the type of person that doesn’t believe in giving up until I reach my goals. I evaluated myself in prison – I had nothing but time to think – and I knew that I wanted to become a better man. That wasn’t the lifestyle that I really was trying to live. I had a lot of fans out here and kids that looked up to me, and I wanted to be able to show other kids that may be going in the same path, that you can bounce back from adversity and become what you want to become.”
His amateur career, which he finished off with a record of 72-9, lasted only two fights after his return home. He felt it was time to turn professional. “Mentally, I felt really confident about myself,” he told me. “I felt that I had the proper tools and the training, and I worked hard. I had a lot of people behind me supporting me and keeping me positive. So I just decided to kick it up on the training level.
“Now I’m actually with a strength training coach, former linebacker for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Mike D’Andrea. I’m in the best shape of my life now and I’m ready to make a move, take each fight day by day, and face anyone in my weight class (Junior Middleweight).” Of course, going for a World title isn’t out of the game plan, either.
The first fight was way overdue for Santiago, as twice before he was to have his pro debut, circumstances beyond his control delayed the fights. But finally he was able to go up against Torrence King, a fighter who all but once had gone the distance, but had only one win. After meeting up with Wilkins, King had another loss on his record, as he dropped to 1-7.
Santiago’s second fight was against Matt Keglovic, who came into his fight with an even record of 1-1. The contest was stopped in the second round however, when Wilkins was doing a lot of damage with his body shots, and Keglovic’s corner threw in the towel. Santiago was able to start a little win streak of 2-0, and hopes to keep that going against tougher opponents.
“I take each fight seriously,” he said. “They’re like title bouts to me, each bout means the world to me.”
 While both of Wilkins’ fights have been four rounds, I joked with him about now his fights have to get a little longer. “Yep,” he laughed, “each fight a little longer, make better money, and hopefully live comfortably one day.”
That is obviously a great goal for Santiago, but he has others to think about as well. “I have two children, and one that I’ve raised since he was about six months old. They are all boys – I’ve got to get a fighter out of the batch,” he quipped.
He is Dad to a three-year-old, little Wilkins Jr. who is 17 months, and who was born prematurely at 24 weeks, weighing in at only a pound and a half. “That’s my miracle boy there, then D’Angelo Armani, who is four months old.”
“Being a father is a blessing. Seeing these kids coming up, and hopefully guiding them in the right direction to become men, it’s just a feeling that’s, well, I can’t explain it really. Just to see their smile each morning just bangs my day and makes me fight harder for what I’m trying to accomplish.”
We already know that Wilkins is a fighter. Whether in the ring or out of it, this man is on a mission to make up for lost time, and show everyone just how much can be accomplished with hard work and dedication. Throw three young sons into the mix along with training and of course, a job, and his days are more than full. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
I wish him all the best in his upcoming fights, and thank him for his time.
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
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Changing the Face of Womens' Boxing - Claudia Ollis |
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Written by By Barbara Pinnella
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Thursday, 02 September 2010 20:34 |
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 On Saturday, September 18th there is a fight at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. All boxing fans are well aware of the match-up between Sergio Mora and Shane Mosley. This bout has already been beaten to death with opinions and criticism. But there is one other fight on the card that I want to talk about – one that is a first in so many ways.
One of the undercard matches will feature Kaliesha West (12-1-2, 3 KO’s) going up against Angel Gladney (6-2-1, 5 KO’s). This will be the first time that Golden Boy Promotions has had a women’s match on the card of any of their events. It will be the first time that Staples Center has ever hosted a woman fight for a WBO World title. If victorious, West would be Riverside County’s first World Champion. Five men have tried and failed.
And at the center of it all is Claudia Ollis. Ollis is the marketing manager for West, and has had a love of boxing from a very early age. Her father was a Sergeant. in the U.S. Army and boxed in the Army, his brother was a pro boxer in Mexico, and his father was an amateur boxer. “The history is huge. I grew up watching boxing as a little girl with my dad, and always had a love for it.”
Ollis also owns two boutiques, and while I thought that made for quite a division from boxing, she corrected me on that. “I’m a fashion diva. It’s easy to integrate the two for me. When I would watch the fights as a little girl, I would see that everyone would dress up, and it just went hand in hand for me. I would see boxing, but I would see the glamour part of it.”
But just how did she get together with West? Well, her son was instrumental in that. He boxed with Kaliesha when they were kids. “I’ve know Kaliesha for a long time, but been together with her officially for about a year now,” she told me. “My son watched the struggles of female boxers. For years he would tell me, ‘Mom, sponsor Kaliesha, sponsor Kaliesha,’ but I thought that if I was going to sponsor something I’m going to sponsor a little girls’ soccer team, something like that,” she laughed. “When I do something, I’m going to do something big with her.
“Last year, after my divorce and moving to the beach, I opened another store in Laguna Beach, but it was not the right time to do that. I like to do a million things at one time, and I began working with Kaliesha. As the months progressed we went to Denmark and Peru, and by visiting these other countries I saw all the pitfalls here of female fighters. I realized that in the United States they don’t even know half of the amazing fighters that there are in female fighting.
“It’s a challenge for me, and I like challenges. Female fighting is really big in Europe. Wherever we walked in Denmark everybody knew who we were. The popularity of it, people coming to see us and interviewing us, the way they treated us, it was just fascinating. That’s when I thought, ‘This is crazy. We live in the best country in the world, and we don’t get this in the United States.’ So for me I knew that something had to be done.”
Claudia continued. “I did my research. In the 80’s all the female fighters, they got acknowledged, but it wasn’t on the level of what it is today. And I’ve heard it from the big boys. They tell me, ‘Claudia, we just don’t know if you know boxing, it’s not a gig.’ And I have told them that I know that, but I want to change their minds. For the first time in the history of the Olympics female fighting, that’s been around for about 40 years, is going to be featured in the Olympics. There will be three weight classes that will be featured.”
Ollis reminded me of women’s tennis, and how no one would pay much attention to it. That is, until it was included in the Female Olympic Games. “Once that happened,” she said, “it all changed immediately. Why? Because now we had Gold Medalists. The United States had to acknowledge that these were Gold Medalists. That’s why it changed.
“And here we are, 40 years later, female boxing is being acknowledged by the entire world and the promoters cannot hide any longer. They have to acknowledge these women as professional athletes regardless of their sex.
“And that has been my platform,” she continued. “Whether you are a fight fan or not, it’s not really about boxing anymore, it’s about making a change, making these women feel like they’re athletes. It’s not that they want to be a man, but they need to be acknowledged as athletes, too.”
But things are changing, little by little. Ollis has a working relationship with certain people now, but it has not been easy. “it’s been a challenge to get through those barriers, because they see no money in it. That is one of the first things they say. Well how do you know there’s no money in it? What level have you tried it? You’ve never promoted a female. You’ve had female fights, but never anybody of this caliber.
“My girl is number one Bantamweight in the world without a title. She’s number one in the world in 118 pound class, Kaliesha West. You can’t tell me you don’t see the money when you’ve never even tried it. And the Staples Center has never shown a female fighter fighting for a WBO World title.
“So all of this is a challenge,” she told me. “Definitely a good challenge. I have many, many projects coming up, and it’s a very exciting thing for me. It’s a lot of work, but it’s exciting at the same time, because I’ve made headway. Look, we are fighting in our country, for the WBO title – what an opportunity!”
Claudia feels that now that the fight between Juan Manuel Lopez and Rafael Marquez has been postponed, this will be one of the important fights of the year. With no other fight to create diversion, attention will be focused on this one, and for that reason, more awareness will be put on the fight between West and Gladney.
Ollis’ platform is to change the face of women’s boxing. She is within two weeks of a big step in the right direction, when two women fighters face off on a Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Good luck to both Kaliesha and Angel, and thank you to Claudia for her time.
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 02 September 2010 20:47 |
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King Mo Lawal :Boxing is more a feeder program where MMA ain't no feeder program |
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Written by By Chris Herrera
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Sunday, 11 April 2010 00:00 |
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 Strikeforce Nashville Conference Call Quotes :
The STRIKEFORCE middleweight (185 pounds) championship MMA legend and two-time Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson challenges champ Jake Shields in the main event of a live, CBS primetime televised, triple-header from Nashville, Tennessee’s Bridgestone Arena on Saturday, April 17.
I recently was on the conference call for the upcoming Strikeforce card on CBS and was able to talk to some of the fighters, all of whom are scheduled for championship bouts. I will have a preview of the event in my next blog , but for now here's a recap of my questions followed by the responses of Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi, King Mo Lawal, Strikeforce President Scott Coker, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez, Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields and MMA Legend Dan Henderson .
Chris - I know you said , you don't see this fight going the distance, but if it does go to the later rounds do you see that as a distinct advantage being as Mo doesn't have a lot of ring time?
Gegard Mousasi - Basically my fights always end quickly, so I don't see it going to the later rounds , but the more muscle he has the more energy and oxygen it needs.
Chris - I know you wouldn't take this fight if you didn't think you could win, but I also know you're a big boxing fan and we've seen sometimes where fighters go into fights and they're not ready for them. What is it besides self belief and confidence that makes you think you're ready for this fight?
King Mo Lawal - I'm a competitor and the thing is this ain't boxing. Boxing is more a feeder program where MMA ain't no feeder program, it's a bunch of guys, high level athletes for the most part that jumped into the sport and just do their thing. Like Joe Warren, he fought Chase Beebe in his first fight and beat him then fought Kid Yamamoto and beat him in his fight. Look at Brock, look at Carwin, they didn't have many fights, but they've had success. The whole thing about records don't matter, experience, you make your experience, it's about winning.
Chris - Follow up question on that, worst case scenario if somehow you end up losing this fight do you think you'd regret taking it this early in your career?
King Mo - What? You know what that questions hard to answer , cause I ain't been thinking about anything else and me thinking about losing it ain't an option, so I can't answer that. I have no regrets and I'm not gonna lose this fight.
Chris - Question for Scott ( Coker ), I'm curious what was the decision behind making this fight, because King Mo is a very marketable fighter . It seems , if you would have held off on it , you could have got more attention, because of Mos' marketability. What was the ultimate decision in making this fight so early in Mos' career?
Scott Coker - I'll tell you it's a fight we thought about internally and I think one thing we've been really good at is putting on big fights. And the "WOW" fights and this is a fight in my office , everybody in my office says " Wow !" , that would be the fight . To me , in mixed martial arts , it's not like boxing . Where if there's a blemish on your record , you're kinda done and maybe they're on to the next guy , but in mixed martial arts there's gonna be a lot of fights. People are gonna win and lose , it's the spirit of the competition more than your record and I really believe that's what people want. They want the big fight in the prime of the fighters career and that's what we're gonna offer , so that's why we put it together.
Chris - Gil, Aoki in the past , in some of his fights , has gotten hit below the belt and hit with elbows and whined and almost bitched out at times. Are you at all worried about him doing that against you?
Gilbert Melendez - Yeah, actually I study a lot of tape. I've been studying Aoki all the time lately and that's one thing I picked up on is sometimes he'll look for the way out. I can't give him that opportunity. If I accidentally hit him in the nuts or elbow him wrong , I gotta realize he might take advantage of that and find a way out . So I just gotta be very careful and not give him that opportunity , so it's definitely something I'm aware of and I'd almost blame myself if I gave him that opportunity to get out of there , so it's definitely on my mind.
Chris - Do you think training with Nick and Nate Diaz , who have similar jits and body types to Aoki is an advantage for you?
Gilbert - Definitely. Alot of people fight Shinya Aoki and they're fighters and they're three months out of a fight and they think it's time to start training jiu jitsu . I've been training for years for this guy , unconsciously. I've had Jake , he's tapping guys out, I've got Nick and Nate doing all kinds of crazy jiu jitsu and a stacked team of guys. I'm very fortunate I have a great team and I think it's gonna help a lot.
Chris - Jake, how much of it is a benefit that your last fight went five rounds , being that this one has the potential to do so as well?
Jake Shields - It may be being as it was the first time I've fought five rounds . I know I can do it , but Dans fought five rounds as well . So I think, he can do it as well. If you've ever fought five rounds it's one of those things you can either do or you can't , so I think me and Dan both know how to so it doesn't make a difference.
Chris - Dan , you mentioned you've been off for a minute, what are any pros and cons of having a layoff at this time in your career heading into a five round championship fight?
Dan Henderson - I don't see any cons in it , other than it gave my body a chance to relax and recover from different injuries, but I'm in the gym everyday. When I'm home training my guys and training with them , so I feel like I've been fighting the whole time everyday that I'm in the gym. The pros would be its been awhile since I've been in there and I'm pretty excited and hungry to be back in there, I've been chomping at the bit for months now to get back in the cage.
Three world title fights highlight first ever STRIKEFORCE MMA event in Tennessee .
NASHVILLE, Tenn.-Tickets for STRIKEFORCE Nashville: Henderson vs. Shields, the first ever STRIKEFORCE mixed martial arts (MMA) event in the state of Tennessee on Saturday, April 17, go on sale tomorrow/Friday, March 5 at 10 a.m. CT at the Bridgestone Arena ticket office, all Ticketmaster locations (800) 745-3000, Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com ) and STRIKEFORCE'S official website (www.strikeforce.com ).
Tickets are on sale at the Bridgestone Arena ticket office, all Ticketmaster locations (800) 745-3000, Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and STRIKEFORCE’S official website (www.strikeforce.com).
Chris Herrera can be followed on Twitter at Twitter.com/916Chris |
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Last Updated on Monday, 12 April 2010 23:56 |
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JORGE "EL NIÑO DE ORO" LINARES, Former Two-Time World Champion and ROCKY JUAREZ, 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist with DAVID ITSKOWITCH, COO of Golden Boy Promotions had a teleconference call today to speak about their upcoming showdown on the undercard of a very stack card on the July 31,2010 Marquez vs Diaz rematch. Both fighters coming off a loss and both men acknowledge the pressure in winning their July 31st bout.
