In the latest DSH Boxing Notebook, we take a look at the retirement of two former champions, as well as yesterday's entertaining bout between Mikey Garcia and Adrien Broner . . .
Mikey Garcia earns convincing win over Adrien Broner
Three-division world champion Mikey Garcia kept his undefeated record intact with a dominant 12-round performance against four-division world champion Adrien Broner in the main event of their card Saturday night from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Garcia (37-0, 30 KO’s) won a unanimous decision by scores of 117-111, 116-112, and 116-112.
“We trained for 10 weeks, we had a great training camp and great sparring, we knew it was going to be a tough fight,” Garcia said.
Garcia took the lead early on with his calm demeanor and patient approach, showcasing fundamentally sound technique and backing Broner into the ropes midway through the second frame and consistently attacking his body.
Broner looked athletic and fast-handed, but like in many of his fights, failed to match his opponent's punch volume.
“I think I controlled the fight in the early rounds and I kept the activity up,” Garcia said. “Broner is a great fighter and he has great skills, but I was the superior fighter tonight.”
Garcia produced a steady output of jabs, power punches, and body shots all night long. He cornered Broner on the ropes with a huge left hook halfway through the third frame, and backed him in to the ropes again with 39 seconds remaining in the round. While Broner showed some movement in the fourth round and hit Garcia with a succession of 1-2 combinations, Garcia’s bodywork kept Broner at bay.
"It was part of the strategy to be a little busier in this fight than in the fights I have previously had,” Garcia said.
Broner (33-3, 24 KOs) looked to get back in the fight as he started the eighth round with a succession of sharp combinations, however his lack of consistency couldn’t withstand Garcia’s phenomenal body shots and overall punch output. Through eight rounds, Garcia had thrown a total of 500 punches, while Broner had just thrown 291.
"It was a good fight at the end of the day, I come to fight, I come to win, and I put my heart on the line," Broner said. “But it was Tom and Jerry. I had to catch the mouse.”
Although Garcia had amassed an early lead from the first three-quarters of the fight, Broner continued to walk through heavy fire from Garcia in an attempt to connect with a big punch and change the tide of the fight. While he was able to ignite the crowd and land several big punches over the final three rounds, none of it proved to be enough to slow down Garcia.
"It was my timing, I've always said I have very good timing,” said Garcia. “It is underestimated when you are outside the ring but once you get inside the ring with me, I'm a step ahead."
On the undercard, undefeated Jermall Charlo (26-0, 20 KOs) made his debut at 160-pounds with a stoppage of Argentine contender Jorge Sebastian Heiland (29-5-2, 16 KOs). The stoppage came at 2:13 of the fourth round after Charlo delivered a devastating left hook followed by a big right to end the fight.
Charlo, of Houston, Texas, dominated the pace from the beginning. He landed the sharper and more accurate punches throughout the fight, especially in the first round where he landed 50 percent of his power shots to Heiland’s 13 percent. Charlo’s straight right was his power weapon throughout the contest.
"I felt good at this weight. I was in good shape all camp,” said Charlo. “I just had to keep my composure in the ring. That's always something I have to work on and I was able to do it.
"After I dropped him the first time they said he fell on top of his ankle. That's just part of the boxing game. I had to just stay consistent and get the work done.”
Heiland, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, had issues with his left leg after injuring his knee in the first round. His discomfort was clear in his awkward footwork and lack of power behind his punches. Referee Benjy Esteves had the doctor examine him twice throughout the fight, once before the third round and then again before the fourth.
"I turned my left knee in the first round, but I did not want to give up,” said Heiland. “I tried to give it my all, but it was not my night. I had bad luck, but I am going to work harder than ever to get back and get another opportunity to achieve my dream and win a world title."
Charlo stayed focused on his game plan despite seeing his opponent injured. “Sometimes the injury can be a decoy, you never want to just jump in and think it's part of his game plan,” Charlo said. “My coach told me to stay behind my jab like I did; continue to work and it’s going to come.”
With this win, Charlo becomes a mandatory challenger for the WBC Middleweight World Championship.
"I’m ready for anyone. I’m ready for whoever wants to fight me,” Charlo added. “Bring on the biggest names at 160. I’m the real Tommy Hearns. I feel it’s my turn and I’m going to go get it.”
In another undercard bout, heavyweight Jarrell Miller (19-0-1, 17 KOs), of Brooklyn, N.Y., stopped former world title challenger Gerald Washington (18-2-1, 12 KOs) after eight-rounds.
Miller used his significant size advantage and effective power-punching to break down the former collegiate football player. Washington had some success early with his jab and body attack, but was not able to stay out of punching range of Miller.
Washington surged in the sixth round with a series of power shots that staggered Miller, however the Brooklynite countered and further broke down Washington, who landed just 20% of his jabs overall.
Miller, who landed almost half of his power punches, continued the onslaught in the seventh and eight rounds, and while Washington was able to stay on his feet, he took enough punishment that his corner called the fight after the eighth round.
"I definitely felt the ring rust,” said Miller. “Gerald was very tough. It was a very good fight that had me thinking. My power was there, but I couldn't put it together the way I wanted to today. I took the hard way back coming in off of a layoff. Gerald definitely pushed me and motivated me. I had to rely on my brain and my power."
Sadam Ali defeats Johan Perez
Sadam Ali (25-1, 14 KOs) took a decisive step towards once again fighting for a world title, as he won a unanimous decision victory against former two-time interim WBA Super Lightweight champion Johan Perez (22-4-4, 15 KOs).
The 10-round fight, earned Ali the vacant WBA International Welterweight.
"I need rugged fights like this," said Ali. "Johan might not have a big name but he came to fight and not only for a paycheck. So, these kinds of fights are exactly what I need to get into title contention."
Ali, from Brooklyn, fought in one of the toughest fights of his career against Perez, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, who had scored wins against the likes of Yoshihiro "El Maestrito" Kamegai, Paul Spadafora and Steve "2POUND" Forbes.
"I give myself a 6 tonight; I felt off," said Sadam Ali. "Perez was tough, very tall and awkward, and I was able to see that I have a lot to work on to be honest. I felt that my movement wasn't right. I felt slow and off balance. I'm not too happy with my performance. I don't want to make excuses, but my performance wasn't as good as I expected. Now it's time to go back to the gym and work on things I need to work on. That's how I'll get better, by seeing my mistakes and getting back to work in the gym."
Robert Guerrero retires
After giving fans some of the most thrilling fights in boxing, spanning over sixteen hard fought years, Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero announced his retirement. He finishes his career with a 33-6-1 record.
Guerrero issued a lengthy statement some of which is included below:
"First, I want to thank God for allowing me to have a wonderful career. I'm a kid from a small town in Gilroy, California, who made it to the mountain top of the boxing world. When I was a young kid growing up, I always believed in myself, but never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined a small-town kid like myself, would be fighting in front of millions of fans.
I was blessed to win multiple world titles in four-divisions. A boxer's career is a long and tough road. Many tears were shed, lots of blood, and tons of sweat. Many miles were traveled, thousands of rounds sparred, none were easy and nothing was ever given to me. I earned everything I got the old fashion way. I never ducked anyone and fought the best fighters in the world. I fought my way through every obstacle to make sure my fans enjoyed every second, of every round, of my fights.
I competed at super-bantamweight (122 lbs.) and won world titles across multiple weight classes, closing my career at welterweight (147 lbs.), fighting the big guys 25 pounds heavier.
I want to thank some very important people in my career starting with the most important person, my wife Casey, who has been with me every step of the way, my soul mate, my sweetheart, the one and only love of my life. My father/trainer Ruben Guerrero Sr. He's the one who started it all and made me the man I am today, and the champion I was in the ring. He's one of the best trainers in the world and I hope to be working side by side with him in the future. My mother Marcy Guerrero for being a great mother and supporter . . .
In closing, I want to thank the most special man I've ever met in my boxing career, and possibly lifetime, a man who always does what's best for the fighter, a man who has changed the sport of boxing, a man who has helped bless me and my family with a great life, and that person is my advisor Al Haymon . . . I want to thank everyone, the fans included. I hope you guys appreciated the guts and glory I left in the ring. God bless you all."Golovkin's belts will be on the line against Canelo
Undefeated World Middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin wants to make one thing clear. On Saturday, September 16, when he faces Canelo Alvarez, Golovkin is walking into the ring at the T-Mobile Arena the same way he walked out of the ring at Madison Square Garden, in his last fight -- wearing all his world championship belts.
"I am very proud to be fighting for these important titles in this fight." Canelo said.
Canelo will be defending his Ring Magazine and Lineal titles.
Tramaine Williams gets win at Rumble on the Water 2
Undefeated featherweight prospect Tramaine "The Mighty Midget" Williams made a major statement last night (Saturday, July 29), dropping former world title challenger William Gonzalez three times in the opening round of a sensational performance in the "KO Night Boxing" Rumble on the Water 2" main event, which aired live on CBS Sports Network from The Queen Mary's outdoor venue in Long Beach, California.
The 5' 4" Williams (12-0, 5 KOs), fighting out of New Haven (CT), exploded with pinpoint accuracy, also displaying his power by dropping Gonzalez 30-8, 26 KOs), of Nicaragua, three time in the first round. The crafty southpaw finished off his more experienced opponent with a perfectly placed right-left combination for his third and final knockdown.
"I prepared well for this fight and anything can happen when I work hard," Williams remarked after his third consecutive knockout victory. "I felt his power early with a body shot, but I stayed focused. I can deal with anybody in my division. I want to fight Lee Selby (IBF featherweight world champion), or any of the world champions, but none will fight me. I really want Gary Russell (WBC champion); I'm here, Gary. It'll be target practice for me."
Talkin' Smack
RAY BELTRAN
“I feel very motivated. To get my green card is as important or more important than winning a world title. This is not just about myself, this is also about the future of my family."
FLOYD MAYWEATHER
"Everyone knows I've never backed down from anybody. You line them up, and I knock them down like bowling pins. On August 26, I'm knocking Conor out."
"I am guaranteeing you this. You are going out on your face or on your back. So which way do you want to go?"
"Twenty one is the number. They ask me why is that the number? Because that's how long I've been kicking ass. I don't care about a ring or an octagon. Put me in there and I'm going to kick ass."
"McGregor is a professional, stand-up fighter. The only loss he took was when he was on the ground. He's a tough competitor and I'm taking him very seriously."
"Everyone knows I've been doing this for a long time. I've been here before. He's a tough guy though and a warrior. The best must fight the best. The fans wanted this fight, me and McGregor wanted the fight. It's going to be blood, sweat and tears on August 26."
"Training camp has been rough. I know deep in my heart that this is the last one. I'm taking care of my body and giving myself time off to allow my body to rejuvenate."
"Conor really wants to win. Extremely badly. Other fighters it usually plays out two ways. Some guys play it safe and then some like Marcos Maidana go for the kill. I think he's the Maidana-type. He's a heavy-hitter so I have to be cautious. It's going to basically be a toe-to-toe battle."
"My mind is blown. I'm absolutely honored to be here in front of you fans for this great spectacle. Somebody's 0 has got to go."
"He's got little legs and little hands. I'm going to knock him out inside of four rounds. Mark my words."
"I'm a young, confident, happy man. I've worked extremely hard for this. I'm going to embrace everything. No one can do anything to me. I'm going to have a good time."
"Floyd will be unconscious inside of four rounds. The power and ferociousness that I have, he's never experienced it before. I don't fear him."
"Even if he catches one of my punches with his glove, it will still hurt him. I'm like nothing he's ever seen before."
"Twelve, three minute rounds is going to be a breeze for me. Not to take anything away from this sport, but I have no worries about going twelve rounds with Floyd."
"Floyd is the perfect motivation for me to go in and conquer the supposedly unconquerable. What more motivation could you need? This pushes me on to do these record-breaking events."
WBA, WBC Diamond and Ring Magazine World Lightweight Champion Jorge Linares (42-3, 27 KOs) will put his titles and 11-fight win streak on the line Saturday, September 23, when he takes on Olympic Gold Medalist and No. 1 contender Luke Campbell (17-1, 14 KOs) in a 12-round main event from Los Angeles' "Fabulous" Forum. The event will be televised live on HBO.
Linares, a three-division world champion of Barinas, Venezuela, who has captured titles in the featherweight, super featherweight, and lightweight division, has spent much of his career in Japan. This time, however, Linares will fight in the U.S. for the first time in three years after first winning and then defending his titles against former WBA World Lightweight Champion Anthony "Million Dollar" Crolla in the latter's hometown of Manchester, England.
"I am excited to make my return to the United States and to headline an HBO show for the first time," Linares said. "I know Luke Campbell is a tough competitor with an incredible amateur and professional background, but I am confident that I will emerge victorious on September 23rd."
Campbell, a former WBC Silver Lightweight champion, who took home a gold medal in front of his English countrymen in the 2012 London Olympic Games, has defeated five solid contenders in a row including Darleys Perez, "Dirty" Derry Matthews, and Argenis Mendez, since his only defeat nearly two years ago.
"It's an honor to be fighting Jorge Linares for the WBA World title, WBC Diamond, and Ring Magazine titles in one of the biggest fights in the division." said Luke Campbell. "I've worked my way from Olympic champion to the No.1 spot in the WBA and WBC rankings, and I feel now is the time to take my chance. All the pressure is on Jorge headlining back in the States on HBO and I am so confident I am going to leave with all 3 belts - I have tremendous respect for Jorge and this is going to be an unbelievable fight, but this is the opportunity I have been waiting for as a professional and I must and will take it on September 23."
Freddie Roach elaborates on Cotto camp
World-renowned trainer Freddie Roach shared important details regarding the training camp of Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs), as he prepares to go to war for the vacant WBO Junior Middleweight title against the Japanese slugger Yoshihiro Kamegai (27-3-2, 24 KOs).
The event takes place Saturday, August 26, at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, and will be televised live on HBO.
Roach, a Hall of Fame trainer who was supervising a recent sparring session at the Wild Card Boxing Club, shared Cotto's training camp routine, which consists of:
- Strength and conditioning at 5:00 am with Gavin McMillan (exercises are done either at the gym, pool, nearby hills or at the track).
- Breakfast at around 8:30 am. (Cotto likes to cook all his meals himself; his diet is normal, avoiding fried food).
- Light snack at around 11:15 am.
- Sparring three days a week at 1:00 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
- Boxing routine on at 1:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
- Dinner at around 5:30 pm.
Roach also provided additional training camp details, including the strategy for taking advantage of the exciting and crowd-pleasing style of Kamegai.
"Kamegai [Yoshihiro] is very aggressive and I like that. I think it should make for a great fight because he's coming forward all the time and always looking for a knockout. Guys who look for knockouts, get knocked out. So, we're working on countering his attack, and it's going really well so far," Roach concluded.
Frampton bout cancelled
The featherweight title eliminator between Carl Frampton (23-1, 14 KO's) and Andres Gutierrez (35-1-1, 25 KO's) that was scheduled to stream on Facebook Live and Showtime Boxing's YouTube Channel prior to yesterday's live Broner-Garcia telecast, was cancelled due to an accident to Andres Gutierrez.
Shumenov retires due to eye injury
Two-division World Boxing Association (WBA) World Champion Beibut Shumenov has relinquished his WBA cruiserweight world title, due to his career-ending eye injury, and he has announced his retirement from the ring.
Shumenov issued the following statement:
"I have regrettably relinquished my WBA cruiserweight title and retired from boxing because of a traumatic eye injury suffered the week before my last scheduled fight," Shumenov said from his Las Vegas home. "I'm extremely disappointed my boxing career has ended like this but, unfortunately, injuries are part of this sport and there's nothing I can do about it. I still have blurred vision and I need to have an additional surgery next month to try to further repair so I don't risk blindness in my (right) eye.
I'd like to thank my family, my team throughout the years, friends and fans for their continued support all these years. I was proud to wear the WBA championship belt for many years as a two-division champion. I'm grateful to WBA President Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, his father, and all those in my WBA family. It was quite a ride and I look forward with great anticipation to the next chapter of my life with my son and future endeavors."
Shumenov (17-2, 11 KOs), a 2004 Kazakhstan Olympian, was scheduled to face Interim WBA champion Yunier Dorticos (21-0, 20 KOs) in the April 29th main event of Premier Boxing Champions on FS1 and FOX Deportes, from Sam's Town Live in Las Vegas.
During his last slated sparring sessions, Shumenov suffered an eye injury that required immediate surgery, forcing him to withdraw from his April 29 fight against Dorticos.
Earlier this month, the WBA received a letter from Shumenov's eye surgeon, Dr. Kent L. Wellish, who wrote the following:
"Mr. Beibut Shumenov has a serious ocular issue, a recurrent corneal erosion of his right eye, that with continued fighting, puts him at risk for permanently losing his eyesight. It is my medical opinion that he should permanently refrain from sparring, training and boxing due to the severity of damage to his eye and the high risk of further damage of vision impairment, including the possibility of permanent vision loss."
The WBA accepted Shumenov's relinquishment of his championship, noting that it expressed its gratitude and pride for his professional career with the WBA.
The last three years of Shumenov's career was marred by inactivity, in which he fought only three times due to lack of managerial support, despite him training daily, in top shape and always being ready to fight. In fact, he sparred almost 400 rounds since his last fight (May 21, 2016) in anticipation of, first, a unification fight with Denis Lebedev and then for his fight versus Dorticos. Neither happened, however, as boxing politics enabled Lebedev to avoid fighting Shumenov, who defeated BJ Flores and then Junior Anthony Wright in back-to-back WBA elimination fights to be Lebedev's mandatory challenger.
Even Shumenov's mandatory fight against Dorticos was unnecessarily delayed because Dorticos' promoter, Caribe Promotions, defaulted its right to promote the fight it had won by purse bid, followed by continuous and numerous date changes from February to March until finally landing on April 29.
The 33-year-old Shumenov retires as the first and only two-division world champion to date from Kazakhstan, as well as the record-holder for fewest fights needed to win the world light heavyweight championship, 10.
During his 9 1/2 -year pro career, Shumenov defeated four world champions - Gabriel Campillo, Byron Mitchell, William Joppy and Montell Griffin - as well as world title challengers Epifanio Mendoza, Vlacheslav Uzelkov, Danny Santiago, Enrique Ornelas, Tamas Kovacs, BJ Flores and Junior Wright.
By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services
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