Author: Steven Donnell

Views on upcoming fights in UK and world scene

Preview + Prediction~ Conlan vs Ancajas

Preview + Prediction~ Conlan vs Ancajas

Boxing is often called a gentleman’s sport , that is of course by those guys involved in the ring , for fans boxing can bring out our inner caveman . For most fans what we want to see is a bloody battle that pushes the boundaries of what punishment a human body can take ,pushing it’s limits to near exhaustion and that will be rewarded by plaudits , respect and in some cases it will take its place in history and looked upon for decades . It is often said that the Mexican style of boxing is the most entertaining , toughest and all round the best style the sport has to offer for fans . Now granted this balls to the wall style is not good for a fighters health nor his/her career longevity , for spectators tho it will give us the most memorable of fights . This weekend we will see Irelands Jamie Conlan take on Jerwin Ancajas for the IBF Superflyweight World Title

Jamie “The Mexican” Conlan

Jamie Conlan is known and loved by fans for his all action “Mexican Style” which see’s his fights usually involve multiple Knockdowns for Conlan and his opponent , with all the blood and guts to go with it . When people talk about Conlan they sometimes tend to forget that he is a skilled boxer , who has good power with very good shot selection which seems to be over shadowed by his willingness to get into a battle , which is great to watch but means you are playing with a time bomb . Just last year we seen Jamie nearly come unstuck in last years fight of the year contender against Anthony Nelson for the Commonwealth Tittle fight . As both men got tore into each other we seen the pendulum of the fight swing countless times before Conlan finally got the stoppage . Nelson like so many others found it to easy to hit Conlan at times , something you may get away with at Domestic/European level but not at world level . I have no doubt Jamie will have worked on his defence and more importantly staying disciplined for this fight , he has know exactly when to throw and more importantly when not to throw .

Jerwin Ancajas

It wasn’t to long ago Ancajas was being tipped to be the next Manny Pacquiao and although Ancajas might not have reached that elite level of the Pacman yet it does show the kind of expectation on this lads shoulders . I will admit i have only seen Ancajas twice but both times he did look very impressive . Ancajas has a variation of styles , he can switch from lethal counter puncher to a pressure fighter in the blink of an eye . I was also very impressed with how he timed opponents attacks beating them to the punch . There are times when Ancajas wildly lunges in to attacks which could be the eagerness of youth or just lack of respect for lower level opposition as each time he was never punished for leaving himself open , an invitation I’m sure Jamie Conlan will be praying comes his way .

Prediction

I have been a fan of Jamie Conlan for a long time now , i love willingness to risk everything in every fight . I love the fact that Jamie never wants to be in a dull fight but sadly i think the battler in him is going to be his downfall . Ancajas is a top quality opponent who carries power in both hands and has the quality to match . I think as Ancajas frustrates Conlan , Conlan may get desperate and leave himself far to open . For me this fight doesn’t get past the middle rounds , i think Ancajas will get the stoppage . I will say this , i have never wanted a prediction to more wrong than this one , if Jamie Conlan can somehow pull this off it will be the best title win this year for me .

Steven Donnell

A Heavyweight Conundrum

A Heavyweight Conundrum

Back in the the early to mid 90’s Heavyweight Boxing was as strong as it had been at any time through history , guys like Evander Holyfield , Riddick Bowie , Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson to name a few filled the top ten , bizarrely there was even a time in 1995 when there was not a Champion in Ring Magazines top 5 . Now those days have past , and to be quite frank I’ve long since accepted that they will never return , heavyweight boxing has lost that glamour , that glitz and most of all that kind of talent .IMG_0023

Fast forward to 2017 and after an optimistic few years the division is again looking very weak and that is causing big problems for British Heavyweight Anthony Joshua . Joshua is nothing short of a marketing phenomenon , from Olympic Hero to Heavyweight Champion of the World and still keeping his media friendly “boy next door” persona intact , has seen Joshua and Eddie Hearn sell out the biggest stadiums the UK has to offer , AJ truly is a once in a generation marketable asset in boxing …..There is just one problem , competition .

As i write this there are two other World Champions in the mix in Joseph Parker and Deontey Wilder , both of whom have nowhere near the status of Joshua but that might not matter when it comes to negotiations . This week we have heard Parkers promoter David Higgins say that Eddie Hearns offer for a unification was “An insult” , reports suggest that the offer was in the region of 10% , which would be Parkers biggest ever pay day but with Higgins suggesting they where looking for closer to 40% both parties seem way off and it’s a similar story with Wilder as he is demanding a 50/50 split which again seems crazy , or is it ?.IMG_0022

It seems to me that Parker and Wilder have realised that the lack of talent at the top of the heavyweight division increases there stock to a more than there talent or popularity deserves to be valued at . It would also seem that Joshua needs Wilder and Parker more than they need him . I have no doubt that Wilder and Parker would happily fight other lower opposition leaving AJ and Hearn in the cold with more and more pressure building on them as each fight passes from there massive fan base to get the unifications made , Hearn will need to pay far more than Wilder and Parker are actually worth to get these fights made , this could bring a whole new meaning to “Earn with Hearn ”

Steven Donnell

Dejan Zlaticanin Interview : An Old Skool Fighter

Dejan Zlaticanin Interview : An Old Skool Fighter

Before we get started let me paint you a picture , lets roll back a few years , back to a summers night in Glasgow 2014 . There is an air of optimism surrounding the bout for the WBC International Lightweight title in Braehead Arena , a night where Ricky Burns was going to get his career back on track after a contentious draw with Ray Beltran that was followed up by the loss of Burns WBO Lightweight title to future P4P superstar Terrence Crawford .The general consensus was that Burns would win this fight and get into position for a shot at the WBC Crown, all that stood in Ricky’s way was Dejan Zlaticanin , a little known 18-0 fighter from Montenegro , Well we all know what happened next .

 

 

Dejan recalls “I can remember almost every detail from the moment i stepped in the UK . There was so much excitement , not just because i had a tough test against a two weight world champion , but also the same day my had wife gave birth to my daughter Sofija. I was so excited and i knew nothing was goin to stop me beating him (Burns) and devoting the win to her” . That was the night Dejan broke my heart , but that was also the night Dejan Zlaticanin announced himself to the boxing world .Dejan really took Burns apart in Glasgow that night , even dropping Ricky in the process , no one knew Dejan Zlaticanin when he came to Scotland , but everyone knew him when he left .

Winning the WBC Internatinal Title in Glasgow moved Dejan up the ranking and it wasn’t long before he was fighting for the real thing . In 2016 Dejan Zlaticanin beat Bolivia’s  Franklin Mamani for the Vacant WBC Lightweight Title , He says ‘When i beat Mamani i made history and became the first man from Montenegro to win a World Title, I touched the sky that night and the feeling was unbelievable “. One would be forgiven for thinking Dejan would be a superstar in his home nation , i mean being the first person from your nation to be World Champion is a massive achievement , monumental even ?. Well you could imagine my shock when i asked Dejan if after achieving what he had achieved , has boxing became more popular in Montenegro and if that was his legacy , he answers “No ! They didn’t respect my achievements like they needed to do . If i was from the UK i would get all that respect . You know I didn’t even win sports  man of the year award because of some law . People in Montenegro don’t know what it means to be WBC Champion of the world “. But Dejan doesn’t let that lack of acknowledgement stop him from giving back to the children of Montenegro  “My Brother and I open our Boxing Gym and we get a lot of kids in there , and that makes me happy as it keeps them safe and off the streets” 

Once Dejan had won his World Title we seen the return of the “Champion in recess” Jorge Linares to the ring from a layoff with injury as “WBC Diamond Champion” who the WBC said should fight Zlaticanin to see who was the true champion of the division . This was a fight fans wanted to see but as time went by it became apparent that this was another case of a “Great Fight That Never Was” , Dejan says “Linares is a fighter who studies his opponents and will avoid them ,that’s what he did when he was supposed to fight me , that’s what he’s doing to Mikey Garcia now . Boxing fans don’t like that, he’s not an old school fighter ”  . Now that the Linares vs Garcia fight seems to have fallen through i asked Dejan if he would be trying to chase the Linares fight down for his return to the ring . “I would like to fight Linares , He doesn’t need to run from me now he’s seen i have a weakness ‘(referring to his KO loss to Garcia ) but i think he’s still scared to fight me , He knows i only need to catch him with one one good punch and fight would be over . We as boxers fight for the fans and give them the fights they want to see , if you avoid these fights that’s bad for boxing and means your not a real champion”

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In Dejan’s last fight he had hit the big time fighting in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas , the Mecca of boxing against the returning Mikey Garcia “The MGM is incredible . It was unbelievable for someone from Montenegro like me to go there and fight ” .The very talented Garcia was on top form that night and scored a third round KO , Dejan tells “I just wanted Mikey to stand in the centre of the ring like a real Mexican and we could exchange punch for punch , bur Mikey was to smart for that and he deserved the win”.  But although Dejan accepts Garcia deserved his win , Dejan tells us he didn’t have the best build up to the fight “There was a lot of thing that meant I wasn’t going to be leaving Vegas the winner . I had some difficulties in camp but I didn’t want to pull out this fight , i am a fighter but this time it just didn’t go to plan” . Mikey Garcia is widely viewed as one of the best in the business , a real fighter who only wants the best fights , i asked Dejan what it was like to share the ring with Garcia ? . ‘                                    “Garcia is an excellent fighter , he’s very intelligent and a big puncher but he looked better that night than he actually is because i was not in my element . That night it felt like i had been hypnotised and worst of all i was slow , i really don’t know what happened to me in that ring , i felt like it wasn’t me in the ring that night “. 

Dejan Zlaticanin is the kind of fighter that will always get fans tuning in , and i really look forward to his long awaited return to the ring . Dejan is the kind of boxer who will fight anybody and i cant help but think if Jorge Linares really wants to validate his CV here is a man ready and willing  .

Steven Donnell

 

 

Taylor vs Vazquez – Preview and Prediction

Taylor vs Vazquez – Preview and Prediction

All to often in modern boxing we are being asked to fork out more and more money for subscriptions to boxing platforms such as BT,Boxnation and sky sports as well as a growing number of PPV events on Sky box office or ITV PPV , boxing is becoming a very expensive sport to follow . This weekend will see the latest instalment of Cyclone Promotion and Channel5’s boxing adventure when one of th UKs top prospects Josh Taylor takes on Miguel Vazquez in what should be a great fight and a fantastic night of boxing available to all on freeTV .

What can we say about Josh Taylor that hasn’t already been said . Taylor had a very good ameatur career picking up a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and then took the gold when the Games came to Glasgow in 2014 . Barry McGuigan signed Josh as soon as he turned pro and is convinced that Taylor is heading for a world title , saying in September

‘I don’t want him to be waiting too long. I want to get him into a world title fight within a year.’

And after the Tartan Tornados last fight against Ohara Davies its very hard to argue with McGuigan. Taylor didn’t just outclass Davies , he broke his heart forcing the Englishman to quit . It is hard at this stage to pin point any flaws in Taylor’s style , his footwork is superb, the way in which he glides inside to land his shots and then gets out before anything can come back is fantastic to watch .Maybe you could say that against Davies , Taylor was maybe to keen to get involved in a tear up on the inside , which all the experts had warned against ……then again he took Davies to skool on the inside aswell as the outside . If we want to be hypercritical we could point to the fight in the MGM in Las Vegas where Taylor took on Mexican Alfonso Olvera . Taylor didn’t look his usual free flowing self , Olvera was having some success in spoiling , and that is what Vazquez will come to do ,it will be up to Josh Taylor to find a way to win and win with style in front of his home fans .

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Miguel Vazquez is a very experienced fighter who has shared the ring with some of the best around , with the likes of Saul Canelo Aleverez and Timothy Bradley on his CV . As a former world champion with six successful title defences to his name ,Vazquez will be coming to Scotland demanding respect and looking to cause an upset . Anybody who has seen Vazquez fight would have noticed he does not fight like a Mexican , if you haven’t seen him and are hoping to see the style of Antonio Barrera or Juan Manuel Marquez , i am afraid you are going to be disappointed . Vazquez is a very good counterpuncher who will jab and move and look to work off anything coming his way from Taylor rather than force the fight  . The Mexican uses the full ring very well , is fit and disciplined but With just the 15 KO’s from his 39 wins Vazquez doesn’t have that one punch power , and that will mean Taylor will be able to take more risks without the worry of being cleaned out .

Prdiction:

This is a fascinating matchup which could see the winner move into a great position to challenge for one of Terrance Crawford’s vacated titles . This fight does have potential to become a chess match as Vazquez will look to land single shots and disengage . The fight will be decided on how Josh Taylor closes the gap , as i have no doubt that once Taylor closes Vazquez down , he will land the bigger, better shots . I think that after a slow start Josh Taylor will work the Mexican out and open up a big lead on the cards , i cant see Taylor stopping Vazquez due to the cautious style of the Mexican but i do think after a tricky start Taylor win wide on the cards .

OUR JASON EASTON INTERVIEW

Steven Donnell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason Easton Interview

When people from the west of Scotland think about the Capital Edinburgh they think of a beautiful tourist destination , a castle fortress up on top of a cliff which casts a shadow over a city steeped in history . A place where you will see an image of Scotland that the country wants to project to the world  , even if not necessarily a true reflection of Scotland it is something that tourists from USA and Canada eat up . People from Glasgow or Paisley look across and think they see a different country with happy ,wealthy people and that somehow we are being given a raw deal , which is of course total bullshit .

Just a few miles from the city centre as you pass some traveler sites you will hit Nidrie ,a place you could easily confuse with with Glasgow’s Gorbals or Paisley’s Ferguslie Park , a place that will lay out all your misconceptions of this City in front of you and show them up as narrow minded . Just up a small side street you come up to an old beat up community centre . Inside there is an after school care providing a vital service and just behind that you will find Sandys Gym . As i arrived i was greeted by Kenny McCartney (Jason’s trainer) and as we wait for Jason to arrive me and Kenny talk Celtic,Rangers, Jason’s sparring with Ant Crolla and we also spoke about  Kenny and Jason’s trip to Norway . Jason arrives and after some small talk and the odd bit of banter we get underway .DSC_0392.JPG

So Jason how is preparation going for your next fight ? 

Everything is going really well, i am feeling fit and strong and I’m ready to go .

Your next fight is against Josef Zahradnik who is ranked No1 in Czech Rep but is bringing a bit of an unknown quantity in, have you seen anything of him ?

I ve seen him a couple of times , one of them against Philip Insingi and he took his 0 , but if you watch the fight it was a close contest , the boy (Insingi) isn’t a big puncher and left himself open so he can’t take to much credit for that. He’s good but whether he has the grit and determination we will find out next week.

*Before coming out to the interview i had asked Barry McGuigan about his recent signing Jason Easton and his plans for him , this is what he said .

“Jason Easton is very exciting with a crowd pleasing style, this young Super Lightweight is making great advances and has already won the IBO Title. In the UK the Super Lightweight division is red hot with Josh Taylor Jack Catteral Tyrone Nurse & Robbie Davise all vying for contention. There’s no reason why Josh and Jason can’t maximise there potential by winning various different Titles with the prospect of meeting each other further down the line.. You cannot put a price on the advantage a Terrestrial TV deal can give to a fighter. Channel5 can give you that advantage.”

Jason i have spoke to Barry McGuigan and he said he’s looking for you and Josh Taylor to pick up multiple titles with the potential of both of you fighting each other in the future , does that give you something to get excited about ? 

Yeah thats a fight at the top level, Josh has fought at the top level in the amateurs and as a pro , so thats where i want to be .

In your last fight you fought Steve Jamoye which was a brilliant fight for the fans but the way you fought must have been giving Kenny fits . ( Jason looks at Kenny and laughs as Kenny just shakes his head at him)

Yeah i was stupid, i should have showed my ability a bit better but at the start of the fight i was just pacing myself for a twelve rounder but he (Jamoye) came out flying and got involved , which was stupid . He wasn’t really hurting me with any of his shots but i was stupid to take them in the first place . I learned a lot from that and Kenny had me back in right away working on basics , head movement and footwork and just feel i have improved so much since then .

You get so many guys now with padded records but you probably learned more in that one fight than some do in 16 fights .

Oh yeah big time , i didn’t expect the guy (Jamoye) to be that tuff , he made it a difficult fight at times . I expected to get him out of there a bit quicker but he just kept walking thru them and made it a good fight . Full Interview Uncut Here

I would just like to thank Jason for giving us his time to speak to us . Jason will be fighting on the Josh Taylor vs Vazquez undercard on 11th November which will be shown live on C5 and Spike (freeview) for ticket enquiries get in touch with Jason via Twitter on @JEastonn

Steven Donnell

 

All That Was Worth Talking About from Saturday’s PPV

Saturday night showed PPV in the UK can be shameless at times . An already weak card was depleted further by injuries ,pull outs and a world champion’s missing weight but that didn’t deter sky sports box office as they still expected boxing fans to pay £20 for the privelage of watching 1 sided fights and listening to Carl Froch take his aweful commentating  to new depths . the night wasn’t a complete waste though as two massive underdogs showed enough grit and determination kept us entertained .

Anthony Joshua vs Carlos Takam
As both men had made there way to the ring we had heard Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Tony Bellew on commentary all go full casual and predict an early stoppage for AJ , completely disregarding just how good and tough an opponent Takam was .Right from the off you could see with Takams height , or should I say lack of it and his movement it was going to be hard for AJ to put down his power . If AJ didn’t realise he was in for a tough night right away ,he would realise in the second round when Takam looked to have broke AJs nose with an accidental clash of heads ,but to AJ’s credit he seemed to cope pretty well .

Although AJ was finding it hard to hit the gritty Takam he did have him touch down in the fourth and opening up a bad cut above Takam’s eye . The longer the fight went on the more trouble AJ was having hitting his opponent which saw him box more than we are used to seeing and Takam looked really good on the counter countless times . By round 10 Joshua was really feeling the pace and now looked content with keeping Takam on the end of his jab, that was until AJ landed a beautiful uppercut which did rock Takam , followed by a 4 or 5 nice shots but Joshua didn’t look to have his usual power at this stage of the fight. As Takam moved back out of danger he was closed down by AJ , as AJ launched his next attack the referee grabbed Takam in a headlock and called the fight off , which seemed to me and most of the 70K fans in the arena very premature as Takam was protecting himself and was still slipping shots at the stoppage . Both men deserve credit here , Joshua for finding a way to win and Takam who took this fight on 3 weeks notice and came in fit and ready to have a go and ask questions of the champion , not to mention how tough he was .

Katie Taylor vs Anahi Esther Sanchez
What a year it’s been for Ireland’s Katie Taylor and she had a the chance  on Saturday night to top it off as World Champion if she could defeat the tough Argentine Sanchez , who had lost her title on the scales the day before . Right from the off Sanchez made it clear she was there for a scrap , but it was obvious that Taylor was the better more skilled fighter of the two . 

The fight looked to be over in the second when Taylor caught Sanchez with a beautiful bodyshot which took her to the canvas , I’m sure most where thinking like me that this was only goin to be a matter of time, but that bodyshot seemed to waken Sanchez up . For ten rounds Taylor beat Sanchez with everything she had and this girl just kept on coming , landing on Taylor in the exchanges . After 10 rounds Taylor won the fight by a wide margin on the scores cards to become World Champion after only 7 fights as a pro . Sanchez made Katie fight every second of every round , that kept us fans entertained and I am sure there will be more and more woman and girls going to Boxing events and taking up the sport due to Katie Taylor and her efforts which I think is fantastic .

So on a very poor night of boxing their  was some unexpected entertainment on a card that really failed to grab the imagination.

Steven Donnell

Boxing ~Crowd Trouble on The Rise

As a boxing fan this week has been a week of anger and disappointment but sadly after hearing a 19 year old lad had lost his life after being stabbed at a boxing event in Walsall I was not surprised . Gradually over the past 2 years I have seen first hand crowd violence at boxing events get worse at  an alarming rate , to a point where you actually comment when things don’t kick off in the crowd .
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The first time I was caught up in any crowd trouble was at Crolla v Linares 1 in the MEN in Manchester . Where I was sitting ,there seemed to be a load of groups of young men who had been clearly drinking all day . The place did feel on edge the full night , there was a feeling that one spark was going ignite the place into carnage . Things stayed like that until the end of the main event and Linares won on the cards , well that was the only excuse needed . I witnessed people trying to storm the ring , then sporadic fighting breaking out inside and outside the arena , in fact after the event I said unfairly

“I will never attend an event in Manchester again”

Fast forward a few months and it was time to go see Ricky Burns take on Julius Indongo in the SSE Hydro in Glasgow . Just as people are getting seated and ready for the main event we see  a mass brawl kick off at the other side of the arena ,which seemed to last for a while with security struggling to get to the culprits. I learned afterwards that Tommy Allen of the Boxing Asylum and his father where caught up in the carnage , with Tommy’s dad being assaulted in the process .

On TV I witnessed boozed up West Ham Casuals start a mini riot at the copperbox on a frank Warren card forcing TV chiefs to pan the camera out to and censor what was happening in the crowd , but in this age of social media there was plenty of footage going round to show what was happening . Even the glamorous WBSS event couldn’t escape the violence, when George Groves took on Jamie Cox the main event was ruined by upwards of 40 men according to Fight Talks Craig Scott , Spencer Fearon also put a video on instagram showing just how wild it got in the crowd  .

What can be done ?
Well the common denominator in all these instances seems to be young lads who have been drinking all day , so is the answer to ban alcohol from event’s  ? . Well I’m not convinced this alone would work as most of these yobs have already been drinking all day and small shows rely on money made from the bar’s . There could maybe be a drink limit system set up with something like 4 drinks MAX at a show , but again i think the affects of this would be limited . For me a major factor is the time in which Main Events actually start , I think bringing main events forward to 8 PM instead of 10.30-11PM would have a massive affect , especially if there was also a drink limit . It’s time for boxing promoters to stop trying to please everyone and make boxing events for boxing fans instead of accommodating football and rugby fans as well . Boxing events are no longer a place to take young fans because of a percentage of this generation’s casual fans who only see these events as a place to drink , they don’t care about the the sport . I would rather have family friendly events that will bring youngsters into the sport for years to come rather than have this quick fix of idiots who are turning real fans away from boxing .
Steven Donnell

Groves vs Cox : Preview and Prediction (UNCENSORED)

This weekend we will see WBSS Super Middleweight No1 seed and WBA World Champion George Groves take on Jamie Cox to see who will go through to face Chris Eubank Jnr who is already through to the Semi Final .

George Groves (26- 3- 0)

George Groves will be going into the ring on Saturday as a defending World Champion after finally getting his hands on the WBA Strap on his fourth attempt at a World Tittle . Due to George Groves quick witted humour he is a massive fans favourite in the UK , but Groves is a lot more than that . Groves biggest asset is his jab and more specifically the power he generates from the jab and the way in which he works off it , makes him a fantastic offensive boxer . Although Groves has always had these offensive skills he has always struggled to keep calm in the ring , a flaw which probably cost him a win against Carl Froch , but since teaming up with trainer Shane McGuigan , Groves has looked a more mature and all round boxer . There has always been question marks over Groves gas tank which could cause him problems if not in this fight then maybe later on in the WBSS IF he gets through .

Jamie Cox  (24 -0 -0)

Boxing is often called a “Gentlemans Sport”…… well never when Jamie Cox is fighting . I think Cox is little more than a thug in the ring , using elbows, head butts and punches to the back of the head to make up fo his lack of skills . I have personally seen fights where Cox should have been disqualified on three occasions  , saved only by weak refs who after taking a point refused to acknowledge the countless other fouls that took place .Now these fights I’ve seen have not been against any great opposition  , but still we see Cox struggle to understand the meaning of controlled aggression  .  There is not one bit of Cox’s boxing ability that gives Groves any problems so i expect him to try and turn this fight into something you would see in Middlesbrough City Centre on a Saturday night , and if we don’t have a strong ref  this fight could become a farce .

Prediction

Well as you can probably tell i strongly fancy George Groves to win by stoppage around the fifth round , as long as he keeps his head doesn’t get drawn in with Cox’s anamlistic style . I’ve seen Cox be rocked by journeymen so I can’t see him standing up to the power of Groves , i think once he feels that power he will go to sleep …..and there’s nothing better than seeing a bully be put to sleep .

Steven Donnell

 

Boxing Has A Chance To Right A Wrong With Ortiz

So another month passes and boxing has again managed to embarrass itself , yes I’m talking about WBA Champion Luiz Ortiz testing positive for banned substances for a SECOND time in a test conducted by VADA/WBC as he was preparing to take on Deontay Wilder . In this article i hope to show people that this man is not ” Innocent ” or ” A victim ” here , a theory that has gathered some pace on social media .
Ortiz’s Past : 

This is not the first time Luis Ortiz has tested positive for banned substances , back in 2014 Ortiz tested positive for steroids after he fought Lateef Kayode ….now let that sink in , he tested positive for steroids after a fight  , so to put it another way , Ortiz was loading his gloves with muscle illegally to hurt a fellow a pro . Now let me take you back to the Roberto Duran vs Davey Moore undercard where a young prospect Billy Collins jnr fought a very decent gate keeper in Luis Resto . Resto didn’t just stop the youngster he ripped that boy apart only for Collin’s father to notice after the fight tha Resto and his trainer Panama Lewis had took the padding out of Resto’s gloves . Resto went to prison for two and half years and Panama got a lifetime ban from boxing , whilst Billy Collins fell into deep depression and took his own life . So using logic and any sort of moral compass we should expect anybody cheating like this to face a lifetime ban , maybe criminal charges ?  No Ortiz got an 8 month lay off , which is an insult to clean athletes and shows complete disregard for boxers safety. For me it doesn’t matter what side of the glove is loaded , you are going out there to hurt another human being illegally .

Collins vs Resto Full Fight

What did he test positive for this time : 

Now to be fair to Ortiz this time he has NOT tested positive for a PED, instead he has tested positive for chlorothaizide and hydrochlorothiazide , substances that can be used to mask or hide the use of PED’s . Now both of these substances can be found in a lot of different medications and in this case Ortiz claims it is from his  Blood Pressure mdeication and this is all a complete misunderstanding . Nope sorry i don’t buy this , Luis Ortiz is an apparent professional athlete getting ready to fight for the WBC Heavyweight title ,who work in partnership VADA in an attempt to clean up boxing . Knowing what the WBC are trying to do why would Ortiz not declare ALL and ANY medication he had took , especially already being part of “Boxing’s Hall of Shame” , surly he should be extra carful , and for that reason i personally will not give him benefit of the doubt .

What should happen next :

Well boxing has a chance to right a wrong here and kick Ortiz out of the sport for good , now i might hear some say ” that is harsh after all it could be an innocent mistake ” . Well that might be , but a FAIL is a FAIL and we will never know if he is innocent but if we look back to the case in 2014 , he was willing to juice up and hurt someone so can we really afford to take the chance and hope he is telling the truth .I’m with Tony Bellew here who has consistently called for drug cheats to be banned for life . A zero tolerance approach to doping is what boxing needs , the sport has to get serious about getting this cancer cut out . Screen Shot 2017-10-04 at 14.56.37.png

 

 

Just to finish up i think we should spare a thought for Deontay Wilder who again has been let down by a fellow pro . Only last year he went to Russia to fight Povetkin only for the Russian to test positive . This Ortiz fight was his second attempt at legitimising his career and its happened again, another camp paid for , another load of unhappy fans to deal with . Wilders biggest mistake in his career maybe winning that WBC belt due to there clean boxing programme .

Steven Donnell