When you think of Oklahoma you think of a musical , or if you are a keen American historian you may know Oklahoma is the place where the native Americans where sent after being evicted from there home lands back in the 19th century , but in amongst all that Oklahoma has a proud boxing history . It was a misdemeanour to take part in prize fighting until the 1970s , an unpopular law , so the good people of Oklahoma simply ignored it . the very first Championship boxing bout took place in the city when Denmark’s Battling Dane defended his world title . Officially the next boxing bout that took place in the city was in the 1970’s but it is known that the most important Heavyweight Champion ever Jack Johnson fought in Oklahoma , the very first ever black heavyweight world champion , so has Sugar Ray Robinson and George Forman . But Oklahoma like many cities has struggled to become a relevant boxing city as it didn’t have a Boxing Commission until 1999 .
After years of struggling to find professional boxers for the city to get behind it now looks like they finally have a young talent to throw there support towards . Alex Saucedo (24) has already been compared to the legendary Arturo Gatti , a comparison that the boxing world does not throw around lightly , but if anybody happened to catch Alex Saucido’s last fight against Lenny Zappavigna you can see why he is well on his way to earning the comparisons , and the Oklahoma crowd love it .
I asked Alex what it was like to win such a dramatic fight against Lenny Z .
” This was a very tough fight because both of us wanted to win because we knew the winner would go and fight Maurice Hooker for the WBO World Title . Both of us didn’t want to go down so it became a war . Im just happy that the fans enjoyed the fight and i came through it and thats all that really matters . ”
At just 24 Alex is still learning the finer points of boxing but that night in the sooner state he proved he had the heart of a lion which means he is half way there to becoming a champion . I asked Alex if he had watched the fight back and what had he learned from that night that will push him on to the next level .
” Watching it back he caught me with a good shot in the fourth but i stuck in there and that definitely gave me vital championship experience for the next upcoming fight against Hooker . Me and my trainer (Abel Sanchez) sat down and we watched the fight back together . We were able to see what i did wrong but we also seen a lot of what i did right . Right after Canelo vs GGG fight he will be waiting for me up at Big Bear . I am already training here in Oklahoma City so when i get up there we can work on the finer things and we will be training really hard for this next fight . ”
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When I was watching Saucedo/Zappavigna fight on TV it was astonishing the noise coming from the Oklahoma crowd , something that you don’t really hear from an American live audience. There was a point in that fight where Saucedo looked to be on the brink of going down as he was hurt badly by Zappavigna and the 24 year old has no doubts about what kept him going.
” In that fourth round i just knew i couldn’t go down in front of my people . That is why I do all this training, to prepare for situations like that but the support of the crowd pushes you up and I loved that, I loved that all those people came out to support me and I appreciate everyone of them ”
Next up for “El Cholo” is WBO World Champion Maurice Hooker who is coming off a fantastic win against Terry Flannigan. It was widely expected that this fight would be shown on Eddie Hearn’s new online platform/partner DAZN but after Hooker/Saucido went to purse bids it was Top Rank who coughed up the money for there man with a whopping $1.6m. I asked Alex what it was like to be backed by your promotion team with such a big bid to secure the fight for him in front of his home fans in Oklahoma .
” Hooker is a very good fighter , he may even be the best fighter I have ever faced and thats why he is the world champion . It’s great that Top Rank and ESPN have shown this faith in me and it means a lot. I told them to get ready because i am going to give them some great fights .
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Sometime when you interview a fighter you get the feeling it is just a job to them but with Alex Saucedo you can tell that this lad wants to go to the top. When talking about a very hard fight he had recently Alex was the one who brought up all the things he done wrong in that fantastic victory. His fight with Hooker will take place on 16th November in Oklahoma. Here in the UK it will be shown live on Boxnation , and trust me you will not want to miss this fight .
Ohara Davies does seem to have learned life lessons and is now finally being a bit more fan friendly . If he gets past Catterall that would be massive for him , but that’s is a massive IF .
This all came from big Dan Rafael saying he heard Fury was now scared to fight Wilder. Dan said he heard it from a source in the UK ……..good old Eddie up to his tricks again
I heard some good thing about this tournament first time round . Part 2 will be at light heavyweight with all 8 fights taking place in London on the same night
On Saturday night Isaac Dogboe really impressed me with a superb first round stoppage of a tough and durable opponent in Hidpenori Otake . Then in the main event we seen Pedraza pull off a bit of a shock and when he beat Beltran rather convincingly in my opinion showing any young boxer just how important it is to master the jab in what a good night of boxing . Now if your not a so called ” Hardcore ” fan you may be sitting there thinking ” awwww this must be the PPV YouTube bloggers fight I’ve seen across every media network ” and you would be forgiven for thinking this as Saturdays TWO WORLD TITLE FIGHTS got little to no coverage , which has sparked the debate , Is this kind of exhibition fight good for boxing ?
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The Positives
I have to admit right here i have no idea who KSI or Logan are . I could walk past them on the street and not have a clue i was standing beside two guys who packed out the MEN Arena and did 800k PPV buys on an online platform , and i think that might be a positive right there . This fight wasn’t aimed at boxing fans like me or people in my age demographic . This “Fight” was aimed at youngsters who live in this online celebrity world . These kids went to this ‘boxing show’ and got a first taste of “Boxing” , these kids who may never have had any interest in boxing may now want to go see the real deal . I think the way boxing has been flirting with online platforms has been looked at sceptically by most , but these two novice wildcards have not only shown the way for the future of PPV but they have blown it out the the water with massive comercial success , with a rematch already agreed which will probably do even bigger numbers . There is another positive here , one in which boxing has brought on itself and that is the creation of a family atmosphere . The UK seems to be obsessed with massive venues for boxing which is great , but as we have seen more and more over the past few years trouble at shows has been on the rise . It is safe to say that most people now attending big boxing events will leave the wife and kids at home , but these kind of exhibitions events could easily fill that gap in the market .
Negatives
Well there is no way to dress this up , this was not boxing and to say it was is an insult to the many men and woman who give there all to the sport , a lot of the time losing money more often than they make it . I have seen a clip with one of these guys dancing in the ring during the fight making a fool of himself . These potential new fans to the sport that these events could bring need to understand that this is not boxing , showboating is something only the greats can do . There is an old cliche that comes to mind ” You do not play boxing” . I also feel that after how big a success this show was, it will open the door to more and more of these teen celebrities to come ” Play Boxing ” which could be something else the small hall shows may now have to compete with not only in selling tickets but in newspaper space which which most boxers already struggle with .
I’ve always been a fan of billy but after his antics the past few weeks maybe a right beat down is what he need …..don’t see it tho as the guy is superb.
I have great respect for Martin making his comeback after a tough couple year , first getting brutally KO’d In London by AJ then to be Shot in the arm …..what a story this man has
This is a great fight im looking forward to . Ohara must put on a performance if he is ever to be take seriously in boxing …That doesn’t mean he has to win but he can’t be outclassed again
The weekend just past had the boxing world engrossed as Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury came face to face in Belfast . The planned showdown could not have came across anymore choreographed but my god it made for good TV which finished with it being announced that the fight between the two was all but done for later this year . If this fight get’s made it is a fantastic statement of intent from Tyson Fury , but with only two fights against weak opposition since his two year absence from the ring it has to be asked , is this bravery or folly from the Gypsy King ? .
What did we learn on Saturday night about where Fury is on his comeback . We seen a Tyson Fury who has got himself into fantastic shape weighing in only 10lbs heavier than he was when he beat Wladimir Klitschko to become unified world champion three years ago . When you see the change in Fury over the past year it is impressive , but it also tell’s it own story as Fury is putting his soul into bringing his weight down and neglecting the finer points , and his boxing skills are suffering . Tyson Fury has never been a big puncher but in the past weekend he looked very feather fisted , he couldn’t hurt the tough durable Pianeta . Time after time he bent that left hook round Pianeta’s guard which really was a beautiful shot but it had zero effect .
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Tyson Fury of old probably had the best defence in the division due to his long reach , quick reactions and even quicker feet . On Saturday night it was obvious the reactions have slowed as well as the feet . On the very few times Pianeta did show a bit of ambition offensively , Fury looked slow and vulnerable . It wasn’t all bad for Fury though as he managed ten rounds relatively easy and there was moments where the Fury of old was shinning through . There is always the argument that Fury was also fighting down to his opponents level which could be partly to blame for a mediocre performance .
There has been comparisons between Tyson Fury’s comeback and that of the “Greatest” Muhammad Ali who also came back after a long lay off to regain his World Title . For me that is NOT the comparison that should be made with Ali but there is one comparison i can see . When Ali came back into the ring he found out to his horror that his famous feet had slowed , he wasn’t the same fighter that he had been , some have even claimed that we missed the best years of Ali , I am not one of these people . I think it showed how “Great” he was that he was able to take the tools he had left and mould himself into a new fighter , that is where Fury should be drawing inspiration . We are all waiting on the Fury that beat Klitschko to comeback but the truth is i don’t think that Fury exists anymore . Fury should take the skills he does have left and reinvent himself , he does still have the hand speed , very quick feet for a heavyweight and a fantastic boxing brain .
I will never criticise a fighter for daring to be great . I think Fury taking on Wilder in his third fight is a breath of fresh air to the sport and could see him become a modern day great . I also fear that Fury will not admit to himself he is not the same the fighter and if he makes the same mistakes he did on Saturday night when he’s in with Wilder he will be punished .
So what a slow couple of weeks it has been for boxing fans . Going through the boxing news looking for inspiration to get an opinion piece out has been painful and disheartening and with interviews not booked in until next week things have been slow . So what could i write about ??? I have never really spoken of my devastation of watching Boxnation “The Home of Boxing” die a slow painful death .
BoxNation was launched back in 2011 the brain child of promoter Frank Warren who had the vison of giving the basket case which is boxing a home . Boxing is a sport like no other when it comes to tv deals due to the amount of platforms world wide that like to dabble in the sport . For so many years international fights could only be seen on dodgy streams online or if YouTube would let people upload the fights without infringing there copyright rules , and if you remember the days before the internet international fight were brought to you through Ring Magazine where you could read reports and even build up relationships with fellow readers across the world by answering adverts and exchanging video tapes via post ….. i am stressed just think about that . Warren had the simple but great idea of giving boxing a home , a place where his stable could be on show to a TV audience who would buy into the idea to have a place to watch these fights and some top class fights from around the world which would otherwise go unnoticed . This idea was met with scepticism across the board as this was a pre Anthony Joshua world we lived in and no matter how you dress it up the sport just wasn’t that big in the UK , boxing was a stop off , a gap filler and nobody is going to subscribe to channel dedicated to it was the cry from many across the board , but for a while they were wrong .
I do not like using the phrase ” Casual ” or ” Hardcore ” for two reasons , one is i think to label yourself makes you a wanker and the second reason is a fan through definition is someone that supports the the sport in some way or another and boxing isn’t a big enough sport for fan snobbery . The ” Hardcore ” element bought into the concept right away, enjoying some great small hall shows and even the prestigious amateur team boxing tournament The World Series of Boxing . As Warren started bringing massive international fights , even securing the rights to bring GGG vs Canelo to the UK screens the ” Casuals ” started to buy into the concept as well and BoxNation was must have for boxing fans .
We all knew from the start that this was never going to to be a massive success and take over boxing but BoxNation did hold it’s own and for a while , it even outperformed the super power that is Sky Sports , forcing Sky to try and compete on the International fight stage , something they had never done before unless there was a PPV attached , as time passed even the most avid boxing fan started to wonder how long this could go on as we had it all and in real terms it wasn’t costing to much to have it either .
For months there had been story’s emerging that the BoxNation was struggling but Frank Warren was in talks with BT Sport , another Super Power in UK sports leading to the assumption that BT Sports would take control of BoxNation and the channel would be safe guarded as long as Warren could keep BT Sports happy , but soon after the deal between Warren/BT Sports was agreed things didn’t seem right . In the beginning BT Sport subscribers were told ” Cancel your BoxNation subscription as it is part of your BT subscription now ” which was fine until the same fans were then told that those who get Boxnation through BT will need to fork out for Canelo/GGG what , what was going on ? Was BoxNation a separate entity ? .With the backing of BT Frank could now attract the like of Carl Frampton and Tyson Fury but in the build up to these domestic superstars shows fans didn’t know if the fight would be shown on BoxNation , which you would think can only be right since people are forking out £12 per month for BoxNation ….well no that wasn’t the case . As it turns out guys like Frampton and Fury were not signed on the same deal that included BoxNation having the rights , which in effect cut this small pioneering tv channel loose . So subscribers were left asking ” What am I paying for ?”
Don’t want to pay crazy PPV prices ???? Click on picture BoxNation has just signed fight deals with MTK and Top Rank after a few month of nobody knowing what was going on and the channel showing nothing but re-runs . This deal has diluted the channel to what the Nay sayers had predicted from the start . I for one love what MTK do for there fighters and if you speak to any of the MTK lads they cannot speak anymore highly of the MTK team and brand but small hall shows are small hall for reason . Small hall shows historically have been used as an apprenticeship to the big time in boxing , in the words of Frank Sinatra ” If you can make it there you’ll make it anywhere ” . These guys go and learn there trade away from the cameras so in three years time you might see a 12-0 prospect who has grafted to be on TV , this deal fly’s in the face of that . Another concern i have is that the biggest pressure on small hall fighters I’ve learned through speaking to them is not what they do in the ring , in the ring they are in control , the feedback i get is the pressure of ticket sales can take it’s toll and even make promising youngsters give up the sport , so i don’t see how putting these show on TV will help these guys in the ticket selling department .
It is obvious that Frank Warren has signed BoxNation’s DNR , the channel which kept his credibility through the hard times of playing second fiddle to Eddie Hearn has been cut adrift and i for one am devastated .The effects are already being felt in the UK with massive international fights like Garcia vs Easter Jnr and Kovalev vs Alvarez going untelevised here in the UK in just the past couple of weeks , a couple of years ago we had it all now it’s back to the same old …from where i am sitting BoxNation is all but dead .
Steven Donnell
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Last weekend we had the pleasure of watching one of the best technicians in boxing Mikey Garcia become a unified champion in the 135lbs division when he beat Robert Easter Jnr . I always find the week after a Garcia fight I find myself reeling , replaying some of his actions over in my head , he truly is a joy to watch .
Garcia may be one of the best in the business but surprisingly he is far from the superstar that his his skills deserve . It seems a lot of the usual ever loyal Mexican fanbase just can’t bring themselves to love this man who is proud of his Mexican heritage . I have heard all sorts of reasons for this like the Mexican fanbase lost interest whilst Garcia sat out on two years of boxing trying to get out of deal with with top rank . Another reason I’ve heard is that Garcia doesn’t embrace the Mexican fighting style , he is to much of technician . If there is anybody out there that thinks the latter of these reasons then maybe boxing isn’t the sport for you , but could Garcia be about to make a massive mistake to prove these people wrong ? .
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It has been reported this week that Showtime are planning a Garcia vs Spence PPV in December, a fight that Mikey has been shouting for . This fight could be suicide for Garcia as it would see him have to jump up TWO weight divisions from 135lbs to 147lbs , not to mention that Spence is massive at 147lbs , a crazy fight choice especially when there is a better fight at his own weight waiting to be made .
If you asked any boxing fan to name three fights they would want to see , Garcia vs Lomachenko will be on that list . This is a fight that would bring two styles together with two master craftsmen come together in there prime . Yes there is the full Top Rank issue who promote Loma but I’m confident that both could come to an agreement . This is also a fight that at long last would get Mikey Garcia the recognition from the boxing world he deserves .
Burnett vs Donaire looks set for Glasgow…NOT Belfast 
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Iam a massive George Groves Fan and feel groves has the far superior boxing brain ….i don’t even think it will be that close
djayboxing 