All posts by FNU47

Top USA amateur boxers adjusting to life without fights & waiting another year for Olympics show

Arjan Iseni training during the pandemic
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 23, 2020) — Amateur boxing, as in the professional ranks, has been shut-down worldwide due to the Coronavirus pandemic. USA Boxing members are adjusting to these challenging and trying times all across the country.
 
Gyms and schools are closed, tournaments suspended, and the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo have been postponed a year. Members of the Elite Qualification, Youth and Junior High Performance teams are home rather than in Colorado Springs training at the state-of-art United States Olympic and Paralympic Training Center.
 
How are some of the leading U.S. amateur boxers living during this period without fights?
 
ELITE OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TEAM

Joseph Hicks (Grand Rapids, Michigan), 26-year-old middleweight, USA Ranking #2
Gold medal performances: 2019 National Golden Gloves; 2017 & 2018 Eastern Elite Qualifier; 3-time Eastern Elite Qualifier (2017-2019)
 
Hicks was within one qualifier victory of officially becoming a member of the 2020 Team USA Olympic Boxing Team. He is taking advantage of the break, though, spending quality time with his wife and young daughter.
 


I personally feel that this has been a blessing in disguise, because I have more time to improve on the things the USA coaches have been telling me to work on. I live in an apartment in Lansing (MI), but I’ve been staying with my mom in Grand Rapids so I can comfortably train. It’s weird in a way, but I miss getting punched at. I’ve been trying to adapt to the new normal, but I can’t wait to be back at the training center (in Colorado Springs).
 
“I love that I can see my daughter every day to give her all my attention, but she misses the gym as much as me. My wife and mother have been very supportive. I believe waiting another year will only make me better by the time the Olympics are here.”
 
Oshae Jones, (Toledo, Ohio), 22-year-old welterweight, USA Ranking #1
Gold Medal Performances: 2020 Olympic Team Trials, 3-time Elite National Championships (2016-2019), 2017 Eastern Elite Qualifier, 2016 Youth Open, 2014 National PAL. International: 2020 Strandja Tournament & 2019 Pan-American Games
 
Jones had been on a roll leading up to the since postponed Americas Qualifier to lock a roster spot on the 2020 Team USA Olympic Boxing Team. She has been training at her family’s gym in Toledo, as well as getting more involved in community services and functions.



“I have not adapted to life without boxing, because boxing will never leave my life. My family / coaches have a gym connected to our house we live in. Boxing is not a sport, it’s a lifestyle .

“My heart dropped when I first heard that the Olympics were postponed. Everything that I have been working toward for basically my whole life is on pause until next July. I do not know how I  feel or how to express how I feel. The only thing I can do is try to stay motivated.”
 
 
YOUTH HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM
 
Arjan Iseni (Staten Island, New York), 17-year-old light heavyweight, USA Ranking #1
Gold Medal Performances: 2019 Youth National Championships, Eastern Regional Open & Youth Open
 
Iseni lives in the Coronavirus epicenter, Staten Island, NY. He and his father built a small ring in their backyard (see picture below) because he couldn’t train in any gyms.
 
“It’s very hard to know that I won’t be able to represent Team USA this year in any international tournaments. This is my last year as a youth boxer, but I have been training very hard during quarantine, and I will be ready for whatever is next for me.
 
“It is hard knowing that I will not be fighting soon, but this gives me more time to perfect the little flaws in my game, and I’ll comeback stronger when this all ends. Hopefully, everything goes back to normal soon, so I can get back to fighting actively and hopefully make Team USA as an Elite boxer.”
 

Shera Mae Patricio (Waianae, Hawaii), 17-year-old flyweight, USA Ranking #1
Gold Medal Performances: 2019 Youth National Championships & Western Regional Open; 2018 Youth National Championships & Western Regionals Open; 2017 National Junior Olympics & National Golden Gloves
 
Patricio lives the furthest away from training camp and her teammates, but her family owns a boxing gym, and training/sparring isn’t as a problem for her because she has eight siblings.
 


“We are in quarantine and I have adapted to life without fights by continuing to train at our personal gym with my siblings. Training hasn’t been a problem for us because we have our own personal gym. We sanitize all the equipment and the gym before and after training. Since there are no fights coming soon, we have been sharpening up our skills and building more knowledge We’ve been gaining strength and keeping up our endurance. On weekends, my dad rides a bike while we run laps to get some sunlight, and sometimes we do sprint drills outside.
 
“Our family is a boxing family that started with my dad as he was a boxer. He started training me, only for defense, but it started to get serious in 2015 when I won my first tournament in Kansas. All of my other siblings are also boxers and they’re also multiple-time champions. My siblings and I have been getting a ton of family time staying home together. This quarantine has made us even closer. Our bond makes us stronger individually and as one. I’m far away from training in Colorado Springs, but my teammates are only a phone call away. I’m able to stay in touch and that’s very warming. Some of the coaches check on me to see how I’ve been doing. I looked forward to all the tournaments I planned to fight in and I’m disappointed they’ve been postponed, but I have more time to be even better prepared for my next fight.”    
 
JUNIOR HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM

Steven Navarro (Los Angeles, California) 16-year-old flyweight, USA Ranking #1
Gold Medal Performances: 2019 Junior National Championships & National PAL; 2018 Junior National Championships; 2017 Prep Open & Western Regional Open
 
Navarro was training in Colorado Springs to prepare for international competition in Bulgaria, but the trip was cancelled two days before Navarro and his teammates were scheduled to depart.
 


“As a member of the USA Boxing Junior Team, I look forward to every fight / tournament, because it could be my last. So it was very heartbreaking when I was notified that our fights in Bulgaria and future international fights were cancelled due to this pandemic. I continue working as hard as I do on a regular basis: waking up at 5 in the morning, running 5-6 miles in nearby hills, of course wearing my mask. I come home to take my online classes from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., which gives me a 2-hour nap before heading to my private gym. I am the only person who trains at my gym every day at 4:30 p.m. Once I get to the gym, I begin stretching for 3 rounds (3-minute rounds), shadow box for 5-7 rounds, then I hit five varieties of punching bags (3 rounds each). Afterwards, I work mitts (5-8 rounds) where I focus on different movements and situations that could possibly happen in a fight. I often hit the double-end bag and speed bag for 3 rounds. I finish my boxing training with 15 min. of jump rope.

“I train on a daily basis for 2 hours with my father/coach Refugio Navarro. This pandemic is a bit of a gamble due to not having access to sparring. I do tend to ‘move’ with my father once every week, but the experience is different. Once finished, I head to my grandparents’ house (only one block away from my home) to do my strength and conditioning. I do wear a mask and gloves when working out there. My grandfather is a bodybuilder and has his gym setup in his garage. I work-out with my grandfather for a good hour, constantly disinfecting all equipment, to wrap-up my day. I work with what I have, which is a blessing. Boxing isn’t a season sport, you must stay ready all year for anything, and that’s what I continue to do as I strive for greatness.”

Fernanda Chavez (Dallas, Texas), 14-year-old bantamweight, USA Ranking #2
Gold Medal Performances: 2019 Junior Open; 2018 Prep Open & Eastern Regional
 


Chavez is a first-year member of the Junior High Performance Team and her inaugural training camp in Colorado Springs was pushed back.
 
“Adapting to this new lifestyle hasn’t been the easiest. I’m thankful I have my family, as we’ve been going on daily runs and workouts at parks. My family understands the importance of my athleticism and staying fit, which is why we continue to motivate each other during this tough time. I’m not sure when our lives will return to normal, which is why I’m still prepared at all times.
 
“The things I’m looking forward to most at camp in Colorado Springs is meeting other junior females on the team, as well as learning the different styles they bring. I also look forward to creating bonds between my new teammates and coaches from across the nation.” 
 
 

Arjan Iseni’s backyard ring in Staten Island



INFORMATION:
 
www.usaboxing.org 
Twitter: @USABoxing
Instagram: @USABoxing
Facebook: /USABoxing
 
ABOUT USA BOXING: To promote and grow Olympic-style amateur boxing in the United States and to inspire the tireless pursuit of Olympic gold and enable athletes and coaches to achieve sustained competitive excellence. Additionally, USA Boxing endeavors to teach all participants the character, confidence and focus they need to become resilient and diverse champions, both in and out of the ring. USA Boxing is one team, one nation, going for gold!

USA Wrestling postpones National and Regional events through July 1

Due to the nature of what it would entail to host a national or regional USA Wrestling competition, with the first priority being the health and safety of all participants involved, USA Wrestling has extended the postponement of its national and regional events through July 1.

In addition to the 10 national and regional events that USA Wrestling previously postponed through May 10, there are 10 additional events which have now been postponed:

    • Western Regional Championships, Farmington, UT, May 14-16
    • Northern Plains Regional Championships, Rochester, MN, May 15-17
    • Central Regional Championships, Fort Wayne, IN, May 15-17
    • Southeast Regional Championships, Wilmington, NC, May 22-24
    • UWW U23 & Junior World Team Trials, Geneva, OH, May 29-31    
    • Southern Plains Regional Championships, Dodge City, KS, June 5-7
    • 16U National Duals, Loves Park, IL, June 9-13
    • 14U National Duals, Franklin, IN, June 10-14
    • Junior National Duals, Tulsa, OK, June 16-20
    • USA Wrestling Kids Nationals, Wisconsin Dells, WI, June 25-27

Working with its COVID-19 Advisory Committee and relying on current advice from health and government agencies, USA Wrestling is currently formulating the specific safety measures that must be put in place in order for the resumption of club practice and local or state competitions. Any such activity will only be possible when held under the guidelines set by local and state health authorities and in compliance with the safety measures being developed for the sport. 

As this situation regarding this pandemic remains fluid and ever-evolving, USA Wrestling will continue to monitor its policies regarding National and Regional events, sanctioned events and club practices, and additional changes to these policies are possible. 

Unhappy birthday coming up for undefeated lightweight prospect Jamaine “The Technician” Ortiz

WORCESTER, Mass. (April 15, 2020) –  Even in his wildest dreams, undefeated World Boxing Council (WBC) Youth World lightweight champion  Jamaine “The Technician” Ortiz (13-0, 7 KOs) never could have ever imagined that his 24th birthday, later this month, would fall smack in the middle of a worldwide health pandemic

When he turns 24 on April 28th, Ortiz figured he’d be preparing for training camp with a spring fight date set, likely defending his WBC Youth World title of fighting for a regional belt  of some sort.

He certainly didn’t think boxing would be banned around the world, gyms closed by a state mandate, and people wearing facemasks and plastic gloves like they’re in a Sci-Fi movie. And, to boot, his job as a licensed carpenter ended closed shop last Friday.  Like everybody else in the Bay State.

Ortiz is basically self-quarantined at home, although he’s still running, training, eating well and doing everything else to maintain decent shape.  Not elite boxing shape, though, which simply isn’t possible under these restrictive and trying times.

Instead of sparring, he’s shadow boxing, jumping rope has replaced pad-work with his trainers, Rocky Gonzalez and Carlos Garcia, and now his living room serves as his gym.

Times have been dramatically altered, indeed, even celebrating birthdays, which Jamaine fully understands and accepts. 

“I don’t think my birthday will be any different,” Ortiz said.  “I usually spend it alone with my mother and daughter (4-year-old Amira) and this year probably won’t be any different.  I won’t be able to get in a whole bunch of sparring rounds that I usually ask for (laughing) as presents from some of my friends.“ 

Fortunately, though, Ortiz was able to fight this past February 28 in his first action in six months, headlining a CES Boxing-promoted card at home in Worcester, Massachusetts, in which he  registered an impressive second-round stoppage of Mexican knockout specialist “Loco” Luis Ronaldo Castillo (22-6, 17 KOs), a former WBC  FECOMBOX lightweight champion.

Ortiz, presently rated No. 16 by the North American Boxing Federation (NABF), aspires to attend medical school after he hangs up his gloves for good, to become a doctor/researcher.  He reads a lot about medicine, especially holistic treatments, and he believes that he may have already had the coronavirus.

“Five weeks before my last fight,” he explained, “I was in the hospital with a temperature of 104.5.  Just about everybody I knew was sick, my grandmother had pneumonia. I never really get sick.  I had a flu shot for seven years without an issue.  I developed a cough, too.  I felt like I was going to die.  I can’t say with certainty I had coronavirus (there was no test available then), but I feel like I may have had it.” 

Ortiz will be ready for the night the ring bell will finally sound again.  “I hope to be fighting again in July or August, but, no matter when boxing returns, I’ll be ready to go.

“This is a serious, contagious disease.  People should use common sense: wash your hands, stay separated by six feet, and stay at home, especially the elderly and people with respiratory problems. Don’t take any unnecessary risks or panic, either.  This isn’t the end of the world!” 

Royce Gracie Hosts Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Seminar Live Today at 3 p.m. PST / 6 p.m. EST on Bellator MMA’s Social Channels

Today at 3 p.m. PST / 6 p.m. EST on Bellator MMA’s social channels, one of the most influential MMA fighters of all-time, Royce Gracie, will be teaching a Brazilian jiu-jitsu seminar.

The event will begin promptly on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

SHOWTIME BOXING WITH ERIC RASKIN AND KIERAN MULVANEY PODCAST FEATURES PROMOTER DMITRIY SALITA AND HEAVYWEIGHT CONTENDER OTTO WALLIN AS HE DISCUSSES HIS BOUT WITH COVID-19

Plus, Steve Farhood Breaks Down Some Of The Fiercest Rematches In Boxing History

Click Below To Listen To Latest Installment Of SHOWTIME BOXING PODCAST

https://s.sho.com/3bkvFp1

NEW YORK – April 14, 2020 – This week’s installment of the digital podcast series SHOWTIME BOXING WITH ERIC RASKIN AND KIERAN MULVANEY features heavyweight contender Otto Wallin, who recently recovered from COVID-19, and promoter Dmitriy Salita in an interview about life in quarantine and the effect the virus has had on the sport of boxing. Plus, Hall of Fame analyst and boxing historian Steve Farhood joins this week’s Revenge: The Rematches segment to discuss Azumah Nelson vs. Jesse James Leija II, Gerald McClellan vs. Julian Jackson II, and Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Frankie Randall II. Click the following link to listen to the full episode, https://s.sho.com/3bkvFp1.

Excerpts from the episode:

On COVID-19 and its effect on the sport of boxing…

Salita – “It’s a really unpredictable environment right now. Boxing is an international sport. Now more than ever, fighters come to the U.S. from all over to train and fight. It’s really important that the whole world heals so that things can go back to normal.”

Wallin – “This virus is very serious. People are dying – people from the gym have died. I didn’t have many symptoms when I had it, but it spread to my mother’s boyfriend who is a diabetic and he was very ill. When you are home, don’t just stay on the couch. You have to come up with ideas to keep yourself busy and do something.”

On staying in shape during quarantine…

Wallin – “I am trying to make the best of the situation, and I can do a lot with what I have now. It’s working alright. I do some boxing punching on the wall and lots of shadow boxing.”

On Salita Promotions’ Train Like a Boxer YouTube Series…

Salita – “We were thinking of ways to keep connections between the fighters and the fans. Everyone is stuck at home, no one can go to work and it’s important to stay healthy and active. We thought we could let the fans know about what the fighters are doing at home and keep communication between everyone going.”

On what’s next for Wallin…

Salita – “In the fight with [Tyson] Fury you can see how amazing his performance was. Numbers don’t lie, Otto landed more punches against Fury than any opponent including [Vladimir] Klitschko and [Deontay] Wilder –in the first fight. Otto is a world-class fighter, and hopefully we get back to business and he can show that he is one of the best heavyweights in the world.”

On Chavez vs. Randall II…

Farhood – “I think it was a sign Chavez was getting to the end, he was only 31 but he had 90 fights and I think Randall got him at the right time. Watching Randall in both fights boxing so well reminded me a bit of Buster Douglas against [Mike] Tyson. This guy didn’t give you anything to think he could do something like this – just boxing beautifully. I thought Randall probably deserved the rematch decision by a point, but it was a very close fight.”

The weekly SHOWTIME BOXING podcast features Raskin and Mulvaney diving deep into the world of boxing and SHOWTIME boxing events. New episodes are released on all major podcast platforms every Monday, including Radio.com.

CONTENDERS CLOTHING LAUNCHES FIGHTING FOR FIGHTERS FUND – ALL PROCEEDS TO GO DIRECTLY TO PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS AFFECTED BY THE COVID-19 CRISIS!

FIGHTERS CAN SIGN UP NOW FOR A DIRECT PAYMENT SENT OUT FIRST WEEK OF MAY ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE NEW’GO THE SOCAL DISTANCE’ FUNDRAISER T-SHIRT& 10% OF SALES AT CONTENDERSCLOTHING.COM TO GO TO FUND
Las Vegas, NV. (April 13, 2020): Contenders Clothing is proud to announce the creation of the Fighting for Fighters Fund, a new program that will put money directly, and immediately, into the hands of professional fighters affected by the current Covid-19 crisis.

With combat sports across the United States being suspended indefinitely, many fighters who earn a living competing professionally are self-employed contractors leaving them out of work and not eligible for state unemployment. While there is money earmarked for contract workers under the Cares Act, funds have been hard to, if not impossible, to access, leaving many working class fighters in dire need of assistance.

“While some well-known apparel companies are donating to large and mostly worldwide health organizations, we’ve yet to see any company directly help fighters,” said Contenders Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Snyder.

“We have been embraced by professional fighters of all levels who have worn our boxer briefs and t-shirts at weigh ins and we truly consider anyone who wears us as part of our family. They’ve had our back and now it’s time to have theirs.”

Funding for Fighting for Fighters will come from the sales of an exclusive, ‘Go The Social Distance’ t-shirt created specifically as a fundraiser for the program. In addition, Contenders Clothing is giving 10% of every single sale throughout the entire month of April at www.contendersclothing.com directly into the fund.

Payments will go out the first week of May and will be divided equally from the overall amount Fighting for Fighters raises between all eligible fighters.

“We’ve come to find that fighters are special people in and out of the ring and not enough people understand their sacrifice. If Fighting for Fighters can literally buy groceries for a fighters’ family for a week or pay a utility bill at a time when they desperately need it, then we will consider it a success.”

If you are an active professional fighter based in the United States whose income has been affected by the Covid-19 crisis please sign up at:
https://contendersclothing.com/pages/contenders-fighting-for-fighters-fund

If you’d like to purchase the Go the Social Distance t-shirt and have all proceeds go to the Fighting for Fighters Fund, please head to:
https://contendersclothing.com/collections/t-shirts/products/go-the-social-distance-tee

ABOUT CONTENDERS CLOTHING
Contenders Clothing’s boxer brief line, which contains the first ever officially licensed Muhammad Ali and Rocky collections, has been a favorite of professional boxers at weigh-ins since launching in 2018. From world champions such as Tyson Fury to up and coming contenders and prospects, Contenders has been at the forefront of the world of boxing apparel. 

Fight Club, Contenders Clothing’s endorsement program, was established in 2019. With a focus on working class and inspirational fighters, Contenders Fight Club has already seen one of it’s athletes, Andrew Cancio, win a world title in a massive upset. In addition to the announcement of current #1 contender and former world champion Jessie Magdaleno joining Contenders Fight Club last month, Contenders is continuing it’s commitment to the boxing industry with plans on announcing several new signees throughout 2020 that represent the future of the sport. 

For more information visit: www.contendersclothing.com
For any further information on Contenders’ Fighting for Fighters Fund – please drop us a line at chris@contendersclothing.com and we will get right back in touch. Thanks in advance for your support and helping spread the word.
Follow Contenders Clothing on Social Media! ‌  ‌  ‌

PBC KEEPS PUNCHING OUT BOREDOM!

PBC Boxers Continue to Engage Fans Through Social Media During Social Distancing

Keith Thurman, Deontay Wilder, Anthony Dirrell, Leo Santa Cruz, Gervonta Davis, Andre Berto & David Benavidez to Appear on PBC Social Media Platforms Next Week


LAS VEGAS (April 10, 2020) – Premier Boxing Champions boxers will roll into another week of taking to social media to engage with fans during social distancing. Each week PBC will present opportunities for fans to hear from boxers as they try to find ways to pass the time.
 
Former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman appears on “Time Out With Ray Flores” live on the PBC Instagram page this Monday, April 13 at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.
 
Former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and former super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell will appear on the PBC Podcast with hosts Kenneth Bouhairie and Michael Rosenthal. The Podcast will be available on Wednesday, April 15 on the PBC website, iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spreaker and other outlets.
 
WBA Super Featherweight Champion Leo Santa Cruz will appear in the “At Home With…” series, hanging out live on the PBC Facebook page on Wednesday, April 15 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. And in a special edition of “At Home With…”, WBA Lightweight Champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis will be interviewed by former welterweight champion Andre Berto live on the PBC Instagram page on Friday, April 17 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.
 
WBC Super Middleweight Champion David Benavidez will appear on “Going The Distance” on the PBC YouTube page on Thursday, April 16. Benavidez will be breaking down his fight against Anthony Dirrell at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.
 
In addition, “PBC Replay” will feature a replay of the full televised card for the first Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares showdown on the PBC YouTube page on Saturday, April 18 at 8 p.m. E/5 p.m. PT.
 
This week’s schedule is loaded with some of PBC’s top attractions sharing their insights and life during these challenging times. Stay tuned. There’s more to come.
 

A remarkable boxing journey like no other 1972 Olympic gold medalist “Sugar” Ray Seales

(Ray Seales is in the front row, second in from the left)
 


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 9, 2020) — Imagine being the lone boxer from your country to capture an Olympic gold medal, only days after the infamous Munich massacre. Now imagine also having won a remarkable 338 of 350 amateur matches, having fought a trilogy as a professional with “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler, being declared legally blind in both eyes (having entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr. pickup a six-figure medical bill), regaining sight in one eye, then working as a teacher of autistic students for 17 years.
 
“Sugar” Ray Seales has truly lived a surreal life, to say the least, and he’s still involved in boxing at the age of 67, as a successful coach of amateur boxers in Indianapolis.
 
Born in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Island as one of eight children in a family whose father was a boxer there as a member of the U.S. Army team, Seales started boxing at the age of nine. “I have three brothers and we always beat the crap out of each other,” he spoke about his start in boxing. “Learning how to box, for me, was all about fighting to be the first to eat. I had gotten hit in my left eye playing dodgeball and my uncle, who was stationed at Ft. Lewis (in Tacoma, WA), told my mother there was a special doctor there who could help with my eye. My father was stationed all over and in 1964, when I was 12, my mother moved us to Tacoma, Washington.
 
“I had boxing in my system. I went with my brothers to the Downtown Tacoma Boys Club, which was only one block from our home, and my mother could watch me walk from our house to the gym and back. I was the first from there to win a Golden Gloves title. I wanted to be a winner and finished with 14 (champion) jackets. I couldn’t speak English. I knew Spanish and spoke Spanish and English together. The first word I said in English was box. We used to fight three or four times a day and we built the Tacoma Boxing Club. I went on to have a 338-12 amateur record and I’ve been in boxing ever since.”
 
Seales developed into a champion, taking top honors at the 1971 National AAU and 1972 National Golden Gloves championships. At the age of 19, Seales enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, but his mother made some calls so Ray would be able to compete in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.
 
She succeeded and the rest, as they say, is history. And when he came home from the Olympics, he was told that there was no need for him to report to the U.S. Air Force, because he had done enough in terms of service as the only American boxer to win a gold medal.
 
The 1972 Olympics, however, was overshadowed by the killing of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, as well as a West German police officer at the Olympic Village by terrorists on Black September.
 
“I had just turned 20,” Seales remembered. “Boxing was heavy when we went there. Some of my family, my coach from Tacoma, and Tacoma teammate (and 2-time U.S. Olympian)Davey Armstrong were in Germany. I didn’t know anything at first. I had to get the attention of my parents to let them know not to go there, because there were terrorists with sub-machine guns in the Olympic Village. I was the only American boxer left to fight.”
 
Seales defeated Bulgarian Angjei Anghhelov, 5-0, in the light welterweight championship to capture an Olympic gold medal, the only member of the U.S. team to do so. His teammates included Armstrong, Duane Bobick, and Olympic bronze medalists Jesse ValdezMarvin Johnson and Ricardo Carreras.
 
Sugar Ray Seales’s dedication to USA Boxing is second to none,” said Chris Cugliari, USA Boxing Alumni Director. “His pride, patriotism, and devotion to helping our next generation of champions is what makes him such an inspiring figure.”


USA Boxing Alumni Association
 
Created to champion lifelong, mutually beneficial relationships between USA Boxing and its alumni, –boxers, officials, coaches and boxing fans — The Alumni Association connects generations of champions, inspiring and giving back to USA Boxing’s future boxing champions, in and out of the ring.
 
The USA Boxing Alumni Association is open to anyone who has a love for boxing and would like to stay connected with amateur boxing. Members are granted access to a wide variety of special events hosted by the Alumni Association, including its annual USA Boxing Alumni Association Hall of Fame reception.
 
To join the Alumni Association, simply register at alumni@usaboxing.org for a $40.00 per year membership fee. New members will receive a T-shirt, keychain and e-wallet.
 

Seales turned pro in 1973, winning an 8-round unanimous decision over Gonzalo Rodriguez in Tacoma. “Sugarman” won his first 21 pro fights, until he lost a 10-round decision to 14-0 middleweight prospect and future Hall of Famer Marvin Hagler. Two fights later, Seales fought Hagler in Tacoma to a 10-round draw (99-99, 99-99, 98-96).
 
“Everybody wanted a shot at the Olympic gold medalist,” Seales explained.” I went to Boston and we fought in a TV studio (WNAC). It was freezing in there. I was shivering when I went into the ring, Marvin came out dripping sweat. I knew I was losing after seeing that, but I hung with him and went the distance (10 rounds). I was having management problems and three months later I fought Hagler again, only this time at home in Tacoma. I beat him but it ended in a 10-round draw. He knows I beat him!”
 
Seales completed his trilogy with Hagler, but it was five years later, when Hagler was 42-2-1 and avoided by most of the world’s top middleweights. “I was the USBA (United States Boxing Association) and North American Boxing Federation (NABF) middleweight champion and Hagler needed to win a title to get a world title shot,” Seales noted. “I lost our third fight in the first round, but that’s the only thing shown on television in our three fights. We were two left-handers, but he switched to right-handed, and he caught me with a hook. I got paid and they bought him a world title fight.”    
 
Seales has coached two different amateur teams in Indianapolis during the past 11 years, winning 10 Golden Gloves team championships, and he’s still in charge in Indy of Team IBG.
 
After he retired in 1984 after suffering detached retinas in both eyes, Seales was introduced in Las Vegas to Sammy Davis, Jr. (pictured below), who paid Seales’ $100,000 medical bill for his damaged eyes. Davis had lost his left eye in a 1952 car accident
 
  
 
“I’m a teacher,” Seales concluded. “I see the way that so many boxers want to fight likeFloyd Mayweather. Their head is tilted, they can’t throw a jab. I teach them to have the right foot behind the left (for a right-handed boxer), and to walk in straight, not tilted or peaking. Heel toe, heel toe every time you pivot is your stance.
 
“My advice for the boxers who hope to compete in the 2020 Olympics is to focus on what you’re doing and listen to how to get it done. What I really want to do is to coach the USA Olympic Boxing Team 2024.”

INFORMATION:
www.usaboxing.orgi
Twitter: @USABoxing, @USABoxingAlumni
Instagram: @USABoxing

The All-Natural, Non-Toxic Immune system booster that could Revolutionize Health Care as we know it

MY EXPERIENCE WITH 714X AND WHY I BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE MORE WIDELY USED ACROSS THE WORLD

By: Rich Bergeron

My father died in the hospital on a ventilator last June in a situation that is eerily similar to what is going on in hospitals all over the country right now. It was the most egregious example of the broken traditional healthcare system that I have ever seen.

My father did not give up or “let go.” Hospital staff purposely medicated him to death when they determined he could not be “weaned off” the ventilator, a machine they only put him on to do a heart catheter procedure that he didn’t even need.

My stepmother, my father’s second wife (see part one for the story of how Dad lost my mother), had some major heart issues late in her life that sent her to the Intensive Care Unit as well. She died a few years before my father, but I would later discover the above “memo” from her days in nursing school. It was obviously meant as a joke when she wrote it, but it became her sad, true story when I discovered it just a few months ago.

The point of including her ominous words here is to illustrate how little medicine has really changed in the grand scheme of things. Medical professionals are clearly doing the same old thing in dealing with critical patients. They are constantly repeating the same mistakes they were making when my stepmother was a nurse decades ago. Some of the devices and drugs they use have changed, but their practices and procedures on treating dangerous conditions and diseases are still stale and tired.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo holds daily press conferences detailing the damage being done by the “novel” Corona Virus sweeping across the world right now. This is an exact quote from one of his little press parties:

“The longer you are on a ventilator the less likely you will ever come off that ventilator, and as we have now some period of time when people first entered the hospital and were first intubated, we’re seeing that death number go up as their length on the ventilator increases.”

Another New York doctor went further and explained that there are “safer” ways to use ventilators for lung issues like those we are seeing in Covid-19 patients. Cameron Kyle-Sidell, MD published a sincere, urgent message through YouTube as Corona ravaged New York City. He called on fellow physicians and supervisors to challenge “long held, dogmatic beliefs within the medical community and among lung specialists, which will not be easy to overcome.”

Dr. Kyle-Sidell still thinks ventilators are needed, but other experts insist it is a blood oxygen issue. These medical professionals suggest: “more patients could receive simpler, noninvasive respiratory support, such as the breathing masks used in sleep apnea, at least to start with and maybe for the duration of the illness.”

Before I get into the meat of the story I’m trying to tell about 714X, it’s critical to point out the true mess we are in when it comes to the health care we have in the United States. It was a mess my father faced when there was no pandemic at all. It’s a mess my family’s dealt with one way or another for my entire life.

Our problem is that there is always someone pushing the wrong product, procedure or equipment based solely on sales and manipulating numbers for investors. Unlike the old “snake oil” folks who gave natural medicine a bad name, the tonics that big pharma is selling are toxic to the core.

We see the warnings on the airwaves all the time. Watch a drug commercial and count the side effects while watching the people in the ad doing things that have no relation to the condition or alleviation of the symptoms. Listen to those segments when they tell you what debilitating things “have happened” to the drug’s users. This is the part where words like lymphoma get thrown out. How can we not see that capitalist medicine as we know it has no qualms about hurting people to make a profit? Why is it that nothing they sell to you is ever really a “cure” of any kind?

The drug commercials often tell you to consult a doctor before stopping the medication. Traditional medicine’s dogma and tired approach to “maintaining” a person’s “health” are both tied directly to dollar bills. It’s all designed to keep you in their loop, continuously shelling out money for doctor/clinic visits and medication. This is how we end up with drugs like Fentanyl and Oxycontin that make both legal and illegal practitioners (AKA Drug Dealers) of health care a fortune while leaving broken lives behind them. Our system promotes suffering to pad the bottom line.

Consider the case of Glyphosate, known as RoundUp Weed Killer. Lawsuits claiming the insecticide gave people cancer began sprouting up everywhere over the last couple years. It was not uncommon during this time period to see a RoundUp commercial actually selling the product right after or before a commercial for a law firm seeking to find people injured by the product. So the media plays both sides of such issues and proves itself as always willing to profit off the misery of others.

The lawsuit commercials have since died down, but they still appear sporadically. Meanwhile, RoundUp is taking advantage of all the folks stuck at home in this “pandemic” by running persistent ads touting that the brand has been “trusted for 40 years.” This is particularly disturbing considering there is at least one expert suggesting the toxic main ingredient in RoundUp is actually causing the most serious issues people face when they come down with Corona Virus.

My father always badmouthed glyphosate before he died last year. One of his favorite hobbies was gardening. His last spoken words to me were a reminder to make sure I watered his plants. Another toxic product he condemned was the one he knew killed his second wife.

My stepmother Jean died due to a fatal bleeding event in the hospital, which my father believed the medication Plavix was solely responsible for. During his own conscious time at the hospital, he refused the heart catheter because he knew they wanted to use Plavix on him. I also refused for the same reason when nurses and doctors pushed me to OK the procedure after my father went under sedation.

One day I received a chilling call from a doctor with a heavy Russian accent. He was again insisting that I authorize the catheter. I refused again, explaining that my father would not ever agree to Plavix being used on him. “This is your father, Richard, so it is your decision, but if it were my father, Richard, I would do it,” he later said to me.

I pushed back again and inquired as to if there was another way to do the procedure without the Plavix. Almost without hesitation, the physician told me nonchalantly that “We can use Brillinta. It is safer.”

I did not realize how totally ridiculous that entire admission was until much later, long after the procedure was over and done with. Here was a practicing doctor admitting unwittingly that he was purposely pushing a medication on my father when he knew there was a much safer alternative. I also did not understand how such an invasive procedure could help my father with the real issue of his pneumonia. The Russian doc insisted that the catheter needed to be done since my father was having a heart attack on paper. The results indicated otherwise. There was nothing they could do for his heart during the catheter procedure, and the damage they did find to his heart turned out to be minimal.

I later spoke with the ICU nurses a few days before my father passed away, and I told them I worried that they were shocking his system with all the sedatives and blood thinners they gave him. Here was a man in their care who had no history of regular pharmaceutical use, and they kept on bombarding him with toxic, potent drugs. Ultimately they used similar painkillers and sedatives like Fentanyl to put him down like a house pet.

I saw a man who wanted desperately to live when I visited my father before they knocked him out. He was conscious of his numbers on all the monitors and proud of the fact that they showed improvement. Pneumonia did not kill my father. The intubation, ventilation, catheter procedure, and other medical issues he faced in his already weakened physical state is what really made recovery impossible. The toxic chemicals and drugs they flooded him with took him out of what should have been a conscious fight for his life.

The toxins we ingest as humans do not typically come from nature, unless of course you live near an active volcano. These toxins can poison our systems and infect our blood. One place toxins tend to collect and block proper flow and filtering of fluid is in the lymph system. Lymph fluid in sick patients often becomes stagnant, leading to degenerative diseases or conditions. So where are the medical products designed to liquefy the lymph and break down toxins trapped there?

The above image is the pictorial representation of the Somatidian Cycle, which a Canadian biologist named Gaston Naessens first identified after inventing and building a special microscope.

Naessens recognized that there were tiny particles in the blood which moved or “danced” in a particular rhythm between the blood cells. These particles had 16 stages they would go through in a life cycle, and Naessens discovered that only the first three stages appeared in healthy people with no underlying diseases or conditions. He subsequently invented 714-X to fortify something he called “the protection gate” that theoretically would prevent somatids from transitioning from a third stage healthy state to a 4th stage onset of disease.

I took a cycle of 714-X myself that began on March 16th, 2020. Although the start date of 3/16 seems to hint at a religious message, I am actually agnostic, but I did go to Catholic School up until 6th grade. John 3:16 reads: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The quote is about faith, which is a more powerful healer than most people will admit, especially if they wear the white robe of a doctor. I do have spiritual faith and believe in human kindness and taking up righteous causes for worthy people. I just do not choose to worship any particular god or supreme being. Faith is not religion in that context. Faith is often just the strongly held belief that everything is going to work itself out and be fine.

During my cycle of 714-X I encountered an employee in my logging business who had all the symptoms of Covid-19. His entire family was infected with the bug, or at the very least they all had serious flus. My co-worker was even staying in my house during the days he suffered the worst fever and body aches. I continued to work with him, and I developed no symptoms of my own.

I also made great strides in my workout routines during my 21 days on 714-X. My daily runs became more effortless, my aches and pains from old injuries dissipated, and my reflexes improved. Then I sustained a pretty serious injury to the tip of my index finger while splitting wood. It was the third week of injections, so I knew that 714-X would play a role in my recovering from what appeared to be a shattered bone.

The injury happened while I was holding onto a piece of wood I just split, just about to lift it off the ground. Another worker split a piece of wood near me at the exact same time, sending the split piece smashing into the one I was holding. My index finger above the first knuckle was caught in the middle when the two butt ends of the wood pieces collided.

The pain was immediate and severe, especially when I decided I needed a splint for it to heal correctly. Just taping the popsicle stick to my finger was difficult and extremely painful. I slept a little bit that night, but not much. By the end of the second day there was almost no pain at all. I removed the splint and tape. I could run a chainsaw without a problem on the third day. It is now about a week later, and I have to bump it pretty hard to get any pain from it. It is only slightly swollen, and there is no visible bruising. I really don’t think it would have gone so smoothly for me with this injury if I was not taking 714-X.

The most daunting part of injecting yourself with 714-X is getting the needle in the right spot. You have to locate a spot that is between your belly button and your femoral artery pulse in your waistline. Missing the spot is painful, because it gives off a burning sensation when it hits the bloodstream instead of being introduced into the lymph node. The first two weeks might require repeated measurements and marking the spot with a circle before the lymph node actually raises up and solidifies as a round lump just under the skin.

Here are some video tutorials I filmed when I did my 3rd cycle in 2009:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxLbtnN75ko

I apologize in advance for the out of focus moments and the audio quality. I will be doing a new video series for the next cycle I plan to take later this year.

I definitely felt real effects from taking this product, namely an energy burst and a feeling of damage being repaired at an aggressive pace. A nagging shoulder injury went away completely during the cycle. I lost a total of 10 pounds and gained some significant muscle from running and my other workouts.

It is important to note that I also typically enjoyed up to three years without any sickness whatsoever after each of my three prior 714-X cycles. I am not taking my chances with this Corona Virus likely to mutate and come back around for another run at the US population later this year. I’ll take my second cycle in December, starting on what would have been my father’s 76th birthday.

The next cycle will be the one I obtained originally because I wanted my father to take it. The hospital would not even touch the stuff when I offered it when there was still time left. They said they could only offer him drugs from their own pharmacy. Those drugs killed him in the end, and the broken health care system that made it happen didn’t even blink. Nurses apologized and pretended to care, but it was obvious to me that if they cared they would have taken my warnings to heart.

I know everyone who reads this can tell their own horror story about their own or a loved one’s treatment at the hands of traditional medicine. “First do no harm” is the greatest lie ever told. I’m here to tell you the only harm you can do with 714-X is when you miss the injection spot. Even then, you won’t suffer any horrible side effect. It’s just a temporary burning feeling you can eliminate by keeping your ice pack on.

The only issue I experienced was some minor bruising and slight pain in the injection area from all those stabs with the needle in the same small vicinity. The benefits definitely outweigh the risks.

The true promise in this treatment is as a preventive measure to avoid sickness. If every citizen of this country took a cycle of 714-X, I don’t think we’d have any problem with viruses like the one that recently shut the country down. We would all have an immune system that would react positively and efficiently to virtually any threat.

714-X can be ordered directly from Canada through the web-site www.cerbe.com. You will also get a pack of 24 needles for injection and a packet of instructions. The company does not advertise at all, but the word of mouth reports from users who benefit from it speak for themselves. One thing you won’t ever read about 714-X is any complaints from people saying they lost someone close to them who took only 714-X.

714X has been used in Canada for the last 19 years in a compassionate use program not unlike what US President Donald Trump signed into law last year. More than 21,000 cycles were authorized by the Canadian Government over these two decades. 714X has never had any negative side effects reported. This has been confirmed during a Class Action Suit of patients against Health Canada.

Though injection is the preferred method, the product is also available in a form that can be inhaled through a nebulizer. This is always suggested only as an extra measure on top of injections, and it is only needed in cases where the upper lymphatic system is impacted by a degenerative disease or condition.

For more information about 714-X, please visit the following links:

http://customers.hbci.com/~wenonah/new/somatid.htm

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-10479-8

SHOWTIME SPORTS® TO PRESENT SHOWTIME BOXING CLASSICS, INCLUDING THREE FIGHT OF THE YEAR WINNERS, BEGINNING APRIL 10 ON SHOWTIME®

April 10: DIEGO CORRALES vs. JOSE LUIS CASTILLO I & II
April 17: PAULIE AYALA vs. JOHNNY TAPIA I & II
April 24: LUCAS MATTHYSSE vs. JOHN MOLINA, MICKEY BEY vs. JOHN MOLINA

NEW YORK – April 6, 2020 – SHOWTIME Sports will continue to serve boxing fans during the current hiatus from live sports, announcing today SHOWTIME BOXING CLASSICS with regularly scheduled replays of legendary bouts from the network’s deep archive of world championship boxing. SHOWTIME BOXING CLASSICS will air on three consecutive Friday nights beginning April 10, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. The telecasts will also be available via the SHOWTIME streaming service and SHOWTIME ANYTIME®.
 
The April slate of SHOWTIME BOXING CLASSICS will be highlighted by three Fight of the Year winners, which include some of the most heart-pounding and unforgettable fights in boxing history.
 
Friday, April 10:
Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo I – 2005 Consensus Fight of the Year (also featuring the Round of the Year and later named Fight of the Decade)
Diego Corrales vsJose Luis Castillo II
Friday, April 17:
Paulie Ayala vs. Johnny Tapia I – 1999 Ring Magazine Fight of the Year (Ayala earned Fighter of the Year honors)
Paulie Ayala vs. Johnny Tapia II
Friday, April 24:
Lucas Matthysse vs. John Molina – 2014 Consensus Fight of the Year
Mickey Bey vsJohn Molina
 
During each SHOWTIME BOXING CLASSICS telecast, Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell, the network’s versatile combat sports analysts, will host a live companion episode of their digital talk show MORNING KOMBAT on the Morning Kombat YouTube Channel. Thomas and Campbell will watch the SHOWTIME replay and react to the fights in real time, feature special guest interviews with principal participants from the bouts (fighters, trainers, referees and promoters) and take questions from fans while the bouts replay on the network.
 
“The greatest fight I’ve ever covered,” said Al Bernstein, the International Boxing Hall of Fame analyst. In a career that spans more than 40 years, including calling Hagler-Hearns, Bowe-Holyfield I and the Vazquez-Marquez trilogy, Bernstein says the first Corrales-Castillo war was the best. “This was Hagler-Hearns times three because it lasted so much longer. It was fought at a such an extraordinary skill level and to me that is what made it so special.”
 
The fights scheduled to air in April include:
 
Corrales-Castillo I (May 7, 2005, Corrales TKO 10) – After nine intense, back-and-forth rounds in a WBC and WBO lightweight unification bout, Corrales accomplishes the unthinkable, miraculously regrouping from two knockdowns in the 10th to stop Castillo and etch his name in boxing lore. After managing to beat the count (and losing a point for spitting the mouthpiece), Corrales got Castillo on the ropes and connected with a huge right hand. Corrales continued to unload on a defenseless Castillo, forcing referee Tony Weeks to halt the blazing action.
 
Corrales-Castillo II (October 8, 2005, Castillo KO 4) – Castillo, who did not make the 135-pound weight limit, making the contest a non-title bout, avenges an earlier loss to the WBC and WBO Lightweight World Champion Corrales with a one-punch, fourth-round knockout. Castillo consistently outworks Corrales and lands the harder punches in a more one-sided bout than their first affair. Castillo staggers his opponent with a right hand in the third round that sends him stumbling backward across the ring. He then scores a finishing knockdown with a left hook in the fourth that puts Corrales flat on his back.
 
Ayala-Tapia I (June 26, 1999, Ayala W 12) – In some of the fiercest two-way action in the history of Las Vegas boxing, southpaw Ayala hands Tapia his first professional loss in 49 fights and captures the WBA Bantamweight Title by the scores of 115-114 and 116-113 twice. As the boxers were being announced, Tapia walked across the ring and shoved Ayala, causing a momentary skirmish.
 
Ayala-Tapia II (October 7, 2000, Ayala W 12) – In a rematch of 1999’s Fight of the Year, the action between the heated rivals does not disappoint. However, the outcome is the same as their first meeting, with Ayala winning via controversial unanimous decision. Mayhem ensues as the decision is announced and an incensed Tapia is ushered from the ring by security.
 
Matthysse-Molina (April 26, 2014, Matthysse KO 11) – Fighting in the night’s co-main event, Matthysse steals the show with a spectacular 11th-round knockout over Molina in 2014’s Fight of the Year. The Argentine, then ranked No. 1 in the world at 140 pounds, is hurt in the first and dropped in the second and fifth rounds. But Matthysse comes back with knockdowns in the eighth, 10th and 11th rounds to turn back a determined bid by Molina.
 
Bey-Molina (July 19, 2013, Molina KO 10) – In one of ShoBox: The New Generation’s most unforgettable rounds, Molina comes back from the brink of certain defeat to dramatically knockout then-unbeaten Mickey Bey. Heading into the 10th and final round, Molina was trailing on the three judges’ scorecards by 90-81, 89-82 and 88-83.
 
New customers who sign up on SHOWTIME.com and the SHOWTIME app before May 3 can take advantage of a recently announced 30-day free trial for the SHOWTIME streaming service, available on SHOWTIME.com and the SHOWTIME app on all supported devices.