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Category Archives: boxing
12th annual Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame Induction & awards dinner review & photo gallery
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UNCASVILLE, Conn. (November 7, 2016) – Last Friday night’s 12 TH annual Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame (CBHOF) Gala Induction Ceremony and Awards Dinner, held in the Uncas Ballroom at Mohegan Sun, was a major success by all standards. HBO “judge” and International Hall-of-Famer Harold Lederman served as the event’s Master of Ceremonies.
The Class of 2016 inductees are Stamford amateur coach/boxer Orlando Montalvo, Newington former ESPN boxing director Bob Yalen, Wallingford boxer Sean Malone, Jr., New Bedford (MA) boxer “Sucra” Ray Oliveira, Waterbury judge/referee John “Duke” Lawson and Mashantucket Pequot Game & Athletic commissioner Kenny Reels.
The 2016 CBHOF award winners are its first female Boxer of the Year, Shelly “Shelito’s Way” Vincent; Jacob Marrero, Amateur Boxer of the Year; Mike Mazzulli,Professional Boxing Official of the Year; Heather Concepcion, Amateur Boxing Official of the Year; Pete Hary, Contribution to Professional Boxing; and Carlos Nieves, Contribution to Amateur Boxing.
CBHOF president John Laudati announced the imminent opening of the new Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame, located in the heart of Mohegan Sun, as well as a scholarship fund to assist young boxers in their pursuit of a higher education as they pursue their boxing dreams.
“Boxing fans will now be able to visit the beautiful Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame when they are in the casino,” Laudati said. “Thank you to the Board of Directors for all of your efforts to make this happen. Special thanks to Maynard Strickland, Don Trella, Mike Mazulli and Kim Baker who spearheaded the effort.
“I would also like to thank my friend, Tom Vaughn, whose father Tom, Sr., left money to donate to a worthy cause. Tom’s dad was a boxing fan and these funds will be earmarked and grown for future scholarships to young boxers.”
Go online to www.ctboxinghof.org for additional information about the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame, its 12th annual Gala Inductee Dinner, or past CBHOF inductees.
All pictures courtesy of Emily Harney Photography:
 2016 CBHOF inductee Kenny Reels
 2016 CBHOF inductee Sean Malone, Jr.
 2016 CBHOF inductee John “Duke” Lawson
 2016 CBHOF inductee Orlando Montalvo
 2016 CBHOF inductee Bob Yalen
 2016 CBHOF inductee “Sucra” Ray Oliveira
 2016 CBHOF Professional Fighter of the Year Shelly “Shelito’s Way” Vincent
 2016 CBHOF Amateur Boxer of the Year Jacob Marrero
 Mike Mazzulli, 2016 CBHOF Professional Boxing Official of the Year
 Pete Hary, 2016 CBHOF Contribution to Professional Boxing
 Heather Concepcion, 2016 CBHOF Amateur Boxing Official of the Year
 Carlos Nieves, 2016 CBHOF Contributor to Amateur Boxing
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ABOUT CBHOF: The Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame was founded in 2004 to honor and celebrate the careers of outstanding individuals involved in the sport of boxing. Its inaugural Induction Ceremony & Dinner was held in 2005. Connecticut’s rich boxing history could never have flourished if it weren’t for the achievements of those enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
As a non-profit organization, the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame is deeply committed to keeping the fighting spirit of Connecticut thriving through various charitable contributions.
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FANS TO ELECT THE NO. 1 KNOCKOUT IN SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® HISTORY WITH BRACKET OF 32 OF THE GREATEST KOS
VOTE NOW AT WWW.SHOWTIMEKNOCKOUTS.COM
Watch A Video Preview Of The Knockout Bracket: http://s.sho.com/2eWL44G
NEW YORK (Nov. 4, 2016) – This election season, boxing fans will vote for the greatest knockout in the 30-year history of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING. A Knockout Bracket consisting of 32 of the most dramatic and memorable KOs of the past 30 years launched on Friday, and an ultimate winner will be revealed during the Dec. 10 SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader.
The 32 candidates are into broken into four regions – heavyweights, middleweights, welterweights and the lighter weight divisions – with some of the greatest fighters of the last 30 years facing off in this unique tournament.
In the opening round of the heavyweight region, former undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield will square off with current WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder, while Hall of Famer Felix Trinidad takes on former champ Lucas Matthysse in the welterweight region.
The 16 matchups in the round of 32 launched on Friday at www.showtimeknockouts.com, and the winners will advance to the next round of voting beginning Nov. 14. Subsequent rounds will continue over the next six weeks until the ultimate reveal Dec. 10 on SHOWTIME.
Fans can join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #SHObestKO.
Banner Promotions Shelestyuk, Villa and Ndongeni shine this past Friday night in Corona, California
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Southpaw Shelestyuk, who entered the ring ranked No. 9 in the WBO and No. 13 in the WBA, turned back a determined bid by Herrera to win, despite getting docked a point for excessive holding in the fifth round.
UNDEFEATED WELTERWEIGHT TARAS SHELESTYUK WINS HARD-FOUGHT DECISION OVER JIMMY HERRERA IN SHOBOX: THE NEW GENERATION MAIN EVENT
Unbeaten Constantin Bejenaru Outpoints Steve Bujaj in Rugged Affair,
Manuel Mendez Scores One-Punch, First Round KO over Vitor Jones Freitas
Watch The Replay Monday, Nov. 7, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHO EXTREME®
Click HERE To Download Photos
Photo Credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME®
CORONA, Calif. (Nov. 4, 2016) – Tares “The Real Deal Shelestyuk maintained an unbeaten record and continued his ascent in the welterweight division with a close, unanimous 10-round decision over his toughest opponent to date, Jimmy “The Truth” Herrera in Friday’s main event of a ShoBox: The New Generation tripleheader live on SHOWTIME from the outdoor Omega Products Event Center in Corona, Calif.
Shelestyuk (15-0, 9 KOs), the 2012 Olympic Games Bronze Medalist for Ukraine, was victorious by the scores of 96-93 twice and 95-94. Despite a gutsy, gritty performance, Herrera (15-4-1, 8 KOs), of Chicago, Ill., had a three-fight winning streak end. There were no knockdowns.
In a rough and tumble, bloody collision of undefeated cruiserweights in the co-feature, southpaw Constantin Bejenaru (12-0, 4 KOs, 0-1-1 in World Series of Boxing), of Catskill, N.Y. by way of Moldova, survived a knockdown and several unintentional head butts to register a unanimous 10-round decision over Steve Bujaj (16-1-1, 11 KOs), of New York.
Local fan favorite Manuel “La Tormenta” Mendez (13-1-2, 9 KOs), of Indio, Calif., registered an impressive one-punch, 2:32 first round knockout over previously undefeated Vitor Jones Freitas (12-1, 1 ND, 6 KOs), of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, in a scheduled eight-round bout that opened the telecast.
Southpaw Shelestyuk, who entered the ring ranked No. 9 in the WBO and No. 13 in the WBA, turned back a determined bid by Herrera to win despite getting docked a point for excessive holding in the fifth round.
“It was a tough fight,’’ Shelestyuk. “He is a tough fighter, he is slow but he worked well. In the first round, I did well but my legs went on me. I think it was because I did not sleep well.
“After five rounds I started to find my rhythm. I started boxing him. I made some mistakes in there like pulling straight back. This fight will make me better. Like I said, he was tough but nothing special. When my legs went, I started to work inside. I beat him good in the last round and if there was 30 seconds more, I could have stopped him.
“I am looking forward to being more active in 2017. I will take two or three weeks off and be right back in the gym.’’
“The Truth” hurts and Herrera had more than his fair share of moments in a tight fight. Herrera, a pro since December 2009, figured to be a legitimate test for Shelestyuk and he was. But Taras was more active (landing 169 of 689 punches, compared to Herrera’s 130 of 460). Each connected 28 percent of the time.
Herrera, who had defeated undefeated prospects in four of previous nine fights, was not happy with the verdict. “It was a good fight. There is not much that I can say. I thought it was closer than the scores indicated. I had fun in there and I give him credit. He was everything I expected. He is a smart fighter.’’
“I would live to be a test dummy for all these young prospects. I thought it could have been a draw, but the people who saw it on TV can have their opinion.’’
Making his second ShoBox start, Bejenaru triumphed by the scores of 97-91 on the three judges’ scorecards. The lefthander went down from a clean, counter left hook to the chin in the fifth and got the worse of the unintentional head butts but appeared to outhustle and outfight a reluctant Bujaj most of the way.
A short cruiserweight with an awkward, herky-jerky style Bejenaru pressed the issue throughout and was much more active, throwing more than 100 more punches than Bujaj (454-336) and averaged 45 punches thrown per round compared to 38 for Bujaj.
“He’s a dirty fighter,’’ said Bejenaru after a match in which he suffered a bad cut over his left eye and a big welt on his overhead. “You look at all his fights, all he does is lead with his head. I was affected by his head butts but there was no way I was going to stop. He complains a lot, but all he did was foul. It felt to me like he bit me on the left ear after… that’s how he fights.
“The sport is boxing, not swimming and he flails his punches like a swimmer, a street fighter, not a pro fighter. He caught me with a clean shot on the knockdown but I got right up and wasn’t hurt.
“This win is a big step in my career. It will help me continue to rise me up in the rankings on my way to a title shot.’’
Bujaj, who was making his ShoBox debut, was livid afterward.
“Hell, yeah, I’m mad,” he said. “The scoring was bad. I knew what I was getting into by fighting in his backyard, but I definitely thought I won. I knocked him down. He never hurt me.”
The aggressive-minded Mendez came out patiently and allowed Freitas to throw the majority of the early punches. Mendez’ first meaningful punch of the fight was a paralyzing left hook to the body that put Freitas down and writhing in pain.
“I was surprised he didn’t take that body shot well, said Mendez, is who is trained by Joel Diaz. “I knew I hurt him, but I thought he’d get up. I saw that he wasn’t covering up very well so I knew I was going to land one eventually.”
“I was surprisingly nervous going into this fight. I was somewhat timid to start. I usually come out stronger, but it didn’t matter because we got the result that we wanted.”
“I’m pumped for the knockout win. I know it didn’t last long, but I hope the TV audience enjoyed it.”
Freitas controlled most of the round with his movement and sharper punching, but a savage hook to the body — his third connect to the body — left the Brazilian on the canvas long after the 10 count.
“I messed up,’’ a tearful Jones Freitas said. “I paused at the wrong time and he hit me with the right punch. This means nothing to me. I’m going to keep working hard and training hard. I want a rematch.”
Barry Tompkins called the ShoBox action from ringside with Al Bernstein and former world champion Raul Marquez serving as expert analysts. The executive producer is Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.
Danny Garcia Hosts Canned Food Drive & Fan Meet & Greet
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ANTHONY JOSHUA vs. ERIC MOLINA PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES & PHOTOS FOR HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DEC. 10 ON SHOWTIME®
Click HERE For Photos; Credit Lawrence Lustig/Matchroom Boxing
LONDON (Nov. 4, 2016) – Undefeated IBF Heavyweight World Champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) and challenger Eric Molina (25-3, 19 KOs) went face-to-face Friday at the kickoff press conference at Dorchester Hotel in London to formally announce their heavyweight world title fight on Saturday, Dec. 10, live on SHOWTIME from Manchester Arena in Manchester. There were 17,000 tickets sold on the first day to purchase tickets.
Joshua, a British sensation and the 2012 Olympic Games heavyweight gold medalist, will be making the second defense of the title he won over Charles Martin last April 4. Joshua knocked out previously unbeaten Dominic Breazeale in the seventh round last June 25 in his initial defense.
Molina will be getting his second opportunity at a world title. Molina has won two straight since challenging WBC title holder Deontay Wilder in 2015, including a 10th-round TKO over former world champion Tomasz Adamek last April 4 in Poland.
Here’s what the heavyweights said:
ANTHONY JOSHUA:
“I don’t think that I’ll be rusty. I’m not going to say camp is smooth or great because it’s always tough and exhausting for the body. I needed a break because I live in the gym, it’s what I’ve been doing since I was 18 and I haven’t taken my foot off the gas since. The task is to express myself under the bright lights in the arena and show what we’ve worked on in the dark corners of the gym.
“I started preparing my body for camp and then training for this date. I don’t want to mention Wladimir Klitschko too much because that’s not the relevant opponent – Eric Molina is the man that will stand across the ring from me on December 10. He’s a tough competitor and represents a strong challenge to me. We are competing for my belt and the guys that want to become world champion raise their levels by 50-60 percent.
“There’s nowhere to hide on fight night. There’s no change in my focus for Eric. Wladimir doesn’t enter the equation for me. People will talk about him and I’ll answer the questions, but that’s as far as it goes. He’s not in my mind, Eric is.
“It takes courage to step into the ring. Deontay Wilder is known as a one-punch KO artist and Eric stood up to his power, so it shows that he’s here to push the champion and take my title.
“I don’t get involved in other people’s issues or stories, it’s nothing to do with me. It wasn’t that long ago that no one cared what I was doing, so I don’t really have to prove myself to anyone aside from myself.
“The division has been blown wide open but they’ve been saying that for a while and they will keep saying it until someone dominates the division again. It’s not so much about brand and hype, it’s about guys like Eric that come with true heart and are gladiators and fight for the love of the sport, and leave everything in the ring on fight night.
“There’s a lot at stake and with Sky Sports and SHOWTIME behind us, this is a big stage to show what you have got. I’m serious about what I do and about moving forward. I don’t have a script, I can only speak from the heart; whatever Eric’s destiny is, that’s what will happen on the night. If his destiny is to become heavyweight champion, so be it. But my destiny is to carry on the path I am on and put in a dominant performance on an explosive night of boxing in Manchester.”
ERIC MOLINA:
“I’ve been in these fights before. I have no amateur experience so I’m learning no the job — and I’m getting better every fight. I fought five rounds against Wilder with a busted ankle, so everything you saw from me was done on one ankle. That’s the kind of guy this young man is facing. I fight with everything I’ve got. Even if I’m hurt, I still fight, because I know that one punch at any given moment can win me the fight. Anything can happen in the heavyweight division.
“I knew this fight was coming my way because nobody wants to fight him. Let’s be real. All the other fighters want to go and fight other guys and for the other belts and not face Anthony Joshua. I’m a guy that’s been in with Wilder – no one wants to fight Wilder, but I did, and that’s why I’m in London today and will be in Manchester on Dec. 10 putting it all on the line, body and soul. I want that IBF belt, I don’t have the option to go for another belt or down another route. This is it for me, and that means he’s going to have the toughest fight of his career, I can guarantee that.
“Tomasz Adamek had never been KO’d, so the momentum from that win in Poland was big. I felt it was time to take time off from work and put 100 percent into this.
“Back home, people know me as a certain type of fighter. On day one of my career I lost in the first round and that’s why on the back of my shirt it says ‘The Art Of Bouncing Back.’ Those aren’t just words. Boxing is the most brutal sport when it comes to trying to bounce back. Once you lose, everybody is gone from your side. There are fighters out there that say they want to bounce back but they don’t have the guts to put themselves in a position to do it. I put myself in the fight with Wilder and I went to Poland and beat Adamek to bounce back and show people who I am.
“You have to prove yourself in this sport and then you can claim the rewards. I didn’t have an easy road to get here, I’ve had to do it the hard way and I’ve earned my way here.’’
About Showtime Networks:
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, and also offers SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND and FLIX ON DEMAND®, and the network’s authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME®. Showtime Digital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNI, operates the stand-alone streaming service SHOWTIME®. SHOWTIME is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS and telco providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Apple®, Roku®, Amazon and Google. Consumers can also subscribe to SHOWTIME via Hulu, Sony PlayStation® Vue and Amazon Prime Video. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel™, and offers Smithsonian Earth™ through SN Digital LLC. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.
FANS TO ELECT THE NO. 1 KNOCKOUT IN SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® HISTORY WITH BRACKET OF 32 OF THE GREATEST KOS
VOTE NOW AT WWW.SHOWTIMEKNOCKOUTS.COM
Watch A Video Preview Of The Knockout Bracket: http://s.sho.com/2eWL44G
NEW YORK (Nov. 4, 2016) – This election season, boxing fans will vote for the greatest knockout in the 30-year history of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING. A Knockout Bracket consisting of 32 of the most dramatic and memorable KOs of the past 30 years launched on Friday, and an ultimate winner will be revealed during the Dec. 10 SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader.
The 32 candidates are into broken into four regions – heavyweights, middleweights, welterweights and the lighter weight divisions – with some of the greatest fighters of the last 30 years facing off in this unique tournament.
In the opening round of the heavyweight region, former undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield will square off with current WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder, while Hall of Famer Felix Trinidad takes on former champ Lucas Matthysse in the welterweight region.
The 16 matchups in the round of 32 launched on Friday at www.showtimeknockouts.com, and the winners will advance to the next round of voting beginning Nov. 14. Subsequent rounds will continue over the next six weeks until the ultimate reveal Dec. 10 on SHOWTIME.
Fans can join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #SHObestKO.
Salita Promotions Signs Promising Toledo Welterweight Wesley Tucker
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, welter
FNU Combat Sports Show For November 3, 2016
Tom, Tony and Rich get back to action this week to discuss upcoming fight cards, including two big MMA events: UFC Fight Night Dos Anjos vs. Ferguson and Bellator 163: McGeary vs. Davis. We preview both events and talk about the matchups. We then move to the boxing schedule where there are multiple belts on the line this week all over the globe. We spend a bit of time discussing the big Manny Pacquiao bout against Jessie Vargas. Is Manny fighting for the right reasons? Does he have enough left in the tank? We’ll know the answer Saturday night. Rich also breaks down his suspicions about vocal UFC fighters trending toward starting some type of powerful fighters union. Could the astronomical selling price of the UFC actually be the main handicap for the new owners? Did putting such a high premium on the UFC unintentionally give griping fighters more incentive to sue the company? Only time will tell.