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Arizona Boxing News & Notes With Don Smith: Boxing At the State Fair, Lemieux in Montreal & More By Don Smith PhilBoxing.com Fri, 07 Oct 2016  Boxing Fans, The month of October in Arizona is very special! It signals the end of searing Arizona temperatures and welcomes the Arizona State fair, an annual event that offers goers a plethora of entertainment choices. The Fair opens on Friday, October 7 at noon and visitors who arrive before 5 p.m. can enter at a discounted fare of $2.00. We are happy to report that the annual Copper Gloves Boxing tournament a tradition for 46 years at the fair, returns on October 19-20 at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix. Show time for the two nights of amateur boxing begins at 7 p.m. and concluding at 10:30 p.m. Since 1970, Phoenix Boys and Girls Boxing Club has officially sponsored CBG at the Arizona State Fair. Hank Fenn, aka ?Godfather? of Arizona amateur boxing, introduced Copper Gloves to the fair and daughter Kelly has continued his legacy. Members of the family are expected to attend and deliver the pledge of allegiance before the opening bell. In addition to boxing, sports fans may want to attend other action packed activities at the fair including: Figure 8 Racing, Quarter Midget Racing, Arm Wrestling Championships, Rodeo action and Swifty Swine Swimming. The Arm Wrestling Championships (men & women) will be held on Saturday October 15 and competition begins at 11 a.m. Arizona Boxing News & Notes hopes to be on hand to cover the event; no, I will not enter the contest despite insistence from some of my enemies who would love to see me humbled, perhaps destroyed. 2016 Fair Concert lineup: All concerts at the Fair are staged at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Here is a complete concert list and dates: Big Rich & Cowboy Troy, Saturday October 8 at 7 p.m. ? Koolapolooza Sunday October 9 at 4 p.m. - Cheap Trick Wednesday October 12 at 7 p.m. - B.O.B. Thursday October 13 at 7 p.m.-Fiesta Friday October 14 at 7 p.m. ? Iggy Azalea Saturday October 15 at 7 p.m. ? Luis Coronel Sunday October 16 at 5 p.m. ? Scotty McCreery October 19 Wednesday at 7 p.m. ? ?Can ? Can? Thursday October 20 at 7 p.m. ? Charlie Puth Friday October 21 at 7 p.m. - The Flaming Lips Saturday October 22 at 7 p.m. ? Jack & Jack Sunday October 23 at 7 p.m. ? Slayer Wednesday October 26 at 7 p.m. ? Garbage Thursday October 27 at 7 p.m. ? Gavin Degraw & Andy Grammer Friday October 28 at 7 p.m. and Old School Jam Saturday October 29 at 7 p.m. To reserve a seat at any concert is an extra cost and that ticket must be accompanied with a fair admission ticket. Personally, I think the lineup is awesome?..arrive early, first come first serve for non-reserved seating. 2016 Arizona State Fair Facts: opening day, Friday October 7, closing day Sunday October 30?..operating Days: Wednesday-Sunday??operating hours: Wednesdays & Thursdays, noon-9 p.m. Friday-Sunday 10 a.m.to approximately 10p.m?..Regular Admission Prices: adults $10.00, children 5-13 & seniors $5.00, children ages 4 years & under free.*there are no refunds, rain or shine, on admission, rides, wristbands, exhibits or game passes?..Free Parking and shuttle are available on Friday (6 p.m.-10 p.m.), Saturday and Sunday (10 a.m.-10 p.m.) at the Arizona State Capitol, located at 17th Avenue and Washington Street in Phoenix?? Popular discounts: $2.00 before 2 p.m. Saturdays at the gate only, Sunday $5.00 admission until 2 p.m., Sunday unlimited ride wristband, $2.00 games available all day Sunday, Free hour Thursdays noon-1 p.m., Thursdays unlimited ride wristband sold until 9 p.m., we care Wednesdays: free admission noon-6 p.m. with food donation (no bottled water or Ramen Noodles)-donation benefits St. Mary?s Food Bank, SRP Read & Ride Discount for students aged 5-14, Metro PCS 30 cent Thursdays with coupon from PCS until 6p.m., Fry?s Free Fridays: spend $40.00 at any Fry?s store and take receipt (valid voucher) to fair box-office and pickup 2 tickets good for one of the following dates; October 14, 21 & 28. In Summary: The Arizona State Fair and their sponsors continue to deploy a smart marketing campaign to entice fair goers and help consumers afford the experience. At the fair; there is something for everyone?..enjoy and sample one of the new culinary court delicacies and be sure to lock your car if you drive to the fair. Amateur Notes: 5 amateur shows, in addition to the above mentioned Copper Gloves event, are scheduled for Maricopa County, Arizona in October and November. (1) Madison Boxing show at Greenfield Elementary School, 7009 South 10th Street in Phoenix on 10/8. First bell at 2 p.m. and Host Ricky Ricardo Rodriguez expects the event to present 20 bouts. (2) South Mountain Boxing Club will host show at Victory Outreach, 4655 W. McDowell Road in Phoenix on October 22. First bell chimes at 2 p.m. and for more info, call Juan at 602-327-6901. (3) Sonny?s Boxing Gym (Goodyear, Arizona) will host a noontime smoker on October 29 at Tolleson?s Veteran Park; for more info, call Sonny at 623-806-2421. (4) The much talked about Masters boxing show in Goodyear at Sonny?s Boxing Gym is set for November 4-5; call Sonny at 623-806-2421 for more details. (5) The Gene Lewis Tournament is booked for November 10-12 at 59 E. Broadway in Mesa, Arizona. Josh Benjamin (480-834-1216) will answer all questions. Iron Boy 36: Last week we incorrectly identified Iron Boy?s upcoming boxing show in Tolleson, Arizona on Saturday October 29 as #35 in the series instead of # 36 and we humbly apologize for the error. Admission for the Tolleson show is free (with ticket voucher) and beer proceeds (donated by Crescent Crown Distributors) will go to Veteran Post 6310 so the veterans group can buy land and built a facility to accommodate their growing membership. Undefeated Phoenix featherweight Carlos Castro (16-0-7 knockouts) will headline ?Tolleson?s Ring for Heroes? benefit, held at Tolleson?s Veteran Park with show time set for 6 p.m. Popular Arizona pugilist Abel Ramos (17-1-2) will not appear on the card as advertised according to a spokesperson for Team Ramos. Iron Boy matchmaker Mike Sanchez is putting the card together and here are names of fighters tentatively scheduled to perform: Daron ?Sweet Tay? Williams (5-0), Adrian Servin (1-0), Edgar Ortiz, Paul ?Ziggy? Romero (7-0-1), Luis Espinoza (5-0), Edward Ceballos (5-1) and Joshua Greer Jr. (10-1-1). We will print a card update in our next column. Knockout Night: On September 30, I joined a capacity crowd (2,000) at the outdoor Downtown Las Vegas Center to watch 3 championship fights and 4 under card bouts promoted by Roy Jones Promotions and the title contests were broadcast on the CBS Sports Network in North America and internationally via ESPN. The venue is top notch and makes me wonder why more boxing promoters don?t follow RJJ promotions usage of an alternative facility. The next ?Knockout Night at the D? presentation will held under a decorative tent on November 18 at the DLVC. WBC USNBC lightweight champion Demnd Brock (12-3-1) will fight on the card. In the main event, replacement Erik ?El Trumpo? Ruiz (16-5-1-6 knockouts) upset Hanzel ?Rude Boy? Martinez (23-3-19 knockouts) to win the vacant WBA International super bantamweight championship with a 10 round majority decision. My vote favored Martinez; but writers don?t hand in score cards. I think judges sided with Ruiz threw less but more effective punches than Martinez who was returning to the ring after suffering injury from an automobile accident last year. In the 10 round co-main bout, Stephon ?Showstopper? Young (defeated Tony Lopez Jr. to win the vacant WBA-NABA Championship with a majority decision. It was the fight of the night and promoter Roy Jones Jr. suggested a rematch, a sentiment shared by fight fans on hand to watch a memorable ring war. Once again, I sided with the loser and my opinion was shared by other ringside writers. I second the motion for a rematch. In the first Championship battle of the evening, John ?The Phenom? Vera (15-0-10 knockouts) retained his WBA-NABA USA Welterweight Championship Belt with a dramatic 2nd round TKO victory over challenger Milorad ?Micko? Zizic. Vera?s impressive win can be attributed to better conditioning and focus. In his last fight, he looked sluggish and lacked motivation, not this time. Zizic, from Montenegro, had the benefit of loud cheering fans that carried and waved his country?s flag; however, he didn?t have the skills to make them happy. The best undercard performance was turned in by Las Vegas bantamweight fighter Max ?The Baby Faced Assassin? Ornelas (5-0) who won a technical decision (TD) over Mulapi Enjani (2-3) after the Congolese fighter rolled his ankle in the final round (4th) prompting the officials to go to the scorecard and award the decision to Ornelas, a very talented young boxer. In other bouts: It took a mere 207 seconds for flashy Randy Moreno (5-0) to end the night for Fabian Alanis whose record dropped t 1-1 after his 2nd round TKO loss. Jeremy ?J-Flash? Nichols (7-0) was less than impressive in his easy win over Marquis Hawthorn (4-5). Nichols was wild and tired early. He didn?t need much to beat Hawthorn. In the first bout of the evening Vegas fighter Sal Lopez (4-0) pleased his relatives watching, from the stands, with a strong win with scores of 40-36 x 3 over Kenneth ?Scrappy? Taylor from Tyler Texas. Overall, it was a good night to watch boxing. Lemieux Fight: Canadian middleweight David Lemieux (35-3-32 knockouts) continues to rehabilitee his career on October 22 when he faces virtual unknown Cristian Rios (21-7-3-6 knockouts) at the Bell Centre in Montreal on October 22. Lemieux (former IBF middleweight champion) is confident of a win and circulating rumors has the 27 year old pugilist fighting undefeated WBO middleweight Champ Billy Joe Saunders (23-0) in the spring of 2017. Ironically, Saunders defends his title in Wales on the same night. According to a printed online story, Lemieux?s strategy is to beat Rios, fight one more time in 2016, and defeat Saunders and then challenge Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez. I like Lemieux better than most critics and I give him a 50-50 chance to beat the Mexican fighter who says he wants to fight Gennady Golovkin; but, seemed to lack conviction when he made his verbal challenge. Lemieux fought GGG in 2015 and the result (stopped in 8th round) is why he is rebuilding his career. Before Rios was picked, Phoenix middleweight Andrew Hernandez was reportedly a possible foe for the Canadian and the talk was confirmed by the Phoenix boxer who thinks Lemieux is overrated. Hernandez, in a late night telephone chat, challenged the former champ and called him soft. Since we are a G rated column, we omitted his use of an expletive that preceded his description of Lemieux as soft. Rios vs. Lemieux wll be streamlined and televised in Canada; ticket prices range from $63.00-$197.00. Boxing Notes: It has been revealed that Chicago?s super lightweight Adrian Granados (18-4-2) was suffering from a stomach virus during his 7/16 victorious bout in Phoenix at the Celebrity Theatre. Speculation has Team Granados making a major announcement, soon?.. Super middleweight Sijuola Ade Shabazz returned to boxing by taking on undefeated prospect Bastie Samir 14-0-1; losing a unanimous decision in California on September 30. Our sources tell us the fight was very competitive. ????..Arizona welterweight Abel Ramos (17-1-2) wants to fight again before the end of the year; but, no nibbles so far?..boxing photographer Rhonda Costa suffered a health scare recently and checked into a local hospital. Thankfully she is out and feeling better??Iron Boy is planning to donate ticket vouchers for their October 29 Tolleson show to Arizona News &Notes. When secured we will give the ducats to military veterans and single parents??Phoenix Middleweight Andrew ?Hurricane? Hernandez (15-4-1) has signed to meet Jesse Hart (20-0-16 knockouts) in Las Vegas a the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino to fight for NABF Super Middleweight title on November 4. It will be interesting to see how the added weight will affect the Arizona boxer who is accustomed to performing at 160 lbs. in recent bouts. Arizona fighters Edward Ceballos (Phoenix) and Jesus Serrano (Tucson) notched victories in Mexico recently. Serrano (12-4-1) is in the mix for an Inter-Continental title shot. Ceballos (5-1) is scheduled to fight on the Tolleson Card, October 29. On The Rise: Trey Lippe Morrison, son of former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison, has compiled a 12-0 record with all victories coming by way of knockout. The Oklahoma born Morrison is currently working with Freddie Roach in Los Angeles at Wild Card gym and his supporters say the 27 year old has his dad?s big punch and could turn out to be the real deal. His niche in college was football and the transition from the gridiron to the ring rarely rings true; remember Dallas Cowboy defensive end Ed ?Too Tall? Jones and his brief football adventure ?I do! We tried to reach Morrison via phone on three occasions; but, failed.....Until Next Time. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Don Smith.  |
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