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Arizona Boxing News & Notes with Don Smith: Hernandez vs. Hart, Servin & Tembotov Impress, & More By Don Smith PhilBoxing.com Thu, 03 Nov 2016  Boxing Fans, Phoenix middleweight boxer Andrew ?Hurricane ?Hernandez (16-4-1) aka ?The Fighting Pride of Phoenix?, has his work cut out for him when the Arizona Native takes on undefeated Top Rank prospect Jesse Hart (20-0-16 knockouts) on Friday, November 4 at Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas. Andrew turns 31 at the end of December and he knows the 11/4 battle with Hart is a crossroad contest that he needs to win to stay in the hunt for a world title. Andrew thought he was going to fight former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux in Montreal on October 22; but, the opportunity went to Argentinean Cristian Rios who went the distance while losing a unanimous decision to the popular Canadian. I talked to Lemieux in Montreal and asked him why he didn?t fight Hernandez and Lemieux, considered a ?hunk? by female admirers, claimed that he knew nothing about negotiations or Hernandez. Probably what happened was a freelance matchmaker had Andrew sign a contract that never reached the attention of Team Lemieux. Andrew asked that I pass on a challenge on his behalf to Lemieux who offered no reaction to Hernandez?s boat that he could beat the former champion. ?Hurricane? isn?t shy when it comes to issuing challenges or talking about his boxing skills. As an amateur, the Phoenix fighter won numerous Arizona State and US National titles. His critics claim he squandered time and sacrificed skills early in his career and he agrees; but, the father of two sons knows he must put the pedal to the metal if he wants to give his children prosperity he never had. In a word, it?s time to get serious! Andrew called me recently to ask if I was traveling to Vegas to watch his fight and the answer is yes and I will layover in Vegas and watch the Vargas vs. Pacquiao fight at Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday November 5. Hernandez thinks Pac-Man will win the bout by out boxing the fighter from Las Vegas. I followed up his opinion by asking him if he thought Manny was in a comeback mode to draw Floyd Mayweather out of retirement for one attempt to beat the undefeated boxing legend. ?It doesn?t matter? replied Hernandez who went on to state that ?Money Man? would beat the Filipino boxing star every time. I then asked him who he liked in the Andre Ward vs. Kovalev November 19th encounter and reminded him that Ward,2004 Olympic Gold Medal Winner, looked off in his last 3 fights. Hernandez paused and said fighters sometimes look bad when they are working on things. He didn?t give me his pick; however, he cautioned scribes and fans who think the Kovalev/Ward matchup will win the 2016 ?Fight of the Year? honors. According to the confident pugilist, his battle with Hart at Treasure Island Casino will be the dominant fight in 2016. The battle at Treasure Island is a nice treasure trove for the winner. At stake are 3 belts: WBO NABO Super Middleweight Title, USBA Super Middleweight Title and NABF Super Middleweight Belt. Hernandez currently holds 2 minor Middleweight Crowns. At least 40 of his fans and friends are expected to attend the bout according to the popular Phoenix fighter. 5 other bouts are featured on the card: C0-Main?Super Featherweights Casey Ramos (23-0) & Andy Vences (16-0) fight for the vacant Continental Americas Super Featherweight Title. In a Special Bout:, undefeated Alex Saucedo ((22-0) takes on tough welterweight Raymond Serrano. Other Fights: Promising Light Heavyweight Steven Nelson (3-0) vs. prospect Reyes Diaz (5-0), in a battle of Welterweights, Joey Alday Jr (2-0) battles Cesar Hernandez (2-1) and Phoenix Featherweight Edgar Brito returns to ring action after a 13 month when he meets highly regarded Jose Gonzalez. Brito was in a contract dispute with an Arizona Promoter and now the rhubarb is buried and Brito is boxing independently. Ticket prices start at $50.00 and the show is promoted and produced by Top Rank INC. Television viewers can catch the top 3 bouts on UniMas in the USA. The Official weigh-in is set for the Hotel & Casino in Caribbean Rooms B & C at 5 PM. Amateur Smoker: Sonny?s Boxing Gym, in Goodyear Arizona, hosted a 12 bout amateur show at Tolleson?s Veteran Park on Saturday, October 29. The event was part of a day long salute to veterans and fundraiser to raise money for VFW Post 6310 in Tolleson, Arizona. It was a warm afternoon with the thermometer reaching the mid 90?s by 3:30 PM. The organization, 500 and growing, seeks a location to build a facility where they can meet and facilitate the needs of military veterans. In the evening, Iron Boy Promotions presented 7 professional fights with a portion of the beer sales and ticket sales (VIP seating) going to the VFW Post. General admission seating was free and attendance estimates ranged from 2,200-2,700. Billed as ?Ring for Heroes? the affair was the brainchild of the City of Tolleson, Iron Boy Promotions and numerous sponsors who sacrificed profit for a cause that will benefit military veterans for years to come. At the end of the day, Iron Boy Publicist Emily Pandelakis told me she was very proud that IBP decided to play an active role in the event. The goal was to raise $20,000.00 and early reports led organizers to believe the cash gathered could reach 6-7 thousand dollars. A spokesperson told me that VIP seating ticket sales fell short of expectations and the choice seats were eventually given to grateful fans holding free general admission ducats. Amateur Bout Winners: Team Trophy went to Fighter?s First while Jose Escarcega (Fighter?s First) and his opponent Eliaz Garcia were awarded best bout honors. Here are the names of the individual 12 winners at the Veterans Park event: Ronaldo Plata (El Martillo Boxing), Sebastian Mitry (Fighters First), Marcos Camacho (Sonny?s Boxing), Esteban Inzunza, (Fighters First), Jonathan Garcia (Rodriguez Boxing), Jose Escarcega (Fighters First), Adrian Rodriguez (Unattached), Denyce Salgado (Fighters First), Sebastian Ortega (Sonny?s), Dagnin (Peraza) and Danny Barrios (Peraza), Daniel Ybarra (Sonny?s). We would like to welcome New Corner Boxing to the USA Boxing Arizona Team and wish them the best. And a special shout out to Daniel Ybarra Sonny?s) and Myron Bridges (New Corner) as they contemplate turning professional in their respective weight divisions. Amateur Boxing competition ended at 4 PM and the professional segment (Iron Boy 36) wasn?t scheduled to commence until 6 pm or in real boxing clock time- 6:45-7:00. In the interim, I walked around the park and noticed 2015 NASCAR Mexican Series Champion driver Ruben Garcia perched on a stool sitting beside a pile of posters. Ruben was at the venue to promote a race at Phoenix International Raceway on November 12. Nice fellow who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. He signed a poster for my neighbor?s kid and we said goodbye. After my chat with Garcia, I walked around and bumped into boxing photographer Rhonda Costa and her friend Phoenix Gazette Editor Sharon Torres. Rhonda told me she was soliciting signed collectibles for an upcoming auction to benefit Ariel Arismendez and her mother Carmen. The mother and daughter lost two immediate family members recently in a horrific incident and the good hearted Rhonda is pitching in to help. So far, she has been promised items from boxers Holyfield, Pacquiao, Roy Jones Jr and Ray Beltran. There is no date on when and where the auction will take place; but, Arizona Boxing News & Notes will let its? readers know the details and I know the event will be successful. At 5:45, I met up; with former intercontinental and continental Light Heavyweight Champion Anatoliy Dudchenko (19-4-13 knockouts). We reintroduced ourselves at the weigh-in on Friday, 10/21. The 38 year old Ukrainian retired a few years ago and is now training and managing fighters. 18 year old super welterweight Yulian Tembotov (one of Dudchenko?s boxers) fought later that evening and made quick work of Roberto Ramirez (0-3) whose night in the ring ended at the 50 second mark of the first round. I asked Yulian (1-0) what took him so long to finish his opponent and after his manager translated my question, the former amateur champion from Ukraine laughed. His manager lobbied to get his prot?g? on the live stream broadcast, but to no avail. Tembotov was very impressive in his brief debut. Management wants him to drop weight and fight at 147, On the record, the first bout started at 6:37. Ralph Velez Jr served as the ring announcer. Ralph announced before the event started that he wouldn?t be able to participate in the upcoming Masters Tournament (11/4-5 at Sonny?s Gym in Goodyear) due to an injury. 1st bout: Jamaican born Nathaniel Gallimore (15-1-1 w/12 knockouts), fighting out of Chicago, ended Miguel Munguia?s (33-35-1 w/26 knockouts) party at 2:37 into the second stanza. Gallimore was all business, hitting his overwhelmed foe at will with combinations and vicious right hands. Gallimore?s celebration was short-lived when he found out that his beloved Cubs lost the second game of the World Series 1-0. 2nd bout: If you grade by applause, the fight between Lightweights David Courtney (1-4) and undefeated Hector Lopez Jr (4-0) was the best bout of the night. Courtney has a wicked right hand and had Lopez in trouble early; but, the Glendale, California boxer returned the favor in the third round when he had the Phoenician in serious trouble. Judges gave Lopez the verdict by unanimous decision. After the fight, Team Courtney came to me and said the Lopez camp offered a rematch and they accepted. Time and place unknown. Lopez thought his performance was woeful and his management told me the young fighter was suffering from a stomach vius before the bout. Main Event: Phoenix Featherweight Carlos Castro (17-0-7 knockouts) was primed to fight for a title, but his scheduled foe backed out? so he fought substitute German Meraz (55-39-1-32 knockouts) and it wasn?t pretty. Meraz was awkward and borderline dirty. Castro received a head butt and suffered a hand injury that forced him to visit a nearby medical facility after the final bell. The judges scored it 80-71x3 in favor of a subdued Castro.. After the hand is healed, it is assumed that Castro will fight for a belt I n 2017. On the back of our press credential, it reads: Championship boxing in 2017?.stay tuned! Co-Main: Another winner from Chicago. Joshua Greer Jr (11-1-1-4 knockouts) was stunned early by pesky Cristian Renteria (5-4-4 knockouts) Greer dominated until referee Richard Soto stopped the contest at 1:06 into the 5th round. It was a good fight; but, never in doubt after Greer got up from an early round knockdown. Special Bout: When Adrian Servin (2-0) made his boxing debut at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, his ring work was solid; but not awesome as expected from the former Olympic hopeful. On Saturday, October 29 his performance was golden as he knocked out Argentina?s Eduardo Villa at the 1:53 of the first stanza. Servin showed the poise of a veteran and the power of his right hand was hammer like. Based on his latest victory, Iron Boy Promotions was very wise in signing 19 year old flyweight to a contract. Finally: in an entertaining swing bout, Edgar Ortiz raised his record to 3-1 with a decisive 39-37 x 3 victory over Yasber Romero (2-4) in a 4 round contest. Ortiz was quicker, stronger and more confident than in his previous fights. Parting Parts: I give Pacquiao a slight advantage in his fight with Champion Jesse Vargas in their $69.95 PPV battle; however, I wouldn?t be surprised if his younger foe pulled an upset.. The weigh-in is on Friday (11/5) inside the Wynn Hotel at 3:15 pm?.. Phoenix fighter Andrew Hernandez believes that Daniel Jacobs will back out of his upcoming fight with GGG??Please, get out and vote?.Until Next Time! Click here to view a list of other articles written by Don Smith.  |
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