No Friday Surprises For Undefeated Prospects

Las Vegas, Nevada - The BTBC's junior middleweight House Fighter Erislandy Lara (11-0, 6 KOs) kept his undefeated record intact as he scored a one-sided ten round unanimous decision over veteran Danny Perez (34-6, 17 KOs) at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Lara dominated the bout from the opening bell, but seemed content to outbox the slower and less-talented Perez over the distance rather than up his work-rate to go for a stoppage victory. The judges scored the fight 99-91 on all three cards. The BTBC also scored the fight 99-91.

On the undercard, Puerto Rican featherweight standout Carlos Velasquez (12-0, 10 KOs) impressively scored a spectacular fourth-round knockout over late replacement Ira Terry (24-3, 14 KOs). Velasquez wobbled Terry in the third round and closed the show with a huge overhand right in the fourth.

Uncasville, Connecticut - In a better looking match-up on paper, Delvin Rodriguez (25-4-2, 14 KOs) retained his regional belt as he won a unanimous decision over a durable Mike Arnaoutis (24-5-2, 10 KO’s). Scores of the bout were all comprehensively in favor of Rodriguez, 117-110, 119-108, and 118-109. Rodriguez utilized his jab to setup hooks and right hand as he got back to winning ways in his hometown.

Undefeated junior middleweight prospect Demetrius Andrade (10-0, 7 KOs) won a six-round unanimous decision over journeyman Geoffery Spruiell (8-9, 2 KOs). All three judges scored the fight a shutout win for Andrade 60-54. Andrade had Spruiell often in trouble as he worked off his jab to land his scoring shots.

Joe Greene (22-0, 14 KOs) scored an eight round unanimous decision victory over journeyman Chris Gray (12-12, 1 KO). The judges scored the bout 79-73, 78-74, and 77-75 all in favor of New York's Greene.

Las Vegas, Nevada - Charismatic lightweight Sharif Bogere (15-0, 9 KOs) defeated Martin Tucker (7-6, 3 KOs) via first-round retirement win after Tucker quit on the stool after a clash of heads at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. Apparently, the clash of heads caused a cut over Tucker’s right eye. The doctor said he could continue in between rounds but Tucker claimed he could not see.

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FNF Opens 2010 With a Bang

Former junior middleweight titleholder Roman Karmazin (40-3-1, 26 KOs) scored a spectacular come-from-behind knockout of Colombian puncher Dionisio Miranda (20-5-2, 18 KOs) last night at California in the opening television bout of the 2010 season.

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FNF 8/28: The Return of TV Boxing or A One Shot Revival?

by Paul Magno

(Also Published on Eastsideboxing.com)

It was hard to believe, but I actually had butterflies in my stomach as the familiar Friday Night Fights intro kicked in.

I was anticipating the Cloud-Woods, Urango-Bailey championship double header all week and had even finished up my work a bit earlier to make sure I could be front and center with nothing on my mind other than boxing.

Friday Night Fights is always on my viewing schedule, but I can't remember one of their shows being this highly anticipated, at least by me.

The fights themselves were solid encounters with the young banger, Tavoris Cloud taking a Unanimous Decision for the vacant IBF Light Heavyweight title over the veteran ex-champ, Clinton Woods and the tank-like Juan Urango coming back from a hard knockdown to force veteran Randall Bailey's corner to throw in the towel 11 rounds into Urango's IBF 140-lb. defense.

These weren't over-publicized celebrity boxing exhibitions, randomly matching two name fighters in a barely relevant encounter, as is all the rage these days.

The two bouts we saw on Friday were evenly-matched pairings that actually meant something above and beyond a payday for the fighters and the promise of bigger paydays for even less risk next time out. There were no bogus catchweight clauses or magical diamond belts.

What we saw was just plain, old boxing...the boxing that every fan first fell in love with...Championship-caliber match-ups that made you want to tune in and solid matchmaking that guaranteed a satisfying effort regardless of who won.

I sure hope the ratings reflect the effort put into signing the Friday Night Fights season finale card because, from my vantage point, fight fans from around the globe greatly appreciated the change from the usual ESPN2 menu of mostly gross mismatches and meaningless filler.

Not every card has to feature two world title bouts, but all TV bouts should feature solid, known fighters in meaningful, well-booked showdowns.

There is plenty of talent, a notch below the mega stars, that could be utilized with minimal cost and huge potential benefit. The marginal PPV shows like Latin Heat, Pinoy Power, Hook City, etc. could all be co-opted into televised bouts that would draw very respectable ratings, build the fighters into bigger stars and be simpler for the promoters in terms of logistics and overhead.

Is there any doubt that Roy Jones Jr. fighting Jeff Lacy on ESPN would've drawn huge numbers? Jones would have been forced to take a pay cut to accept such a deal, but a win on "free" TV would propel him back into the land of "real" PPV shows and possibly double his Hook City payday next time out...and he wouldn't have to dress like a pirate to do it.

There was a time when all the super fights were on PPV, a step below was HBO and Showtime, then the other TV bouts and, finally, the club fights where young prospects and returning veterans battled for respect off-camera.

Nowadays, most everything is on PPV, HBO and Showtime bouts are mostly showcase fights leading to the PPVs, and other TV outlets are forced to pick through the decaying remains of divisions ruined by stars sitting on their belts and holding out for a spot on the celebrity boxing circuit.

There's nothing wrong with boxing that can't be corrected with proper matchmaking and ballsy promoting.

Let's hope that the August 28th edition of Friday Night Fights was the first shot fired in the war to bring the sport back to the fans.

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Brian Kenny: Top Rank Tool?

The BTBC has long yearned for a journalist with the bravery, integrity and drive to go after all the evil aspects and shady characters in the sport. Brian Kenny looked and sounded the part during his most recent interview with Floyd Mayweather jr.

However, Kenny missed one key point: He has to be aggressive and self-righteous with all of his guests and not just one guy on two brief occasions in several years as co-anchor of ESPN's Friday Night Fights.

To just go for the neck against one guy in a career of Regis-style glad-handing and sucking up looks more than shady. It makes Mr. Kenny look like he has a personal axe to grind with Mayweather and it puts into question everything Kenny says concerning all things Mayweather.

The tiff between Mayweather and Kenny started back in 2006 as Mayweather was doing publicity for his fight with Zab Judah and Kenny questioned Floyd's lack of desire to fight Carlos Baldomir and Ricky Hatton.

Kenny went on the offensive in that interview and smugly challenged Mayweather, "...he's (Hatton) coming to Las Vegas for his next fight and he's probably going to fight for the Welterweight title...What will you do then?"

Kenny, in that same interview, would flatly state that Mayweather's win over Arturo Gatti for the WBC title at 140 was not a real world title win- In and of itself a ballsy statement to make to a fighter's face, but 100% disingenuous since Kenny never makes those declarations against other guest holding, as he said, "paper championships."

Kenny has gushed over Pacquiao's win over "paper champion" David Diaz at 135 and has never challenged an interview subject with accusations of being a paper champion if not holding the lineal title.

Now, in Brian Kenny's latest interview with Floyd Mayweather, Kenny has seemingly adopted Top Rank talking points, almost verbatim, when questioning Floyd.

Kenny questioned Mayweather's timing in announcing his comeback on the same day as the Pacquiao/Hatton bout on May 2nd; He pushed Shane Mosley between Mayweather and Pacquiao, almost as though using Mosley to run interference for Pacquiao; And he even, in the matter of just a few minutes, managed to insinuate Pacquiao as the new PPV king and push the Top Rank notion that Pacquiao's wins over Oscar De la Hoya and Ricky Hatton were infinitely more impressive than Mayweather's

If you didn't know better, you would've thought that Bob Arum himself, and not Brian Kenny, was conducting the interview.

Mayweather was the same smug Mayweather throughout, but Kenny had obviously been dreaming of the day when he could have a rematch with Floyd and tell him that he was no longer pound-for-pound #1 because Mayweather had "informed Ring Magazine" that he was retiring.

This latest interview with Mayweather made Kenny look extremely bad and the damage it did to his reputation as a fair and even-handed journalist was further highlighted on his Friday Night Fights show where the interview was shown again and Kenny used in-studio guest, Freddie Roach, to affirm his positions.

The contrasted cuts from a smug, passive-aggressive interview with Mayweather to loving glances at Roach, followed by softball questions, was damning evidence that Kenny is simply not someone ever willing to take a fair approach to any topic labeled "Mayweather."

Worst of all, Brian has to be executing these ambush jobs with the full understanding of what he's doing. Kenny is not some simple talking suit behind a desk, he does have a working knowledge of the sport.

So, when he attacks Mayweather for not fighting Pacquiao or Mosley immediately after a 19-month lay-off, he has to be doing so with the full understanding that nobody would be dumb enough to take on two of the best fighters in the world after such an inactive period without a tune-up first.

Even if Mayweather's ego doesn't permit him to admit that he needs a tune-up fight to shake off the rust of inactivity, Kenny should know that...Either that or maybe Floyd was right and Kenny knows nothing about the sport...Or, also plausible, maybe Kenny has found his way into a specific promoter's back pocket.

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