A tall order but after two nationally televised shows in recent memory on ESPN2 and Fox Sports Net, the five-year-old outfit has proven it can deliver an entertaining, high-quality card.
It’s been a busy week for Let’s Get It On. Between the “Super Six” and their super middleweight prospect Brandon Gonzales, 12-0 (9), starting camp with new trainer Jeff Mayweather in Las Vegas, the company is going forward with their latest card. “Every year we do a show in Fallon, Nevada,” announced Terry’s brother Tommy, “and we’re doing one again on August 28.”
Resurgent USBA light heavyweight titleholder Otis Griffin, 22-6-2 (9), headlines with Gonzales and Lonnie Smith, 10-2-2 (7), also slated to see action on the boxing-MMA hybrid card. “We’re still looking to fill the fourth boxing spot,” added Terry.
The Lanes thought had a deal in place with Yvon Michel, former amateur coach of Arturo Gatti and current promoter of hot commodity David Lemieux, 23-0 (22), for a fight in Montreal on August 27. “ESPN was on board for this fight,” said Terry, “but [Team Lemieux] pulled out.”
The brother duo still plans to get Gonzales a fight in the Quebec stronghold and are currently in negotiations with Canadian promoter InterBox to get him on the undercard for Jesse Brinkley’s title challenge for Lucian Bute’s IBF middleweight title on October 15.
BERKELEY, CA
We continue our trip in the city that brought you the free speech movement, the atomic bomb, and the University of California, as WBO super bantamweight champion Ana Julaton, 7-2-1 (1), returned home to the West-Wind Gym on University Avenue fresh off an extended 30th birthday party and victory celebration in the Philippines after taking a split decision over Maria Elena Villalobos in Toronto.
To call the festivities a fun experience would be an understatement. “The Hurricane” received a motorcade through Metro Manila where she was mobbed by hordes of fans, made appearances on several television shows, and even exchanged pleasantries with newly elected Philippine President Benigno Aquino III at Malacañang Palace. So what’s next for the native of nearby Daly City?
“We’re still waiting to see what the deal is with [WBC champion Marcela] Acuña for possible unification,” quipped Julaton’s adviser, Angelo Reyes. “But we’ve been in talks with [Julaton’s promoter] Allan [Tremblay] to make her first defense in the Philippines in September, possibly October.”
Holding the next bout in the Asian archipelago would be a wise business decision and the numbers don’t lie. According to pep.ph, the Villalobos fight garnered a 17.5-percent share in the TV ratings to win its timeslot even though it aired almost three weeks after the bout.
Tremblay may have world champion-caliber fighters like Steve Molitor and Marvin Sonsona on the roster but I would be shocked if he had the clairvoyance to foresee that the first global sensation to come out of Orion Sports Management would be a woman.
HOLLYWOOD, CA
Julaton’s trainer, Freddie Roach (probably the only American this side of Douglas MacArthur who could possibly generate his own ticker-tape parade in the Philippines) was unable to make the 16-hour flight with the Pinoy pugilist. As has been customary for quite some time now, the bespectacled boxing professor has been busy in the Wild Card Gym on Vine Street cultivating his new crop of fighters.
One of them, heavy-handed Nigerian Lateef “Power” Kayode, 12-0 (11), gets his first crack at some professional hardware on August 6 when he makes his television debut against Alfredo Escalera Jr. for the NABO cruiserweight title on “ShoBox: The Next Generation.”
“It’ll be the first fight of the telecast,” said an elated Steven Feder, as Kayode was the first fighter he signed to Standing Eight Management two years ago. “There’s a WBO top-ten ranking on the line. Lateef’s been waiting for this for awhile now and we’re all excited about the opportunity.”
There have been some new arrivals at the Wild Card. A previous owner of the belt that Kayode covets was spotted in the gym yesterday, as former unified cruiserweight champ and current WBA heavyweight titlist David Haye, 24-1 (22), put in some work at the Wild Card. The British bomber has approached the four-time Trainer of the Year in the past in hopes that he will train him but whether Freddie will add him to the queue the second time around remains to be seen, however.
Another European star, 160-pound Bosnian-German WBA champ Felix Sturm, was supposed to come in last week to prepare for his title defense against Giovanni Lorenzo but never showed up. One guy who has been turning heads is 20-year-old Dallas super bantamweight Robert Marroquin, 14-0 (11), a southpaw with power who is managed by Lou Mesorana and is signed to Top Rank.
Back to Feder and his stable of fighters he co-manages with Roach. Dublin junior welterweight Jamie Kavanagh, 2-0 (1), will see action against an opponent to be named on August 26 at Club Nokia in downtown L.A. The 20-year-old, who signed with Golden Boy three months ago, speaks fluent Spanish and has a very fan-friendly style, although Roach has stated that he would like him to choose his spots to brawl a little more judiciously. Fellow Irishman Dean Byrne is still mulling over promotional offers as he is visiting his girlfriend and little tyke Deano in the U.K.
In a recent development, Roach-trained and Top Rank-promoted 18-year-old sensation Jose Benavidez Jr., 7-0 (7), a junior welterweight prospect from Phoenix that everyone from Al Bernstein to Barry Tompkins has raved about, is reportedly no longer fighting this Saturday in Nayarit, Mexico, on the undercard of Simphiwe Nongqayi’s IBF super flyweight title defense against Juan Alberto Rosas. It’s worth noting that the co-feature is a crossroads bout between Jorge Arce and Martin Castillo, which should have been a career-definer five years ago when both scored big wins on the undercard of Pacquiao-Morales I.
“We’ve been training since the Golden Gloves and we’re all a little tired,” his father Jose Sr. stated. “I talked to Bob [Arum] and he told me if I wanted to take a break, no problem. Junior went home to Arizona for awhile but he’ll be back in the gym on August 1st to resume training.”
The kid, christened “Veneno” by Fox Sports en Español blow-by-blow announcer Adrian Garcia Marquez, already has his next date lined up, according to his father. “I just talked to Bruce [Trampler] and [Jose]’s fighting on the 18th of September at the MGM Grand before the Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Rafael Marquez fight.”
VAN NUYS, CA
Speaking of NABO titles, after a week of well-deserved rest and relaxation in his hometown of nearby Covina, the Ten Goose Gym on Friar Street welcomed newly minted lightweight holder John Molina, 21-1 (17), back into the fold after his ESPN2-televised dramatic stoppage of Hank Lundy in the not-so-friendly confines of Providence, Rhode Island.
“Molina’s back in the gym. In fact, it’s his second week right now, so he’s not resting on his laurels,” shared trainer Joe Goossen, who was quick to reflect on his charge’s latest performance. “We went back to the tape. We saw the mistakes and he’s learning from them. But seriously, he beat a great fighter. Lundy’s a bad man.” According to Joe, they’re looking at a September date for the first defense of his NABO strap.
Molina had high praise for a featherweight prospect from Moreno Valley named Kevin “Hostile” Hoskins, 2-0 (2), who has been in the gym for a couple months. Goossen relayed the information. “John Molina has boxed the likes of Antonio Margarito in sparring but he thinks that Kevin is the hardest-hitting guy he’s ever been in with.”
Another of Goossen’s fighters who just embarked on his pro career is Matt Villanueva, 1-0 (1). He’s a 5’7’’ super flyweight and, by his trainer’s account, is an outstanding body puncher. He is purportedly going to fight on the undercard of the southern California showdown between Mexican-American heavyweights Manuel Quezada and Chris Arreola.
Lightweight prospect Stan “The Man” Martyniouk, 10-0 (1), added to his win total last Friday with a unanimous decision against Jonathan Bobadilla. While his record indicates a low knockout ratio, his trainer was quick to offer an example of another fighter who was able to discover his power at Ten Goose.
“Stan has to add a new dimension to his style but he looked good when taking into consideration that we only had three weeks together,” said Goossen, reflecting. “I had Robert Guerrero when he was 8-0 with only one knockout. The next five fights (with a one-round technical draw in between), he stopped his opponents in three rounds or less. But I had eight weeks to work with Robert. Let’s give it time with Stan and go from there.”
The conversation switched to “The Ghost,” as the co-feature for this Saturday’s rematch between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz pits Guerrero against Joel Casamayor. Goossen should know a little about the two fighters; he’s been the chief second for both of them.
“Joel brings a lot of experience to the table,” Goossen analyzed. “He’s a little older now but he’s been in with the best. He’s in with a guy who’s young and fast. Guerrero is very tall and he’s a southpaw. But with any right-hander, Joel knows all the tricks. Casamayor’s a favorite of mine.”
LOS ANGELES, CA
The main event on Saturday is a do-over for Houston’s Diaz. Over at Golden Boy headquarters on the corner of Wilshire and Hope, the promotional company Lou DiBella once called “The 800-Pound Gorilla” was busy in the area all week long to promote it as they showcased Marquez and junior welterweight prospect Frankie Gomez, 4-0 (4) of nearby East L.A. Much to the delight of the fans, he also figures into Saturday’s undercard, one of the most stacked ones in recent memory.
The Fortune Gym on Sunset Boulevard was the scene as the 18-year-old dubbed “The Future of Boxing” by Oscar De La Hoya worked out for the media in preparation for his bout against Ricardo Calazada. Ronnie Rivota, former East L.A. Golden Gloves champion and sparring partner for Shane Mosley, serves as head trainer for the wunderkind, who, by all accounts, is a devastating body puncher.
Meanwhile, up the California coast, another Golden Boy client, NABO super featherweight champ Eloy Perez of Salinas, 17-0-2 (4), has his next fight in place.
“Eloy’s fighting on August 13 in Pico Rivera against Derrick Campos,” said assistant trainer Sam Garcia. “It’ll be on Telefutura but the title won’t be on the line. They wanted us to split time with Carlos Molina and he’s with Golden Boy too. They wanted to put both of us on TV. It was the only way we could get that done, so it’s an eight-rounder.”
LAS VEGAS, NV
Our last stop is the world capital of professional pugilism where the aforementioned Gonzales ended his arrangement with Sacramento’s Ray Woods and is reportedly now honing his skills at the H.I.T. Factory on Paradise Road under the tutelage of “Jazzy” Jeff Mayweather. Like promoter Lou DiBella, Floyd’s uncle can’t possibly be pleased that another of his fighters, pound-for-pounder Celestino “Pelenchín” Caballero, 34-2 (23), is being snubbed again by Top Rank for a potential fight with WBA featherweight champ Yuriorkis Gamboa, 18-0 (15).
“El Ciclón de Guantánamo” was originally scheduled to face IBF beltholder Orlando Salido, 34-10-2 (22), on July 24 in a unification bout but when a cut on the Mexican’s face did not properly heal, attention quickly turned to WBC titlist Elio Rojas, 22-0 (13), for a fight on the September 11 date of HBO’s “Boxing After Dark.” But when Rojas pulled out with a hand injury, the date suddenly became open. That is, until Arum hastily worked out a deal for Salido to usurp his original spot as the Cuban’s opponent (Lost yet?).
In a domino effect of sorts, Oxnard’s Mikey Garcia, 22-0 (18), whose manager Cameron Dunkin was in talks with Arum to possibly bypass his upcoming IBF eliminator against Cornelius Lock to fight Salido directly for the title, had his choice made for him by circumstance. “It’s a done deal,” said the 2007 Manager of the Year. “[Garcia]’s fighting Lock on August 14 in Laredo, Texas.”
Also slated for the Texas “Top Rank Live” installment, which will be televised on both Fox Sports Net and Fox Sports en Español, are 5’10’’ Miguel “Titere” Vazquez of Mexico, 25-3 (12), and Korean Ji Hoon Kim, 21-5 (18). They will tangle for the vacant IBF lightweight crown. Notre Dame product, light heavyweight Mike Lee of Chicago, 1-0, will also see action.
Dunkin also mentioned Brandon Rios, 24-0-1 (18), who is in Oxnard training with Mikey Garcia’s older brother, Robert. Reports are that “Bam Bam” has also been getting in some solid sparring sessions with Eloy Perez as he ends his long layoff on September 11 with a WBA lightweight eliminator against Anthony Peterson, 30-0 (20).
When the topic shifted to the status of negotiations with Top Rank regarding his fighter Kelly Pavlik and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Dunkin’s voice turned to one of resignation. “It’s a long story. We’re trying to set up a meeting with Bob [Arum] and go from there.”
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As much as I’d hate to leave our readers in the scorching Mojave Desert, I’m going to enjoy an ice-cold Paloma on the Strip and call it a day. Thanks for taking a ride with me and I hope to see you for the next West Coast Watch.
Ryan can be reached at rmaquinana@gmail.com.
