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in the Chicagoland area, and we hope that this is a sign of things to come. And now, my view of the
fights from press row, with photography by our own producer, Tim Paterson.
fights from press row, with photography by our own producer, Tim Paterson.
JOHN RUIZ TKO2 OTIS TISDALE
Let this fight be proof that John Ruiz, if properly motivated, irritated, and undermatched, can in fact,
fight rather well. He was obviously upset that his fight with Sergei Liakhovich fell through, since the
Russian former champion chose to negotiate with Nicolay Valuev’s people instead of take on Ruiz. He
took this frustration out on poor Otis Tisdale, who never really stood a chance against the man who has
held versions of the heavyweight title on two separate occasions. Ruiz, who is usually happy to clench
and wrestle on the inside actually engaged Tisdale with digs to the body and overall bullying. Ruiz
looked like a young man, establishing his jab and working the body until he dropped Tisdale in the first
round with a right uppercut. Tisdale barely survived the count, but got up, and was promptly dropped
again at :25 of round two with a straight right-left hook combination, prompting the referee to simply call
the fight, without resorting to counting at all. While it’s good to see Ruiz happy and winning again,
opponents like this won’t get him back to “the dance”.
ANGEL HERNANDEZ DEC8 LOUIS TURNER
Anytime you put two fighters whose “bread and butter” is their body attack, you know you’re in for an
interesting fight. This one did not disappoint, either, with Hernandez and Turner performing a real battle
of the body shots for both of their home crowds. The difference in these fighters, however, is
experience, and Turner simply couldn’t match up with Hernandez in that category. Turner’s tendency to
lower his left hand made a perfect landing strip for the overhand right of Hernandez, which proved to be
the game-winning punch and telling factor for Hernandez. During the third round, after two rounds of
intense action, Hernandez appeared gassed, and Turner came on strong, probably winning the round.
This would be the last time he’d shine, though, since Hernandez put him down hard in the sixth, nearly
forcing the referee to call it, but Turner’s tremendous chin kept him in the fight. Hernandez finished the
fight strong, and sailed to an easy unanimous decision against a tough, formerly-undefeated prospect.
***Other results from this night of championship boxing include:
Anges Adjaho SD12 Miguel Acosta
Devon Alexander TKO1 Cory Peterson
Vasyl Tarabarov SD Priest Smalls
Karim Mayfield TKO2 Rahman Yusubov
DAMIAN FULLER TKO2 MATT ZEGAN
Poor Matt Zegan. . . . he has all the Polish citizens of Chicagoland cheering for him, this is his second
chance to fight on a big card in front of them, but he still can’t come up with a win. He lost this week last
year to Nate Campbell at the Allstate Arena in Chicago last year on the undercard of Valuev-Barrett, and
this time gets his fight stopped in the second round against light-hitting Damian Fuller. The first round
Zegan fought well enough, moving in and out, circling to stay away from Fuller, but gets caught at the
end of the round by a well-placed right hand from Fuller. Zegan beat the count, but was still a bit wobbly
at the bell. Fuller took full advantage and started round two with a full-on attack, pushing Zegan against
the ropes, pummeling him with unanswered headshots, prompting Zegan’s corner to stop the fight. A win
like this against a fighter with a following like Zegan’s could lift Fuller into future title contention for the
Detroit native.
MIKE MOLLO TKO2 ART “POLISH WARRIOR” BINKOWSKI
By this time in the night, I was ready for the “big boys” to come out and play, and this fight definitely
packed some serious punches, along with some surprises, albeit in a short fight. Binkowski’s physique
made him a natural to grace the silver screen in Russell Crowe’s Oscar nominated film “Cinderella Man”
as Corn Griffin, who was Braddock’s first comeback fight in the movie. To be totally honest, his
performance in the film was more memorable than this fight against power-punching Chicagoan Mike
Mollo. We were blessed to be able to see Mollo dismantle the giant Kevin McBride last year on the
Valuev-Barrett undercard in grand fashion, and he did an even better, quicker job against Binkowski.
The first round showed Mollo being the busier aggressor, landing relatively well against the taller
Binkowski, who mocked Mollo and played to the crowd, expressing that Mollo’s punches had nothing on
them. Early in round two, no amount of smiling or shrugging of his shoulders could dispel Mollo’s power
as a killer left hook sent Binkowski flat on his back, with his head smacking the mat extremely hard. It
showed Binkowski’s determination that he got up from such a powerful knockdown, but the damage was
done. A full-on barrage from Mollo sent his opponent down again in the second, and after a huge right
hand sent Binkowski down a third time, the referee called the fight without the foregone courtesy of
counting. From a performance like that, the man who played the hardened Corn Griffin could easily be
called Corn Muffin Binkowski, and we expect big things for Mollo, who cannot be ignored in the
heavyweight rankings anymore. He called out Andrew Golota, who also had an impressive win over
Kevin McBride last weekend. Mollo-Golota would sell plenty of tickets in the Chicagoland area, but in
the global scope, wouldn’t prove much more than the fact that Mollo is for real, which we already know.
***As a side note, I just want to say that Don King really knows how to bring out the boxing dignitaries for
a championship fight, and the sheer number of them sitting ringside was nearly staggering. Tito Trinidad
and Roy Jones spent the entire week of pressers, weigh-ins, and the night of the fight smiling for
cameras and signing autographs for their legions of fans, no doubt to help sell tickets for their upcoming
January clash. Nate Campbell, who waits patiently for a Diaz to fight (any of the three would do, he
says) sat near David Diaz, who holds the only belt NOT owned by Juan Diaz in this division. Ray “Boom
Boom” Mancini shined his million-dollar smile for fans throughout the night, as did former heavyweight
title challenger Fres Oquendo, who just completed a Chicago Latino version of “Dancing with the Stars”,
in which he scored third place. Andrew Golota was seen from time to time in the ringside section,
shaking hands with the most dominant heavyweight of the former decade, Lennox Lewis, who was in
attendance on a professional basis, as ringside commentator for HBO Sports, along with Bob Papa,
Larry Merchant, and Harold Lederman. It was truly a great night of fights, but one that didn’t have the
attendance of fans that we usually expect in Chicago, prompting Larry Merchant to say, “If David Diaz
was fighting, we’d have an actual audience instead of a gathering.”
JUAN DIAZ TKO9 by retirement JULIO DIAZ
Talk about a dominant performance. . . . this one really got the fans involved. Two young Mexican
stars, each with shiny hardware up for grabs, in a true unification bout, but it was Juan Diaz’s night to
really shine. He showed that he is the true unified lightweight champion, eclipsing the claim of Joel
Casamayor’s RING title, due to Casamayor’s inability to land a meaningful fight and his constant
inactivity. Julio Diaz said that he wanted to be the star of the division, and take away some of the luster
from Juan “the Baby Bull”, but talk is talk, and gloves are gloves. It would be the gloves that told the real
story of the night.
Juan Diaz’s hands dominated the entire fight, pushing Julio around the ring throughout the entire fight,
bullying him from pillar to post. Juan’s handspeed isn’t anything outstanding, and his power definitely
leaves something to be desired, but his strength is in the accumulation of punches, which when thrown
in unanswered 10-12 punch combinations, tend to rack up the points pretty quickly. I found myself
looking for rounds to give Julio, since the performance of Juan was so overwhelming. Julio’s chin kept
him in the fight, but “the Baby Bull” became the matador as Julio rushed forward with his head on more
than one occasion.
Juan resumed his massacre of the IBF champion in rounds seven and eight, showing his accuracy and
output rate as his true tools. After round eight was complete, there was a lot of discussion in the Julio
Diaz corner. As the ninth was about to begin, the referee threw both hands in the air, waving the fight
off, obviously by the request of the corner. The entire arena burst into applause, but it was short-lived.
They quickly realized that they’ve come to see yet another champion give up their belt while sitting on
their stool. Julio Diaz decided he had had enough, and Juan Diaz threw his hands in the air as the new
WBA, WBO, and IBF Lightweight Champion of the World. Juan got all the fan support he could ever
hope for, with the crowd chanting his name and holding up signs saying “Baby Bull”, and the coronation
of a true boxing star was complete. Juan Diaz is the best lightweight in the world today, and he is
therefore, a marked man.
At the post-fight press conference, I had the chance to ask Juan if he felt more pressure to unify all the
recognized belts (fight David Diaz for the WBC belt) or go after the much talked-about Manny Pacquiao,
who is rumored as being interested in fighting in the “Diaz Division” as referred to by HBO’s Larry
Merchant. Juan replied that he feels strongly that he is ready for Pacquiao, and would love that fight, but
if his handlers wish him to fight (David) Diaz, he’d obviously oblige.
***Chris Guzman has hosted The Bolo Punch Boxing Hour since 2002.
| DON KING PRODUCTIONS “El Dia de los Diaz” Lightweight World Championship Unification Saturday, October 13, 2007 SEARS CENTRE, CHICAGO, IL HBO CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Written report by Chris Guzman from Press Row for The Bolo Punch Boxing Hour |