Juan Manuel Marquez catches Michael Katsidis with a left jab Photo By Meranda De La O
Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Michael Katsidis
MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada
WBA Super World Lightweight Title
WBO Lightweight Title
Marquez KO’s Katsidis Round 9
Press Conference Photo By Meranda De La O
By Randy De La O
I was unable to see the fight last Saturday between Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico and Michael Katsidis of Australia but I did catch the replay on HBO the next day. I’m not surprised at the way the fight went or how it ended. Katsidis, like every Aussie I have ever seen fought like a true warrior. That was a given. A big heart and an exciting fighter. Despite a fairly high knockout ratio none of them came against top quality opponents , still a guy with a big punch is always dangerous.
Katsidis proved that when he knocked down Marquez in the third round with a quick left hook that hurt Marquez. Marquez, true to form, shook off the punch, fought back and by the end of the round was back in command of the fight. With each round Marquez continued to dominate and it was his experience as well as his amazing durability that won the day for him.
The fight, a likely candidate for the fight of the year, though mostly dominated by Marquez was exciting. At 37 years of age, part of the drama of watching Marquez fight is wondering if this is the fight where he shows his age. The thought was that over the long haul, that maybe Katsidis’ youth would kick in against an aging Marquez. It never happened. Instead referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight in the ninth round after Katsidis was hurt from a series of punches thrown by Marquez. Some of the fans didn’t like it but Katsidis didn’t argue the stoppage.
Marquez always finds a reserve to draw upon. He has such a strong will to win. This is what makes him such a great champion and one that could have fought in any era. Fighting at a time when most fighters are afraid to take a real risk, Marquez continues to fight the best available fighters out there. Marquez, though has only one fighter in mind, it is his “Magnificent Obsession “, a third fight with Manny Pacquiao. It is his belief, a belief that is shared by many, that he won both of his fights with Pacquiao. This is what propels him.
I can’t say why Pacquiao refuses to give him a third fight and I honestly don’t know if at this point in time Marquez can still beat Pacquiao, but even if you feel, to be fair, as some do, that Pacquiao did win his two fights, the fact remains that the difference between the two is razor thin. There is no other better qualified or deserving opponent for Manny Pacquiao.
Marquez can’t go on forever. A fighter his age in the lighter weights is an anomaly. Don’t miss another of his fights. He doesn’t get the attention of Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao just as earlier in his career, he fought in the shadows of his countrymen Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales but Marquez is a true boxing legend. Maybe when it is all said and done, he may just emerge as the best of all of them.
Many thanks to Pat Ruggiero for sending me these classic old photos. Pat was one of the trainers from the old Main Street Gym in Los Angeles and learned his craft from veteran trainer and manager Ralph Gambina. Pat worked with Middleweight Mike Nixon and featherweight David Sotelo
Ralph Gambina and Heavyweight John Baca at
the Main Street Gym in Los Angeles, California
Pat Ruggiero and Ralph Gambina
Middleweight Mike Nixon, Pat Ruggiero, Sugar Ray Robinson and
Ralph Gambina at the Main Street Gym, Los Angeles, California
Sylvester Stallone and Pat Ruggiero at the
Main Street Gym during the filming of Rocky in 1976
Pat Ruggiero and Bobby Chacon
Al Silvani, Frank Sinatra, Hank Sanicola,
Ralph Gambina and Cisco Andrade, 1950's
Pat Ruggerio working the corner of David Sotelo during Sotelo's fight with Art Hafey, April 15, 1976 at the Olympic Auditorium
Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey HBO Production
Getty Images
2010-11-20
By Randy De La O
Saturday night’s fight at the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall in New Jersey was short and sweet. It was 1:10 into the second round when Sergio Martinez saw his opening and threw an explosive left hook to the side of Paul Williams jaw. It connected and then some. The ending was so sudden, so complete it was almost surreal, It was the type of knockout that scares you. “I was waiting for a mistake, but I was surprised that it came so soon, I didn't want the judges to rob me this time" said Martinez
The fight itself was expected to be a continuation of the first fight which ended in a controversial majority decision in favor of Williams. That fight never materialized. Martinez got his revenge quickly and decisively in a fight that started out competitively. The knockout is almost certain to be the knockout of the year and could end up being the knockout of the decade. I can’t remember the last time I saw such a devastating one punch knockout. “I got caught” said Williams “I just got caught”. Boy, did he ever.
There is a primal savagery in the way that Martinez fights; skilled but with a sort of reckless abandonment. He evokes memories of a time when the middleweights were king.This champ is not afraid of taking risks. He wanted to make his mark here in the United States and he did. It’s hard to believe that Martinez won’t have a following after this knockout. With one single punch he stole the thunder from last week’s fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito. It has to shake up the pound for pound rankings.
Message to Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.; Make your fight with each other and quick. There is a new sheriff in town that realistically doesn’t need either one of you. Martinez is the kind of guy that can make both of you an after thought. Come to think about it, that fight is becoming less important by the minute. Better hurry!
The latest news of the Rigoberto Alvarez-Austin Trout world title fight postponed til January, due to a cut received during Alvarez’s fight against Nobuhiro Ishida for the interim title and an eliminator for THE world title [Editor's note: Trout-Alvarez will be for the WBA's "regular" 154-pound title, with Miguel Cotto holding the higher ranked "superchampion" belt.] The year wait has been agonizing, and staying motivated when Austin was being ducked by Ishida was extremely frustrating.
Austin’s promoter Empire Promotions, headed by boxing guru Shelley Finkel, chose to step aside and let the winner of Ishida-Alvarez fight for the title eliminator, then fight Austin for the WBA world title, which has been vacated by Miguel Cotto [when Cotto was elevated to "superchampion." - Editor] Why step aside? Because Alvarez’ promoter Golden Boy brings Television and more money to the table, bottom line.
Alvarez won, as all had hoped, for the exception of Ishida, and the fight was set for December 4th. But as of last week we were told that Alvarez had sustained a cut and needed time to heal, understandably, as not to give Austin any advantage, Austin doesn’t need an advantage, just a fair event and a fight!
No one can even imagine the agony and frustration of waiting for these opponents to grow nads so they’ll get into the ring with Austin. The politics of waiting on and off for the “mandatory fight” has, at times, left Austin wondering if it’s better to give up the mandatory position and take a fight of no real significance, but would give him some pocket change to sustain him and his family.
The sacrifices have been real, but we feel that January is going to be the magic month. All those sacrifices, postponements, ducking and dodging, BS politics of boxing will be all rectified in January when Austin becomes the 4th New Mexican and 1st Las Crucen to win THE world championship.
The Anotonio Margarito and Sergio Martinez training camps have been a blessing, Austin was the main sparring partner for both guys getting them prepared for their up coming mega fights, shown on HBO Pay-per-view this weekend and the following. While in Oxnard, Austin was asked to do numerous national and international interviews and has been seen on HBO’s 24/7 and written about in Ring magazine.
Yet not a thing, locally has been done on Austin Trout. Here’s a number one contender, an Olympic alternate, an undefeated world class professional boxer getting ready to fight for THE world championship and NOTHING has been done to keep the public informed why he’s been inactive and when he’ll supposedly be fighting for THE world championship and the frustrations and disappointments he’s had to endure in pursuit of boxing’s holy grail.
It seems as if sports journalists could find more than a few stories in the drama that has come to be outside the ring, in prelude to the drama that’s going to happen in the ring!
Ed Hernandez and I were at the Home Depot Center in July of 2007, when Paul Williams took Antonio Margarito’s WBO title by 12 rounds unanimous decision. It was a close, hard fought battle and despite the angry response from the crowd, Williams deserved the win. He’s the real deal and I think it’s fair criticism when most boxing writers and boxing fans say that both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao want nothing to do with him, though maybe a little more Mayweather than Pacquiao, especially after last Saturday’s shutout by Pacquiao over Margarito.
In his very next fight, Williams lost his title to the once highly regarded Carlos Quintana, a fight he avenged with a first round stoppage a few month later in the rematch. He has been on a six fight winning streak since the loss to Quintana.
One of Williams “victims” was Sergio Martinez, and I use the term “victim” loosely , in fact if Martinez was a victim that night, it was of bad judging. The fight at best could have been a draw but I thought Martinez edged out the fight and I’m not the only one. Still, it wasn’t a robbery , some fights just come down to opinions.
Martinez, an athlete and former soccer player from Argentina, made the transition from soccer player to professional boxer without the benefit of ever having fought as an amateur. Wasting no time after the loss to Williams, Martinez took on tough Kelly Pavlik for Pavlik’s WBC and WBO Middleweight titles. Pavlik’s only loss up to that fight was a twelve round loss to Bernard Hopkins. It was an exciting fight that Martinez won in spectacular fashion in twelve rounds.
That brings us to tonight’s fight in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Williams has proven he can win a rematch and Martinez has shown himself to be a legitimate fighter with skill and speed. Sometimes rematches turn out to be boring duds. Every once in a while though, we get a Gotti-Ward, Barrera-Morales or a Marquez-Vasquez. That’s my hope for tonight
Williams, a tall and rangy fighter needs to use his height and jab to set up his punches. Show some patience before going on the inside. Martinez, an excellent counterpuncher, has to keep in perpetual motion, not be a stationary target and find a way to get inside of Williams jab, which might not be quite as easy as the first fight.
This fight is a toss up but maybe the mental edge goes to Martinez. He was a contender in the first fight, Now he’s a champion. My father would tell me that a fighter really gains confidence once they win a title. They believe in themselves in a way they never did before, becoming a champion improves them. If that’s the case and Martinez is an improved fighter, Williams will have his hands full tonight. On top of that, Martinez feels he got screwed in the first fight. He wants revenge.
The fight will be televised by HBO. As always, may the best man win.
"Maybe I'm biased because I'm black, but I think that this is what is said at people's homes and around the dinner table among black boxing fans and fighters. Most of them won't say it [in public] because they're not being real and they don't have the balls to say it, "But I do think that a fighter like the Ray Leonards or anyone like that would beat a guy [like Pacquiao] if they come with their game,
Listen, this ain't a racial thing, but then again, maybe it is, but the style that is embedded in most of us black fighters, that style could be a problem to any other style of fighting." - Bernard Hopkins
-----
Look, Man, I don't want to get in a racial beef with anyone but that statements really does call for some type of rebuttal, even a brief one. I mean, how do you respond to a statement like that? Bullshit is the first word that comes to mind
With one inane statement Bernard Hopkins has just relegated every nonblack fighter to a secondary status. There are in fact three possible reasons that Manny Pacquiao has not faced any black fighters.
First, early in his career Manny Pacquiao fought all his early fights excluslivly in Asia, most of them being in the Philippines.
Secondly, in the championship stage of his career Manny Pacquiao fought the best fighters of his division, period. Is it his fault that the best at that time weren't black or that the best happened to be mostly Hispanic fighters? The guys he fought were champions in their respective division; Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez and Ricky Hatton. The only black fighter with a Leonard like style of fighting is Floyd Mayweather Jr. and if anyone can get him to sign the dotted line (good luck) Manny will fight him. To the best of my knowledge, Manny had already agreed to take the test. That the fight has yet to take place is squarely on Mayweather's shoulders.
Thirdly, maybe Bernard should consider the possibility that some of the black fighters in the lower weight division are ducking Manny Pacquiao. Who should he have fought? Nate Campbell? Too spotty a record and can't really be considered a serious threat. Zab Judah? Hold on, let me stop laughing,... okay, by the time Manny got to the higher weight classes, Judah, all on his own became a Persona Non Grata. He was a non issue by the time Pacquiao got to the Junior Welters. Tim Bradley, Devon Alexander and Andre Berto are all good fighters but all three are just now starting to make their mark. No one can seriously make the case that Manny Pacquiao is ducking them. So who exactly is he ducking? Why can't he or anyone else ask "Why is Floyd Mayweather Jr. avoiding Filipino fighters?". Now that's a fair question. If you can find one on his record I'll eat my hat.
While I agree with Bernard Hopkins that some black fighters do posses, albeit, to a lesser degree, a Leonard like style that is unique to African American fighters, I don't think they are, across the board, automatically better. If that's the case, why are two brothers from Ukraine holding the heavyweight belts hostage?
It's the man and his ability and nothing else.
What sickens me most is not what Hopkins said but this statement by Bob Arum "A fight with Shane Mosley would answer that situation,". If Pacquiao takes that fight I'll take back every good thing I ever said about him. Mosley, one of the best fighters of his era has seen his better days and though it pains me to say it, at this stage of his career it would sending him to the wolves for a big payday. Bob Arum should be made to go one round with Pacquiao just for thinking it.
I know that I can’t be the only one that thought Jesus Soto Karass was given the old Jesse James Saturday in his fight with Mike Jones. If this isn’t a robbery than I don’t know what is. Jones and Soto Karass fought on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito fight. Jones was clearly the house favorite and is being groomed for bigger and better things and Karass was the designated “opponent”.
Someone should have told Karass because he went in to this fight Saturday night to win, and he did, in my opinion. After a great second round by Jones where he threw a fifty-plus punch flurry while he had Karass on the ropes (they didn’t all land), Jones shot his wad and never really quite recovered and with the exception of a few good moments for the rest of the fight, Karass kicked his ass. It was all Jones could do just to hang on. The NABA, WBO NABO) and the WBC Continental Americas Welterweight Titles were at stake.
After surviving the second round onslaught by Jones and suffering cuts over both eyes, Karass hunkered down and gave a Margarito like performance (the old winning Margarito). He made some new fans with his rugged in your face style and big heart. I’m sure we’ll be seeing him on HBO again and soon. Jones got away with a 10 round majority decision.
What ever you thought about him, what ever you wanted to happen to him, however bad you wanted to see him fail and get his ass kicked, you’ve got to admit, he took his lickin’ like a man. Not a whimper from the man. He did the only thing he knows how to do and that is forge ahead, take punches, suck it up and punch back. It has almost always been enough. For some, Manny Pacquiao was judge, jury and executioner and the fight was divine retribution, maybe but if so, the flip side would be divine redemption. Debt paid in full.
Margarito, clearly losing the fight almost from the opening round, never stopped trying. He never ran, never hid, never looked for a way to deceive the judges. He fought and lost in the most honest and basic of ways, simply by fighting to the best of his ability against the most dominating fighter of his era.
His face was taco meat, or hamburger meat if you prefer, by the end of the fight. Pacquiao’s face also showed signs of a being in a fight. Though Pacquiao’s performance was dominating and the fight one sided, Margarito did have a few scattered moments throughout the fight and by Pacquiao‘s own admission, Margarito did hurt him on more than one occasion, especially with the left hook to the body and the uppercuts. It was just never enough.
I couldn’t help but think of Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta in Martin Scoresese’s “The Raging Bull” when DeNiro as LaMotta says to Sugar Ray Robinson after the fight was stopped in the 13th round of a fight that has come to be known as “The St. Valentines Day Massacre”, You never got me down Ray, you never got me down”. Sometimes just staying on your feet is victory enough.
Getty Images
2010-11-14
Manny Pacquiao
For my money, this was the first legitimate win against a bigger fighter. With just a years difference between them, there was no age advantage for Pacquiao. He was fighting a man still considered to be one of the best fighters in the world. There was no asterisk in this fight.
Going into this fight I didn’t think Manny could do it. Despite the odds I felt Margarito would be too much for him size wise. Now? Now, I don’t think the Klitscho Brothers, on the same night would be too much for him. Pacquiao has proven himself to be as good as any fighter in history. There is no denying it. His name belongs with the best; Sugar Ray Robinson, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Benny Leonard, Julio Cesar Chavez, Alexis Arguello, Aaron Pryor and Henry Armstrong. Each and every one of them would have had their hands full with the Filipino sensation, Manny Pacquiao.
That he was able to withstand the punches of a man that had a 17 pound weight advantage is nothing short of remarkable. It’s easy to believe that it all comes easy for him but listening to Pacquiao after the fight when he was being interviewed by Jim Lampley, you could sense the tiredness, the weariness that comes from giving your all. Along with his great skills and endurance it is Pacquiao’s tremendous heart that wins the fights for him. Manny Pacquiao refused to lose and always finds a way to win.
If it’s true that the whole world loves a winner, than it’s also true that we love a guy that can take what he’s got coming to him.
Looking to the positive, I expect these two to match up better than Pac & Floyd.
Regardless of who Floyd Jr. fights, he's going to make it a boring match.
Margarito comes to fight. So does Pac. To me that's the recipe for a good match, regardless of outcome.
I like Pac much the same as I did Duran during the 70's & 80's. Duran is one of my all-time favorites.
Regardless of who wins Saturday, I wouldn't be unhappy to see Margarito receive a career ending injury.
Character . . .
This is one thing that seems overlooked by most when it comes to what a boxer must have to achieve greatness.
Since Muhammad Ali was never known as a big KO puncher, everybody points to his hand speed, strong chin and skill, as what made him great.
What made Ali great was his charactor. Lack of charactor is what seperated Mike Tyson from true greatness. It was charactor that kept Ali fighting when he was hurt, not his strong chin.
It takes character to truly overcome great odds to succeed.
Antonio Margarito has proven that he has no character, and certainly no class.
Margarito can whip a lot of welters, but has no chance with a great boxer with character, regardless of size advantage, or distractions, etc.
I resigned from my position as head of the selection commitee for the WBHOF. That's good for guys like Margarito.
There are boxers who have been inducted into the WBHOF who aren't as good as Margarito, but I assure you that Margarito's name would never be found on a WBHOF ballot had I remained in charge.
It's not about cheating. I've cheated on things, and I might do it again. However, my definition of cheating relates to saving a few bucks on taxs when I know I can, not putting another man's health & welfare in jeopardy, a man who's chances of winning were only considered one-in-five.
I don't think Margarito should be boiled in oil. I just want him out of boxing.
Margarito making fun of Freddie Roach's Parkinson's Disease? As I mentioned before, I hope this guy suffers a career ending injury.
Manny Pacquiao weighed in at a surprisingly low 144.6 pounds Friday, making it possible he could weigh 15 pounds less than Antonio Margarito by Saturday night's fight. "I'm not worried," Pacquiao said, walking off the stage at Cowboys Stadium. "That's what we did for training, train hard. My weight came down from what it was to make me faster. "For the last week and a half, [trainer] Freddie Roach let me do what I wanted to do, get to where I'm as fast as I can be." Roach, standing behind Pacquiao, nodded, and said that was "100%" accurate. Margarito, poised to make his return to fighting in the U.S. after a nearly two-year-long banishment, weighed in at the junior-middleweight catch-weight limit of 150. He scoffed at suggestions by Pacquiao's conditioning coach and manager that he looked "dehydrated" and "shot." "It's very good, I'm very strong," he said. "They can say what they want. I feel very strong." There'll be more news to come from today's weigh-in at latimes.com/sports, and Twitter.com/latimespugmire. --Lance Pugmire
Photo: Manny Pacquiao, left, and Antonio Margarito at the weigh-in. Credit: David J. Phillip, AP.
I have to be honest, I have never been a true believer in Manny Pacquiao, I have never been 100% sold on the idea that he is one of the greatest, all time fighters to ever step into the ring. He’s a damned good fighter and exciting, I’ll give him that and he’s certainly beaten some great fighters . The problem is that he’s beaten them when they were either past their primes, i.e, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, or already beaten by his “Pound for Pound” rival Floyd Mayweather Jr., i.e., Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya. In Oscar’s case he was not only past his prime and already beaten by Mayweather (Oscar lost a split decision to Floyd on May 5, 2007) but he suffered from severe weight loss in preparing for the fight after giving in to Pacquiao‘s incessant demands for a catch weight.
Couple that with Manny’s two highly controversial fights with Juan Manuel Marquez; the first, a draw in May of 2004 and a split decision win in 2008 that should have gone to Marquez, in the view of many boxing fans, including myself, and sportswriters. I’m not trying to re-win those fights for Marquez either, it is what it is, but I am trying to give some perspective on Pacquiao. His fight with Joshua Clottey exposed some chinks in Pacquiao’s armor. Clottey, who rarely threw a punch during his fight with Pacquiao, never really put forth the effort to win that fight but on the rare occasion when he actually decided to fight and throw a punch he had some success, he just never followed through.
In many ways, I liken Manny Pacquiao’s career to Mike Tyson‘s. Tyson was a juggernaut that steamrolled over almost all of his opposition but if you look back at his career you’ll see that he didn’t fight the best of his day. Both Manny’s and Mike Tyson’s career record will back up everything I say. Look for yourself if you don’t believe me. When Tyson faced Evander Holyfield, a fighter almost everyone believed was washed up at the time and on the verge of being dangerously beaten by Tyson, he faced a fighter that win, lose or draw, had indeed fought the best. I don’t have to tell you how that fight ended. Holyfield to some degree was fighting for redemption. Considered, old and over the hill with medical problems, and small for a heavyweight, Holyfield was fighting for his worth as a fighter. He was trying to prove something .
I know a couple of guys that have served time in prison. They made a mistake and paid for their crimes. They were caught red handed, arrested, put on trial, found guilty and they served their time. They paid for their crimes and moved on. Antonio Margarito never really had his day in court but was convicted none the less. He served his time, so to speak, that was meted out to him. I’m not defending his actions either, what I am saying is this, Margarito did his time and like it or not, every man deserves a second chance. Even O.J. Simpson didn’t catch this much flak. Okay, maybe O.J. did but you get my point.
The argument has always been, Margarito could have killed Sugar Shane Mosley if he had fought with, what is called “ trace elements of plaster of Paris”. I won’t argue in defense of that, but consider this, Shane Mosley was found to have had performance enhancing drugs in his system during his second fight with Oscar De La Hoya ( a fight I thought Oscar won). Now I have nothing but love for Sugar Shane, he is without a doubt one of my favorite fighters and is a shoo in for the Hall of Fame when his career is over, but why is he being given a pass?
Fighters have been dieing in the ring since the sport began, with out any drugs involved, that being the case, a fighter using steroids or any other drug, could conceivably kill a fighter in the ring. So why the pass? At the very least, Margarito has paid for his crime with his year suspension from boxing and a giant loss of respect and credibility, and that’s on him.
Antonio Margarito vs Miguel Cotto
Was Margarito using loaded handwraps when he fought Miguel Cotto? I don’t know. I know it serves Cotto’s camp and fans to believe so. The brutality of the beating by Margarito and Cotto’s battered face are given as proof but the ever valiant Cotto suffered a similar beating by Pacquiao and his face was equally battered, and no trace of plaster of Paris was found in Pacquiao’s handwrap, so I fail to see the significance of that statement. None of Margarito’s other opponents were ever battered into submission either.
Margarito has never been one of my favorite fighters, though I never disliked him either and I’m not particularly fond of cheaters but I do believe in second chances. That’s the very essence of America. This country was founded by men and women seeking second chances. Margarito deserves no less.
All that being said, I really believe that Pacquiao is one of the greatest of his era and the more skilled fighter of the two and that he has all the momentum going into this fight but I also believe he and Freddie Roach are taking the fight and a victory for granted. I can’t tell if all the talk by Roach about Manny being distracted and not putting forth the effort in camp is just a ploy or if it’s real.
Margarito for his part is taking nothing for granted and seems to be in the best mental and physical shape of his life. Regardless of what the rest of us may think, Antonio Margarito has turned this into a battle of redemption. Whether he will be redeemed or not after this fight is anyone’s guess but he believes it. It’s his cause and a man with a cause is hard to beat and that’s where he will be drawing his strength from.
To my way of thinking, Margarito’s only chance of winning is by knockout and I believe that will be his battle plan. He has to know he is not going to outbox Pacquiao nor will he out speed him and he certainly will not out number him when it comes to throwing punches. No, his only chance will be to absorb everything Pacquiao throws at him and then get his own punches in. Of the two, he is the bigger and stronger fighter. He will use that to his advantage.
Despite the cheating scandal and loss to Mosley, Margarito has always had a stout heart and chin and I believe that he is coming to win. Can his quest for redemption and respect overcome the will, determination and speed of Manny Pacquiao? We’ll see! As always, may the best man win.
Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito will be duking it out this Saturday, November 13, at the Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas for the vacant WBC Junior Middleweight title. It will be broadcast on HBO/PPV.
While we're wishing Tony a speedy recovery here's a look back at his fight with Roger Mayweather from July 8, 1984 at the Reseda Country Club in Reseda, California. Tony won a 10 round unanimous decision
With his knee surgery a success and already in physical therapy, Tony "The Tiger" Baltazar leaves the hospital tomorrow. Thanks for keeping Tony and the rest of the Baltazar clan in your thoughts and prayers. Those of us that followed Tony's career back in the day always figured that it would take, at the very least, a truck to put Tony on his back. A Tough guy with a big heart and a favorite of West Coast Boxing fans.
