Premier Boxing Champions 8/14/2015 Recap

An intriguing Heavyweight crossroads fight between former world champions headlined the Premier Boxing Champions card on August 14th at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. In one corner stood forty-six year old former two-division world champion Antonio Tarver. Tarver, a fighter who entered this bout undefeated as a Heavyweight was looking for his third straight win in his comeback. Tarver faced a legitimate threat in his quest to earn a title shot in a third weight division in the form of former IBF Cruiserweight world champion Steve Cunningham.

The thirty-nine year old Cunningham entered this fight coming off of a controversial loss in his previous outing to undefeated contender Vyacheslav Glazkov in March of this year. Although Cunningham entered this bout still rated in the top ten in the International Boxing Federation’s (IBF) Heavyweight ratings as its number six rated contender, an argument could have been made that a loss to Tarver, a fighter who entered unranked by the IBF, but ranked number nine in the world by the World Boxing Association (WBA) could have put his status as a contender in question.

Prior to this bout this observer stated that it was logical to assume that this fight would be a tactical battle that could end up in a close decision. Both fighters are world-class boxers who each have the ability to out box their opponents and to get an opponent out of there should an opportunity present itself.

In short, this fight was fought at an extremely methodical tactical pace from the outset and that pace remained consistent throughout the entire twelve round bout. Cunningham was able to be the consistently busier of the two fighters, but it was Tarver who was able to conserve his stamina and make the most out of openings that Cunningham would give him. Although Cunningham was the busier of the two throughout much of the fight, Tarver landed the harder punches.

As this observer has often said over the years when it comes to close fights it will often boil down to what a judge prefers in their own individual criteria in how they score a fight based on clean punching, effective aggressiveness, ring generalship, and defense. Although both fighters were able to have their moments in this fight, neither fighter was really able to stand out from the other in convincing fashion.

It was certainly not surprising to this observer based on how this fight was fought to see a close decision rendered at the end of this fight. Judges Robin Taylor and John McKaie split scores of 115-113 or 7-5 in rounds to each fighter. The third and deciding Judge John Stewart scored this fight even 114-114 or 6-6 in rounds resulting in this fight being declared a split decision draw. Unofficially, I scored this fight 115-113 in favor of Antonio Tarver.

Although there was not much to separate these two fighters in this fight, I felt Tarver was able to execute his offense a little better than Cunningham and landed the cleaner punches of the two in what was a very competitive fight from start to finish. It is certainly understandable how an official judge or an outside observer could see the fight going the other way or see it as John Stewart saw it as a contest that was simply too close to call.

Antonio Tarver advances to 31-6-1, with 22 Knockouts. Steve Cunningham advances to 28-7-1, with 13 Knockouts.

It is difficult to say where either fighter will go coming out of this fight. Based on what was in all honesty an “Inconclusive” outcome it is understandable and perhaps even logical to assume that the likely course of action for both fighters would be to pursue a rematch. We will have to simply wait and see what both fighters decide to do for their next bouts.

Also on this card, undefeated WBO number one Cruiserweight contender Krzysztof Glowacki scored a thrilling come from behind eleventh round knockout over longtime champion Marco Huck to win the WBO Cruiserweight world championship. This was a fight that produced plenty of back and forth action from the outset.

Glowacki was able to dictate how the fight was fought in the early rounds by being able to consistently push the champion back and land solidly with his right hand. The champion Huck, who was attempting to surpass former Cruiserweight world champion Johnny Nelson’s record of most successful world title defenses in the division by successfully defending his world championship for the fourteenth time began to open up his offense more as the fight progressed and landed some flush combinations on Glowacki.

As the fight entered the sixth round it was a very close contest. Glowacki clearly had the upper hand in the early rounds due to his overall aggression and ability to push the champion back. The middle rounds however, would be dictated by Huck. Huck nearly brought the fight to a sudden conclusion in round six as he dropped Glowacki with a solid left hook that sent the challenger down to the canvas and flat on his back. Although he was clearly hurt Glowacki showed his mettle by getting up from the knockdown at the count of nine and continuing to combat the champion by attempting to fight Huck off of him instead of fighting in a defensive manner and was able to survive the round.

Huck continued to get the better of the action in the eyes of this observer in the middle rounds with his ability to throw and land combinations. Glowacki however, remained very “Game” and continued to put pressure on the champion. By the eleventh round Huck appeared to be ahead on the scorecards and seemed as though he were heading toward a decision victory. The challenger however, would have other plans as Glowacki landed a left/right combination that dropped the champion. As Glowacki had done earlier in the fight, Huck showed his mettle by getting up from the knockdown on wobbly legs, but unlike the challenger was unable to recover as Glowacki pummeled him along the ropes causing Referee David Fields to stop the fight. Official time of stoppage was 2:39 of round eleven.

Krzysztof Glowacki advances to 25-0, with 16 Knockouts. Marco Huck falls to 38-3-1, with 26 Knockouts.

In other bouts:

Artur Szpilka KO2 over Yasmany Consuegra Official time 3:00 of round two (Heavyweight)

Luis Rosa UD6 over Giovanni Caro (technical decision) (Jr. Featherweight) Official scores 60-55, 59-55, 58-56.

 Kamil Laszczyk UD8 over Oscauris Frias (Featherweight) Official scores 80-70 (On all three scorecards)

Travis Kauffman TKO1 over Richard Carmack (Heavyweight) Official time 2:07 of round one.

Jarrett Hurd  TKO 7 over Jeff Lentz (Jr. Middleweight) Official time 2:59 of round seven.

Mikkel LesPierre UD6 over Kevin Womack Jr. (Jr. Welterweight) Official scores 60-54, 59-55 (0n two scorecards)

Marciej Sulecki TKO1 over Jose Barrio  (Middleweight) Official time 2:07 of round one.

Some readers may recall the feature on the Cruiserweight division that was released earlier this month in which this observer stated that if the recent exposure the division has received in the United States continues and if the division continues to be showcased on American television the better for long-term growth of not only the sport overall, but just maybe the growth for the Cruiserweight division in this country as well.

Although this card produced more questions than answers in regard to the futures of Antonio Tarver and Steve Cunningham, it also produced a fight of the year candidate between two fighters making their United States debuts in Krzysztof Glowacki and Marco Huck. For those who may not have seen a Cruiserweight fight prior to this battle between Glowacki and Huck, these two fighters put on a performance that will not only elevate both of them in terms of their exposure here in the United States, but also succeeded in bringing a new audience to their division. It would not surprise me to see a rematch between the two on a future Premier Boxing Champions card. Whether or not this fight does end up in the discussion for fight of the year honors, it is a fight that is definitely deserving of an encore.

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison

TITLESHOT Boxing documentary film hopes to see the light after 20 years

Press Release: August 15, 2015 (Originally released August 10, 2015) By Gaylen Ross, GR Films, Inc. New York, NY  -- For 20 years the film negative of this remarkable documentary TitleShot – probably the last to be shot entirely on 16mm film-- has been in the vault.   Now a Kickstarter campaign is launched by award-winning filmmaker Gaylen Ross to get this film finished.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/391667550/titleshot. 

Life and circumstances had interrupted its completion, and other documentaries were made in the meantime. “I did films on Russian mail-order brides, Stock market fraud, Swiss banks and the Holocaust accounts, and Killing Kasztner, the story of the Hungarian Jew who negotiated with Eichmann, among other films.  But at the back of my mind was this incredible boxing story that was waiting for me,” says director Gaylen Ross.  “Now with Kickstarter we hope to get this gorgeous film footage out of the vaults and for everyone to see!”

Kickstarter, the terrific crowd-funding site, allows people to contribute towards the film funding and in turn receive rewards and recognition for their pledges.

The good news is that the lapse of two decades has allowed for a unique time capsule: a window into a boxing era now gone.  Much of TitleShot was filmed at New York’s world-famous Gleason's Gym during a very exciting era when the place was filled with World Champions and contenders.  Owner Bruce Gleason says “TitleShot shows what really happens to a professional fighter through the rise and fall of professional junior middleweight Ugandan boxer Godfrey Nyakana.”   From training at Gleason's to fighting at the Great Western Forum of Los Angeles, TitleShot captures the uniquely exquisite blow-by-blow action of professional boxing through Nyakana's title quest. 

Careers have risen and fallen (and some to return again) since TitleShot’s filming in the late 90’s. Godfrey is seen sparring with then up-and-coming Shane Mosely (as Shane’s father/trainer looks on) or getting pre-fight bedroom advice from legendary featherweight Kevin Kelley and his wife. Included are some of boxing's greats, like trainer Bob Jackson, former middleweight contender turned trainer, "Irish" Bobby Cassidy, and a few no longer with us -- legendary cut man Al Gavin, Muhammad Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee, and promoter Cedric Kushner.

The Kickstarter campaign has less than a month to go and the goal of $40,000 will finally get the thousands of feet of film digitally transferred, color corrected, and the audio synched to picture.  “The dramatic behind-the-scenes of professional boxing with trainers, manager and boxers are fly on the wall filming, and rarely if ever accessible to outsiders,” says Gaylen Ross.  From a midnight meeting post fight in a hotel lobby with trainer and manager, to a career-determining ultimatum with a fighter, it's the stuff of boxing you only see in scripted feature films.

Through the extraordinary verite cinematography of Bob Richman, (Metallica, The September Issue, Paradise Lost,) TitleShot offers some of the best in ringside fight action. The film travels with Godfrey from match to match – the preludes, the fights themselves and their climatic outcome.  A former Commonwealth games gold-medal winner, Godfrey travels 3 hours on the subway each day from a tiny basement apartment in the East Bronx to Gleason's. For Godfrey this is not just a fight for a title but for his life -- manager, trainer, big money backers, wrapped up in the American dream. All the while we meet other struggling boxers who

are on their own way up or down, including a Detroit heavy weight who finds common ground  with Godfrey, as both travel through South Central Los Angeles.  Tough battles lead to the stunning pain that accompanies a knockout loss, or the exhilaration of a win as this roller coaster ride careens from locker rooms to midnight strategy meetings. The film stays with Godfrey and his team, as they groom him, train him, celebrate with him or pull him back from defeat until that final title shot.  The title is a dream not only for Godfrey, but also for his trainer Bobby Cassidy, who confronts his own lost chances as a boxer, while pursuing the championships for his fighters.

The film will update where the fighters are now: Godfrey Nyakana has returned to Uganda and is now mayor of a district of its capital, Kampala, or fighters like Kevin Kelley, and Shane Mosely currently training his own son, while planning a comeback in the ring.

Director Gaylen Ross

Producers Gaylen Ross, Andrew Ford

Consultants:  Bruce Silverglade, owner Gleason’s Gym

and Robert Cassidy, sports journalist

View a scene from TtileShot below: Credit: Gaylen Ross, GR Films, Inc./YouTube

 

For more information about the TitleShot Kickstarter Campaign please visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/391667550/titleshot. Like TitleShot on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/TitleShot/1626529884280401.

Material Courtesy of: Gaylen Ross, GR Films Inc. Used with permission. 

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Tarver-Cunningham Preview

An intriguing Heavyweight battle will take place on Friday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey as former two-division world champion Antonio Tarver will face former IBF Cruiserweight world champion Steve Cunningham in a fight scheduled for twelve rounds. In one corner will stand Antonio Tarver the former Light-Heavyweight and Cruiserweight world champion, who is undefeated as a Heavyweight.

Tarver has faced many of the best fighters of his era as a Light-Heavyweight including Clinton Woods, Glen Johnson, Bernard Hopkins, and most notably Roy Jones, who he was able to defeat in two of their three fights. Following the successful tenure in the Light-Heavyweight division, which saw Tarver win four separate world championships in the division, Tarver made his Heavyweight debut in October 2010 scoring a ten round unanimous decision over Nagy Aguilera.

Although he was successful in his bout with Aguilera, Tarver would opt to move down in weight in July 2011 to challenge International Boxing Organization (IBO) Cruiserweight world champion Danny Green for his crown in Sydney, Australia. Tarver dominated Green before the fight was stopped by Green’s corner at the conclusion of the ninth round.

After winning a world title in a second weight class, Tarver would choose to defend that title in June 2012 against undefeated contender Lateef Kayode. The bout, which was ruled a majority draw was subject of controversy when it was revealed in the days following the fight that Tarver had tested positive for a banned substance drostanolone. The result of the fight was changed from a majority draw to a no contest. Tarver was subsequently fined $2, 500 and suspended for one year by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).

Following his suspension Tarver would return to the Heavyweight division in November 2013 scoring a fourth round knockout of journeyman contender Mike Shepherd. In his last fight in December of last year Tarver scored a seventh round knockout over Johnathon Banks. The forty-six year old former world champion has aspirations of challenging unified IBF/WBA/WBO/IBO Heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko. Before Tarver can put his name in the mix as a potential future Klitschko opponent however, he must be victorious in his upcoming fight. Standing across the ring from Tarver on Friday night will be former IBF Cruiserweight world champion and current top contender Steve Cunningham.

Cunningham, a former two-time IBF world champion in the Cruiserweight division has established himself as one of the legitimate contenders in the Heavyweight division scoring victories over veterans Jason Gavern, Manuel Quezada, and previously unbeaten prospect Natu Visinia. Cunningham’s most significant victory as a Heavyweight came in April of last year when he scored a hard fought ten round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten knockout artist Amir Mansour in a fight where Cunningham overcame being knocked down twice in the fifth round to score his own knockdown of Mansour in the final round en route to the decision victory.

Despite having a fine career thus far and earning two world titles along the way, Cunningham may be more known for the fights that have gone against him rather than his victories. Some may remember his two battles against former two-division world champion Tomasz Adamek. Two closely fought battles where an argument could be made for either fighter having won both fights.

In his last fight in March of this year Cunningham lost a controversial twelve round unanimous decision to undefeated top contender Vyacheslav Glazkov in a fight that was to determine the number one ranking in the International Boxing Federation’s (IBF) Heavyweight ratings. Many observers, this one included felt that Cunningham won the fight based on his ability to outwork Glazkov over the course of the fight and his overall effectiveness.

Now exactly five months removed from that fight Cunningham prepares to take on Tarver. Although Antonio Tarver is undefeated in three previous fights as a Heavyweight, an argument can and perhaps should be made that Cunningham is the fighter who has a theoretical edge in this fight due to his having fought several top Heavyweight contenders. Cunningham, who will enter the fight rated sixth in the world by the IBF, has also been the more active of the two fighters as well.

The story of this fight in the eyes of this observer will center on which fighter will be able to dictate the pace of the combat. Both fighters have the ability to out box their opponents and both also have the ability to get an opponent out of there should the opportunity present itself. It is logical to assume that this will be a tactical battle that could end up in a very close decision. It may boil down to who can dictate the pace and whether or not that fighter can maintain that pace for the full twelve rounds.

Both fighters have been involved in close fights over the years and it would not surprise me to see another closely fought contest where there could likely be a difference of opinion as to who won the fight. The bout, which will headline the latest Premier Boxing Champions card broadcast by Spike TV in the United States could present some interesting possibilities for the winner. One such possibility could be a potential fight with WBO Cruiserweight world champion Marco Huck, who coincidentally will be making his United States debut on this card in a title defense against undefeated mandatory challenger Krzysztof Glowacki. Huck, who will be attempting to defend his world championship for the fourteenth time (a Cruiserweight record) has competed as a Heavyweight before and assuming the winner of Tarver-Cunningham will be in top contention for a Heavyweight world championship opportunity, Huck, if he is successful in his title defense may view a fight against the winner as an opportunity to potentially position himself to challenge for a world title in the Heavyweight division.

An argument can be made however, that this fight between Antonio Tarver and Steve Cunningham is a crossroads fight. For Tarver at age forty-six a loss could put his career in serious jeopardy. The same could also be said in regard to Steve Cunningham, who at thirty-nine years of age could be nearing the end of his career. A loss to Tarver in this fight would likely drop Cunningham from the IBF’s top ten ratings in the Heavyweight division and would likely put the odds of a title shot against either the winner of the upcoming bout between unified world champion Wladimir Klitschko and undefeated contender Tyson Fury or undefeated WBC champion Deontay Wilder in doubt.

Two fighters in a theoretical “Must Win” scenario could produce an exciting fight. Who will emerge victorious however, remains to be seen.

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

The Boxing Truth ® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison.