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On this segment of “Real Talk”, Patscorpio & Shutterworth da Gawd discuss the sheer madness behind the prospective opponents from 147 to 175 for one Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in Fall of 2019.
As a resident of New England, it’s always a treat when there are notable boxing cards that are held in my area. By that I mean I can attend a card and come home immediately afterwards. Not that I don’t like travel overnight to go see fights because I do. It is a hobby of mine that I cherish. However, there are times where I’d like to drive less than 2 hours and not worry about staying overnight, making accommodations, or schedule a flight. Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the latest Matchroom Boxing offering with the main event of Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade defending his WBO Middleweight Title against top contender Maciej Sulecki. It was being held at the Dunkin Donuts Center, affectionately called “The Dunk”, in Providence RI. Providence being only an hour drive from my home. On top of that, it was Providence’s first world title fight in 28 years. The last time was when Vinny Paz defeated Gilbert Dele for the WBA super welterweight championship. Judging by the near sellout by looking at seating map on Ticketmaster, the city was more than ready for some world championship boxing.
The untelevised and televised undercard was lively. Local favorite Shelly Vincent won her final career fight against Simone Da Silva in a spirited battle and then announced her retirement. That was bookended by 2 fights that ended in 1st round knockouts. Young prospect Otha Jones III hammered out a competitive 6 round decision over Matias Arriagada. Local favorite Mark Deluca would win a 10-round decision over Brandon Brewer in a fantastic fight. It was a treat for most of the crowd who managed to get in the building early to catch the action.
The main card started off with Norbelto Jimenez entering the ring for his second attempt at a world title against Kal Yafai, the WBA Super Flyweight champion. The Dominican contingent in the audience were voicing loudly their support towards Jimenez. Kal in contrast got a stronger than expected negative reaction from the crowd which I found amusing. The fight itself was rough to watch at times for half of the fight. Forearms, low blows, clashing of heads. In the later rounds both fighters got into a groove and were landing big shots on each other. You could feel the urgency in both fighters as they were winging hooks to the body and head. Yafai would score the lone knockdown in the 12th round although it did look like a slip. But the knockdown solidified the win for Yafai with scores of 117-109, 119-107, and 118-108. In the post-fight interview, as boos rained down from the crowd, Yafai stated his desire to pursue a big fight with Sor Rungvisai and the other super flyweight champions.
The co-main event would see former WBO Heavyweight Champion Joseph Parker face off against former world title challenger Alex Leapai. Leapai was a replacement for original opponent Eric Molina. The fight started off spirited enough with both fighters throwing bombs at each other in the opening round. I’m thinking this fight is not going to last that long at this pace, But by the 4th round, both fighters seem to have gassed out. For the rest of the fight, short bursts of offense was the theme. The fight was stopped in the 10th round when the ref deemed that Leapai was taking too much punishment. It had similarities to the stoppage Guillermo Rigondeaux scored against Julio Ceja where it was competitive and not exactly the right moment where it should have been stopped. But that is my personal opinion.
The main event had the crowd more than ready for the fight. The reaction both Andrade and Sulecki received during their walkout was nothing short of electric. Andrade came out with fire in his eyes. You can see the intensity all over his face. That first round was one for the ages. When Andrade scored the lone knockdown of the bout in there, the response was deafening. I thought my eardrums were going to pop out of my head. After a couple more rounds of aggressiveness, Andrade settled down and boxed more. Sulecki, after the knockdown, looked a little shell shocked and didn’t press the action all that much in the mid rounds. Andrade started getting a little wild and inaccurate. Showboating like a prime Sugar Ray Leonard used to do. Sulecki in the later rounds would try to force the action. Lunging in with a head of steam hoping to land that one big shot to turn things around. But it was too little too late. The fight would end up going the distance with Andrade retaining this title by UD with scores of 120-107 x3. At the post fight conference Andrade would emphatically express his desire to fight either Gennadiy Golovkin or Saul Canelo Alvarez next.
Written by Patscorpio for Ring Gang Radio
Patscorpio & Shutterworth da Gawd recap the fight between Demetrius Andrade and Maciej Sulecki
Patscorpio & Shutterworth da Gawd recap the Commey vs Beltran and Charlo vs Adams fights
Andrade sounds off and makes his case for a Canelo or GGG fight.
Promoter Eddie Hearn shares his brief thoughts on undercards and Jermall Charlo and the WBC Middleweight title.
Andrade put on a dominating performance over a Sulecki that had no answers.
Jermall won by decision over a game Adams on Showtime Boxing last night.
Commey gets rid of a game Beltran who came in over the lightweight limit.
Patscorpio, Shutterworth da Gawd, and guest Rome discuss the new album from Shutterworth himself titled “The GOAT Artist”
Goat Artist Album available on all streaming platforms. Spotify link below.
Patscorpio & Shutterworth da Gawd preview the upcoming fights: Richard Commey vs Ray Beltran, Jermall Charlo vs Brandon Adams, & Demetrius Andrade vs Maciej Sulecki.
Patscorpio, Shutterworth da Gawd, and guest Rome discuss the fight between Jermell Charlo and Jorge Cota and its undercard
Patscorpio, Shutterworth da Gawd, and guest Rome discuss the rematch between Andrew Cancio and Alberto Machado
Shutterworth, Clanarchy, and Prolific Genius1 come through with some new bars and boxing for the Pacquiao vs. Thurman fight.
Prolific Genius1 teams up with Clanarchy to give us an epic highlight video of Billy Joe Saunder’s recent super middleweight tile win.
In my previous “Forgotten Fades” articles, a lot of fights mentioned were originally aired on ESPN. Well here’s another gem of a fight that comes from that network – Delvin Rodriguez vs Pawel Wolak 1. You are probably asking when seeing this choice “Why no mention of the second fight?” I will touch upon that later in the article. Delvin Rodriguez (then 25-5-2 with 14 KO’s) was a staple on the ESPN Friday Night Fight cards and had plenty of fan friendly fights on there. Oscar Diaz, Jesse Feliciano, Allen Conyers, Shamone Alvarez were some of those affairs. He would also have a couple of USBA Welterweight title reigns during that period. He would be making his 154 debut. Pawel Wolak (then 29-1 with 19 KO’s) was an exciting prospect in the 154 division at the time. His only professional blemish was getting outboxed and knocked down by the underrated Ishe Smith. He would rebound after that to score the biggest win of his career by stopping former WBA 154 champion Yuri Foreman in 6 rounds. That fight got plenty of attention because it was on the PPV undercard of Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga. The matchmaker who ended up putting this fight together for FNF couldn’t imagine how it would it turn out.
The Fight
Similar to his performance in the Foreman fight, Wolak wasted no time bringing the fight to Rodriguez from opening bell. Putting Rodriguez under pressure by staying in his chest and bullying him in his attempt to wear him down. Rodriguez was getting hit constantly with body punches and hooks upstairs. This was the pattern for most of the earlier rounds but Rodriguez would not let that be the story of the whole fight. Every time he was able to create some distance, Rodriguez would punish Wolak with some serious combinations. He also start timing Wolak’s attempts as he came in with right hands and uppercuts that were noticeably snapping his head back.
As the fight progressed into the middle rounds, Wolak’s right eye swelled up grotesquely. It was at the level if not worse than the swelling Hasim Rahman got from Evander Holyfield. During times of the fight, the ref Steve Smoger would call a break in the action to have the doctors check it out. To my shock and minor disbelief, they would say Wolak was good to go. Now I’m watching this and thinking there is no way that Wolak is seeing anything out of that eye. The fight just got more and more brutal by the round. Round 9 especially was tough to watch as Rodriguez was targeting that swelling on that eye. I was cringing at the shots that were landing on it. That round was also notable for Teddy Atlas going off on a rant regarding Haye vs Klitschko. Teddy was not a fan of that fight due to what he perceived as lack of desire from both men. He would say that if those 2 fought like Rodriguez and Wolak, then Klitschko would not be heavyweight champion. The 10th and final round, both fighters just let it all hang out to the final bell with the audience cheering wild.
Aftermath
Personally I thought Rodriguez edge it out by a couple rounds due to his work in the later rounds. The judges saw it a little differently. One judge scored it 97-93 for Rodriguez. The other 2 judges scored 95-95 which made the fight a majority draw. Both Wolak and Rodriguez were nothing but class and cordial to each other in the post-fight interview with the ESPN FNF crew. Teddy again reiterating his views on Haye vs Klitschko and how that fight was nothing in comparison to this fight. It was a definite fight of the year candidate. It would get the Boxing Writers Association of America Fight of the Year award for 2011. Both were adamant on doing it again. Which leads up to the second fight. Sometimes you have the first fight that is so good but underrated that it is warranted its “Forgotten Fade” status. Sometimes you have subsequent rematches that you just like to forget about it period. Wolak vs Rodriguez 2 is one of those fights. The rematch took place on the undercard for Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito 2. This time the fight was largely a one sided affair won by Rodriguez who nearly came close to scoring a knockout in the final round. Wolak would retire from professional boxing shortly after this fight. A brief sliver of potential that never got realized. Rodriguez would soldier on but never really being able to get over the hump. He would only win 3 of the next 8 fights afterwards. He would fall short in title shots against then 154 champions Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara. However they will they will always have that fight. Full recommendation to watch.
Written by Patscorpio for Ring Gang Radio
Cancio proves the 1st fight wasn’t a fluke by stopping Machado early again in the rematch.
You can now hear Patscorpio, Shutterworth, PJ, and the rest of the Ring Gang squad on the Stitcher app and website.
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ring-gang-radio/real-talk-the-eye-test
Patscorpio & Shutterworth da Gawd give their review of the second season of the hit Showtime TV show The Chi.