Billy C Boxing
This week’s Blast-From-The-Past features Carlos Zarate
Hey there, Fight-fans!
Up this week is the great Mexican Bantamweight Champion Carlos Zarate.
Born May 23rd 1951 in Tepito Mexico, Carlos was the youngest of 8 children. He was five foot 8 inches tall and fought at 118 and 122. Zarate never knew his dad, who died of pneumonia when Carlos was just a toddler. He was raised by his mom, Luz Zarate, who made sure he got a good education but Carlos was trouble in school and “he liked fighting more than books.” Boxing was a natural fit and soon enough Zarate realized he was a tremendous puncher. He racked up a record of 33-0 with 30 kayos as an amateur—only one man claimed to have beaten him but records of the defeat are sketchy. Zarate was the Golden Gloves Champion of Mexico.
They called him “Classy Carlos.” He crushed stereotypes about the loud and flashy Mexican fighter. Zarate was more refined and even tried to institute a No Spitting policy in the gym where he trained. In the ring he was a methodical technician, coolly confident, an exceptional boxer with fast instinctive moves.
After 7 years as a pro and with an exceptional record of 46-0 (45), Zarate faced off against former stablemate, sparring partner and rival, Alfonso Zamora who carried an equally impressive 29-0 (29) record into their encounter. Dubbed the “Battle of the Z’s” it took place in front of a frenzied crowd at the Forum in Inglewood, California. In the first round a member of the crowd leaped into the ring because “God told him to do it” but he was quickly subdued by riot police. The fight itself was a thriller and is posted below.
Professional Ring Record of Carlos Zarate
Now Part of Holyfield TV Network Sports Programming!
May 1, 2017
Lake George, NY – Billy C’s “Talkin Boxing With Billy C TV & Radio Show” has
been added to Holyfield Television’s Sports Programming.
Holyfield TV is currently available through DirectTV, Comcast, Amazon, Google,
ITunes and many over the air TV channels from coast to coast. The Holyfield network is
expanding rapidly. It currently has over 53 million combined subscribers.
“This is just the first step in our growth plan”, stated Bill Calogero, host & founder of the
show. He continued, “We started this show a long time ago and have battled our way to
where we are today. I want to thank Louis Lewow of Lewow Media for his hard work
and dedication to getting this deal done. With his continued guidance, we hope to be
announcing several more networks the show will be available on very soon.”
The Talkin Boxing With Billy C TV Radio Show is professional boxing’s best no
nonsense boxing talk program. Joining Billy C on a regular basis is Sal “Rocky”
Cenicola, Larry Hazzard, Daxx Khan, Alex Pierpaoli, and the most interesting collection
of different guests ever assembled. The show covers boxing; it’s past, present and future
presented in an entertaining opinionated way.
The Talkin Boxing With Billy C TV & Radio Show is in its 14th year and is available
via TV, Radio, YouTube, Internet, FaceBook, Twitter and Podcast. Check your local TV
& Radio providers for channel air times. Watch LIVE daily from 8-10 am EST via
YouTube at www.youtube.com/TalkinBoxing or download our app at http://fite.tv/billyc.
For all information on the show visit www.BillyCBoxing.com.
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For information about adding the show to your network contact Louis Lewow at
lewowmedia@yahoo.com.
This Week’s Blast-From-The-Past features Joe Jennette
Hey Fight-fans!
Up this week is one of the greatest heavyweights who never became champion, the incredible Joe Jennette. Born Jeremiah Jennette in North Bergen, New Jersey on August 26, 1879, Joe worked for his blacksmith father, shoveling coal into trucks and delivering it to customers, hard physical labor that paid little. He was was a strong and athletic young man who stood five-foot-ten-inches tall and weighed between 185 and 203 pounds. Joe was light-skinned and strikingly handsome. He was described as “a black Adonis; a magnificently proportioned man” who was “never a braggart nor a clown, but led a quiet disciplined life.” Joe had been a success as a street fighter, and on a dare at the age of 25, he passed through one of the only doors open to an athletic black youth of the age–boxing. He was quite the progeny, despite starting his career late. Jennette was twenty-five and he learned fast as a pro.
After just 3 fights, one of them a stoppage loss to Black Bill (Claude Brooks), Jennette fought Jack Johnson in their first of 10 fights, and finished his career at 1-2-7 against the Galveston Giant. Their contests were always competitive but Johnson prevailed and sadly, once champion, Johnson never granted Jennette a shot at his title, claiming he was the first Black Heavyweight Champion and he intended to be the last.
Locked out of the Championship, Jennette had to settle for the Colored Heavyweight Championship of the World which was all that was available for heavyweights of his pigmentation. At that time, there among the heavyweight contenders were two other great black fighters who were in the same situation as Joe, they were Sam McVey and Sam Langford. Jennette, McVey and Langford, unable to challenge Jack Johnson, were left to sort things out among themselves, meeting about 30 times combined.
In April of 1909, Jennette and McVey met for the third time in Paris in a Finish Fight that may have been one of the most brutal, grueling boxing matches in history. For 49 rounds Jennette and McVey rumbled against each other. Throughout the course of the bout Jennette was dropped 9 times and rose again and again only to rally in the final ten rounds. McVey came out of his corner at the start of the 49th and shook hands with Jennette, succumbing to the punishment he had absorbed for 48 rounds. The French magazine L’Auto described McVey’s appearance at the end of the bout as “he no longer wore a human face.”
Jennette and McVey would meet 2 more times with a final tally of 2-2-1 (1) in favor of Jennette. Against the great Sam Langford, Jennette finished at 2-5-7 through the course of their fourteen encounters.
After boxing, Jennette served as a boxing referee and a judge. He ran a garage in Union City, New Jersey and upstairs from that he trained neighborhood kids in the Manly Art. In 1946, Jennette described Sam Langford as the greatest of the Big Four, calling him “the toughest of the lot.”
Jennette married Adelaide Atzinger, a white woman, in 1906 and the couple had two children, Joe Jr. and Agnes. Jennette died at the age of 78 years old in the North Hudson Hospital in Weehawken, New Jersey. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York in 1997 and a historical marker was placed in his honor in Union City, New Jeresy a few blocks from where his gym and auto-service station stood.
Jennette’s professional ring record
Jennette, at age 64, sparring with Jack Johnson, age 67, at a war bonds rally
Here he is in action against the incomparable Sam Langford. Jennette and Langford fought 14 times. This is their tenth encounter.
This week’s Blast-From-The-Past features Leon Spinks
Hello, Fight-Fans!
This week we’re talking about former Heavyweight Champion of the World, Neon Leon Spinks! Spinks had a career record of 26-17-3 (14) as a professional and won amateur championships at Light Heavyweight including a Bronze Medal at the `74 World Championships, a Silver Medal at the Pan Am Games in `75 and a Gold Medal at the `76 Montreal Olympics where he was part of one of the two most famous and successful classes of American Olympic boxers in history(The other being the class of 1984). The 1976 Olympic Team in Montreal Canada included Leo Randolph(flyweight), Howard Davis(lightweight), Ray Leonard(light welter), Michael Spinks(middleweight) and Leon Spinks(light heavy).
Leon Spinks turned pro as a Heavyweight (the Cruiserweight division hadn’t come into being yet and later in his career he did fight as a Cruiser) and he got a shot at Heavyweight Legend Muhammad Ali in only his 8th fight. He was six-oh-and one, the draw a ten rounder with rugged Minnesotan, Scott Ledoux.
Leon weighed just 197 and a quarter pounds when he upset Ali by fifteen round Split Decision at the Las Vegas Hilton in February of 1978. He was the King of the World at just 24 years old and soon there were fur coats and fast cars and the fast life of a young boxing champion.
Unfortunately, he lost the Championship just 202 days later in a return match with The Greatest which leaves Leon with the dubious distinction of third shortest rein as Lineal Heavyweight King.
“125 days Shannon Briggs
197 days Micheal Moorer
202 days Leon Spinks
209 days Hasim Rahman
235 days Marvin Hart ”
Leon Spinks went on to tangle with fighters like Larry Holmes, Bernardo Mercado, Carlos De Leon, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, and Alfredo Evangelista in his 18 year career as a pro.
Leon is in rough shape these days but he is still a fighter at his core and maintains the quiet dignity of so many elder lions of blunted tooth and claw who bear the visible effects of years of wear and tear.
Listen tomorrow morning for more on Neon Leon!
Professional Ring Record for Leon Spinks
This is a nice fan-made tribute to Leon Spinks from the YouTubes
Updates From Europe
Updates From Europe
By: Joel Arkin – April 14, 2017
EC Promotions, based out of Germany, will be putting on a boxing card, Friday, May 19th at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg Germany. A feature fight that night will be prospect, Mario Daser, taking a huge step up in competition, when he faces the un-retiring Ola Afolabi. Afolabi retired after losing to Marco Huck by 10th round TKO in February of 2016. However, boxing is a sport where retired fighters, get the itch to return, and find themselves back in the ring even after taking a lot of punishment and being past their prime. While Daser hasn’t fought top level competition. Ola will be a question mark. Can Daser exploit Afolabi’s weaknesses and win? It’s not something out of the question. However, Ola is a road warrior, and fighting in enemy territory is something he is known for. If this is a close fight, don’t be surprised if the judges give it to the prospect as he’s the hometown guy. On the same card, Christian Hammer returns to the ring. He is on a four-fight win streak, since being stopped by Tyson Fury. His last two wins being his most impressive, winning a split over Erkan Teper in October 2016 and then defeating David Price by TKO in round 7 back in February of this year. Karo Murat, known for losing his title to Bernard Hopkins some years back, will also be on the card.
There was supposed to be a purse bid between EBU light heavyweight champion, Robert Stieglitz and Erik Skoglund, however at the last minute, Skoglund bailed on the purse bid. Now Stieglitz will have to wait a few days until the EBU formally announces a new mandatory for Robert. Skoglund is looking in a different direction, as he is hoping to lock up a fight with secondary light heavyweight title holder, Nathan Cleverly. Cleverly owes a rematch to Juergen Braehmer. He defeated Braehmer by TKO last year when Juergen broke his hand and retired after the sixth round. Cleverly was given permission to take a fight before facing Braehmer in his owed rematch.
A card in France On May 6th will feature a trio of regional European title bouts. Christopher Rebrasse, who has faced some of the best European talent, will face Serhiy Demchenko, an Italian based Ukrainian for the EBU-EU super middleweight strap. Also, Hakim Zoulikha will face TBA. Also, Marvin Petit with face Jerobe Santana at lightweight.
The co-feature for the Abraham vs. Krasniqi card has been announced. Heavyweight Tom Schwarz, who is undefeated at 18-0, will battle Adnan Redzovic. While Redzovic is 17-1, most of his wins have come against subpar competition. His lone loss was by TKO against Arnold Gjergjaj back in October of 2014. The vacant WBO Intercontinental title will be on the line in this one.
My two cents for the week: While I am fascinated by Abraham vs. Krasniqi fight. I feel the loser will need to seriously reevaluate their career. Both fighters have had their fair share of chances and continue to get eliminator and mandatory positions, but after a while, you will need to know when it is time to hang it up. Arthur just turned 37 and has been pro since 2003. He has done a lot in his career, but a loss here, he may need to think about his future and maybe that it doesn’t involve him being in the ring when he shouldn’t be. Krasniqi who is only 30, has lost in all his major title challenges. I think this will be a close bout, where both guys stun each other. I am just hoping fans will be treated to a fun fight.
Christopher Brooker vs. Oscar Riojas in featured bout May 12th
Christopher Brooker vs. Oscar Riojas in featured bout May 12th
Jerome Conquest in co-feature bout
Philadelphia, PA. – Battle tested super middleweight Christopher Brooker will take on veteran Oscar Riojas in the eight-round featured bout on Friday night, May 12th at The SugarHouse Casino.
Brooker of Philadelphia has a record of 11-3 with five knockouts. The 25 year-old is known for taking on anyone at anytime. The combined record of his last seven foes is a staggering 92-9-3, with Brooker winning five of those bouts, and Brooker has appeared on national television three times.
Brooker is a two-year professional, who already has wins over Leo Hall (8-0), John Magda (11-0), Antowyan Aikens (10-1-1), Gabriel Pham (6-0) & former world title challenger Elvin Ayala (28-7-1). Brooker has dropped his last two bouts to Ronald Gavril (16-1) in a bout that Brooker was even on the scorecards before being stopped in the final round. On January 20th, Brooker dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to undefeated Ronald Ellis (13-0-1) in Atlantic City. That fight was shown live on ShoBox: The New generation.
Riojas of Monterrey, Mexico has a record of 14-7-1 with four knockouts. The 33 year-old Riojas in a four year professional, who won his first 11 bouts. Like Brooker, Riojas has not shied from tough competition as the combined record of Riojas opponents that have defeated him are 81-1-2.
Riojas and Brooker have two common foes as Riojas has dropped fights to Gavril and Ellis. Riojas is coming off a eight-round unanimous decision over Roberto Nafate on April 6 in Leon, Mexico.
In the six-round co-feature, lightweight Jerome Conquest (6-2, 1 KO) of Philadelphia will compete against an opponent to be named.
Also in six-round bouts:
Blake Mansfield (5-0-1, 2 KO’s) of Burlington, NC will fight Henry Beckford (4-6, 1 KO) of Coram, NY in a super middleweight bout.
Steven Ortiz (5-0, 1 KO) of Philadelphia will take on an opponent to be named in a lightweight bout.
In four-round bouts:
Sam Orapeza (1-0) of Philadelphia battles Kyle McNutt (1-2, 1 KO) of Battle Creek, MI in a cruiserweight affair.
Jeffrey Torres (2-0, 1 KO) of Philadelphia will fight Kashon Hutchinson (2-2, 1 KO) in a battle of Keystone State based lightweights.
Lamont McLaughlin (0-1) of Pennsauken, NJ will look for his first win against an opponent to be named in a light heavyweight fight.
Harold Lopez (1-0, 1 KO) of Bethlehem, PA will square off with Tyrone Arzeno (0-1) of Philadelphia in a bantamweight bout.
Late Results From The Weekend
Late Results From The Weekend
By: Joel Arkin – April 12, 2017
Saturday night, Grant Brothers Boxing and Rixa Promotions gave us a show from the Tohu in Montreal. The audience was treated to a 10 fight card, featuring some of the best local talent from the province of Quebec. In the main event Roody Pierre-Paul beat Noel Majia Rincon but decision in a tough fight, Roody improved to 14-3-1 while Noel fell to 20-12-1. Other notable winners that night was Erik Bazinyan, who is a prospect on the rise, defeating Alis Sijaric in the 4th round. Erik improves to 15-0, while Sijaric falls to 13-3. Dario Bredicean, who was discovered by Lucian Bute, defeated his opponent early in the second round, improving to 13-0. He is only 23, the sky is the limit for this Montreal based, born in Florida prospect. There was only one upset, Mexican, Jose Garcia knocked down Dwayne Durel early in the fight, and could keep the momentum going, to win a split decision, improving to 6-3 while Dwayne Durel takes his first loss and falls to 6-1. Olympic prospect Christian M’Bili also saw action, stopping his opponent in the third to improve to 3-0. Two other locals saw their debut, Jean Michel Bolivar and Mohamed Soumaoro, were able to get their first professional victory, both winning by TKO.
The fight between past his prime veteran, Shane Mosley and Russian prospect, Magomed Kurbanov, which was slated for May 5 in Yekaterinburg Russia, was postponed to September 9th due to an injury to Mosley. RCC Promotions owner Alexey Titov has been notorious for doing shady business tactics with MMA, which he also promotes and usually runs events that feature both boxing and MMA. It is sad to think that at 45, this promoter would want to use Mosley as a stepping stone name to push his young prospect to bigger heights. The other frightening thing is, Russia doesn’t drug test, so their fighters could be anything potentially. I don’t think this will have a good result for Shane sadly. Shane is 3-5-1 dating back to 2010. Kurbanov is undefeated at 10-0. He will still be fighting May 5th, but now against, Virgilijus Stapulinois, who is 27-4-1, to get himself ready for the Mosley fight.
It was made official yesterday that the Abraham Krasniqi fight from Germany, will be available on satellite and cable PPV on April 22, at 2pm. This is a WBO super middleweight title eliminator, with the winner getting a shot at Gilberto Ramirez, who Arthur Abraham lost the belt too, a year ago, last April when he was virtually shut out and provided very little offense. Krasniqi fought for a world title twice at light heavyweight. Losing both times to Nathan Cleverly by decision and then getting stopped by Jurgen Braehmer. Since the drop to 168lbs, he has won 3 straight to get himself this title eliminator. Abraham has won one fight since losing his title, defeating Tim Robin-Lihaug by 8th round stoppage last July. The loser here certainly will have his career in trouble as they both have had more than a few chances at the top spot. It will be promoted by SES boxing, who won the purse bid and promotes Krasniqi. They will have a full undercard of the best German fighters in that stable.
Robin Krasniqi vs. “King” Arthur Abraham For WBO super middleweight title eliminator April 22
Robin Krasniqi vs. “King” Arthur Abraham For WBO super middleweight title eliminator April 22
TENAFLY, N.J. – The World Boxing Organization (WBO) Super Middleweight title eliminator, featuring two-time world title challenger Robin Krasniqi taking on the three-time, two-division world champion “King” Artur Abraham, will be available to watch April 22 on pay per view in North America, starting at 2 p.m. ET/ 11 a.m. a.m. PT, live from Congress Center in Ekfurt, Germany. The two fighters have a combined record or 91-9 with 47 knockouts.
“Krasniqi vs. Abraham”, promoted by SES Promotions, is a presentation of Integrated Sports Media and FITE.
Born in Kosovo, the 29-year-old Krasniqi (46-4, 17 KOs) is a former European and WBO International Light Heavyweight Champion, who resides in Munich, Germany and packs a thunderous punch. Three fights ago, he moved down in weight from Light Heavyweight to Super Middleweight, winning all three bouts at the new weight class and looking highly impressive.
In 2013, Krasniqi lost his first world title shot by way of a 12-round unanimous decision to defending WBO Light Heavyweight World Champion Nathan Cleverly (25-0), in London, by way of a hard-fought 12-round decision.
Following his first career defeat, Krasniqi went on to capture the WBO International Light Heavyweight Title with a seventh-round knockout of previously undefeated Emmanuel Danso (20-0), and has since defended that belt. Krasniqi won the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) Continental Light Heavyweight Title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Oleksandr Cherviak (14-3-1).
In 2014, Krasniqi successfully defended those two championships, taking a 12-round unanimous decision from Dariusz Sek (21-1-1), which set up his second world title shot, March 21, 2015 in Germany, against long-time defending WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion Juergan Braehmer (45-2) in a massive all-German world title showdown. Krasniqi was unable to answer the bell for the 10th round but learned that he should drop a weight class. Since moving down to Super Middleweight, Krasniqi has looked impressive but Abraham will surely be the biggest test of his career.
Rated No. 2 by the WBO, Abraham (45-5, 30 KOs) has positioned himself for another world title shot as the winner of his Apr. 22nd eliminator with Krasniqi will become the mandatory challenger for reigning WBO Super Middleweight World Champion Gilberto Ramirez, of Mexico. Abraham lost his WBO crown by way a 12-round unanimous decision to Ramirez in Las Vegas in 2016 but must win against Krasniqi to have an opportunity at regaining his title.
The 37-year-old Abraham, a native of Armenia who lives in Berlin, Germany, is a two-time WBO (World Boxing Organization) Super Middleweight Champion, as well as the former International Boxing Federation (IBF) Middleweight World Champion. The knockout artist has a remarkable 18-4 (9 KOs) record in world championship bouts and is 7-4 (4 KOs) against former or current world champions. Noted victims during his 16-½ year professional career reads like a Who’s Who of Boxing in the 160 and 168-pound divisions, including world champions Raul Marquez, Hector Javier Velazco, Jermain Taylor, Robert Stieglitz thrice, and Giovanni De Carolis. Abraham has also defeated world-class opponents such as Martin Murray, Paul Smith twice, Lajuan Simon, Edison Miranda twice. Khoren Gevor, Sebastian Demers, Kofi Jantuah, Kingsley Ikeke and Howard Eastman.
Four of Abraham’s five career losses have been to world champions Carl Froch, Andre Ward, Robert Stieglitz and Gilberto Ramirez. Stieglitz is the only opponent to stop Abraham, who has won nine of his last 10 fights, the most recent an eighth-round technical knockout of Tim Robin Lihaug (15-1) this past July in Germany for the vacant WBO International Super Middleweight Title.
WBC SANCTIONS SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT ELIMINATOR BETWEEN DAVID BENAVIDEZ AND ROGELIO MEDINA FOR #2 MANDATORY TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Now that sanction has officially been granted, the next fight for red-hot undefeated super middleweight David “El Bandera Roja” Benavidez will be an eliminator for the #2 mandatory challenger spot in the WBC’s world rankings against highly regarded contender Rogelio “Porky” Medina, of Sonora, Mexico.
WBC #1-rated Callum Smith and WBC #2-rated Anthony Dirrell will fight for the vacant 168 WBC Championship (tentatively scheduled for May), the winner of that fight must then face undefeated WBC #3 contender, Avni Yildirim, from Turkey. The champion at the end of those two fights will be mandated to face the winner of the Benavidez vs. Medina eliminator.
For Benavidez (17-0, 16 KOs), who served as chief sparring partner for middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s recent preparations to face Danny Jacobs, news of the fight with Medina is a welcome development.
“This is the biggest opportunity of my life and I’m not going to let it go to waste,” said Benavidez. “I’m going to destroy this guy like I do everybody else. I have never trained this hard for a fight and I feel that, come fight time, I’ll be extremely strong and do it up.”
Considered a boxing prodigy by many, the 20-year-old Benavidez, who turned professional at age 16, is the brother of former interim WBA World Super Lightweight Jose Benavidez, and has been trained since age two by his father Jose Benavidez Sr.
Date and site for the fight are being negotiated.
Undefeated former Canadian Olympian, Custio Clayton added to April 15th Liveco Boxing event
Hometown champion Tony Luis battles Noe Nunez in the main event
Thousand Palms, California – Undefeated welterweight prospect Custio Clayton has been added to a tremendous night of boxing on Saturday, April 15th at the Cornwall Civic Complex in Cornwall, Ontario, when he takes on Alfredo Chavez in the eight-round co-feature bout.
The event, which is promoted by Liveco Boxing, will feature Cornwall’s own Tony Luis battling Noe Nunez in a 10-round lightweight clash.
Clayton of Montreal, Quebec, was a 2012 Canadian Olympian, and has raced out to an umblemished mark of 10-0 with eight knockouts.
Clayton has faced ambitious competition in his first 10 bouts, which has inlcuded wins over the likes of Eduards Gerasimovs (5-1-1), Ivan Pereyra (20-5), Stanislas Salmon (25-3-2), and in his last bout, Clayton stopped Ramses Agaton (17-4-3) in eight rounds on October 20th in Montreal.
Chavez of Mexico has a record of 12-8 with 10 knockouts. The dangerous Chavez has some quality wins on his resume as he holds victories over Johnny Navarrete (10-0-1), Manolis Plaitis (15-0-1), Rodolfo Ezequiel Martinez (40-7-1), and Alejandro Chavez (5-1). The 31 year-old Chavez is looking to get back in the win column after dropping two straight to undefeated fighters. In his last bout, Chavez was stopped by Jamie Munguia on October 22nd in Tijuana, Mexico.
In a highly-anticipated undercard bout, Akwesasne native son, Ronnie “Rocket” Robidoux (2-0, 2 KOs) looks to keep his perfect professional record intact, facing the rugged Jesus Ortega of Mexico over 4-rounds. Robidoux, who trains in Cornwall under the tutelage of Jorge Luis, looks to add another knockout win to the record after a stunning knockout victory over Donnis Reed in California last month.
Ireland’s “Lethal” Larry Fryers (2-0, 1 KO), now residing in upstate New York, is set to clash against Mexico’s Michel Polina in a 4-round Welterweight bout. Fryers, who seeks to build on last month’s punishing knockout of Rolando Padilla, is one of the most exciting young prospects in boxing. His relentless aggression and fighting style will surely not disappoint.
More undercard bouts will be announced shortly.