Bernard Hopkins wants to go out with a bang Saturday against Joe Smith Jr.

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Robert Morales

Bernard Hopkins Should Retire Following Loss to Sergey Kovalev

Bernard Hopkins hits the deck during his fight with Sergey Kovalev in 2014/Getty Images photo by Al Bello

Bernard Hopkins wants to go out with a bang, even if he is 51.

“On Dec. 17, I want to give a performance where you beg me to stay,” Hopkins said during a recent conference call promoting his fight Saturday against light heavyweight contender Joe Smith Jr. at the Fabulous Fourm (on HBO). “And it’s a challenge that Joe Smith will have to take on. For fighters to show their greatness, they need someone to bring it out.

“Timing is everything and I am doing it in my calculation. I proved a bunch of people wrong already. There is no stone that has not been unturned, meaning that when I look back, I would have done everything that I wanted to.”

Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs), one of the great middleweight champions of all time, is also a former light heavyweight champion. He hasn’t fought since losing a very wide decision to Sergey Kovalev in a light heavyweight title-unification bout in November 2014. Hopkins was 49 at the time.

That means Hopkins will have been out of the ring for two years and a month when he steps in against Smith (22-1, 18 KOs), a top 10 fighter who is just 27.

Ringstar signs Mexican Olympian Misael Rodriguez to promotional contract

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Robert Morales

Misael Rodriguez/Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Promoter Richard Schaefer of Ringstar Sports has signed middleweight Misael Rodriguez – a 2016 Olympic bronze-medal winner from Mexico – to a promotional contract. Schaefer recently signed U.S. Olympian Carlos Balderas of Santa Maria.

“I’m thrilled to be adding another promising young potential superstar in Misael Rodriguez to the Ringstar lineup,” said Schaefer, the former CEO of Golden Boy Promotions who recently founded Ringstar. “This is a young man who has overcome overcome every obstacle thrown his way.

“He is mentally strong, has great skills and I expect him to have a very long, successful career.”

Rodriguez, just 22, is stoked to hook up with Ringstar.

“After I came back from the Olympics, I knew that it was time to start my professional career,” he said. “I am excited to have signed with Ringstar Sports. I have always appreciated Richard Schaefer’s approach on developing talent into boxing stars.”

Richard Schaefer likes the notion that he was missed during his time away

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Robert Morales

Former Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, center, looks on as boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez pose before their 2013 fight. Schaefer left Golden Boy and is now starting Ringstar. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Promoter Richard Schaefer, center, said he found out he was missed during his time away from boxing/Photo by Ethan Miller, Getty Images

Promoter Richard Schaefer has spent more than two years on the sidelines after resigning his post as CEO of Golden Boy Promotions in June 2014. He didn’t go to a lot of fights during that time, but the few he did attend contained a message he really liked.

“I went to only a handful of fights during that time, maybe five or six,” said Schaefer, who is president and founder of Ringstar Sports. “I went to Floyd (Mayweather Jr.’s) fights, I went to a couple of fights in New York. And I was sort of touched by the kind of reception I got from the fans when I came into the venue, ‘Hey, Schaefer, we need you back, we want you back. Boxing is not the same.’

“The same with fighters. Fighters said, ‘We need you to create these events you used to create and the hype and everything which goes with it.’ ”

Schaefer is back in the saddle and will be co-promoting Saturday’s card at USC’s Galen Center that will be headlined by the featherweight title fight between Abner Mares of Hawaiian Gardens and champion Jesus Cuellar of Argentina (on Showtime).

Ringstar will also be co-promoting the Jan. 28 featherweight championship rematch between champion Carl Frampton of Northern Ireland and Leo Santa Cruz of Lincoln Heights (on Showtime).

Former two-champion Mikey Garcia eyeing big accomplishments in 2017

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Robert Morales

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE After a lengthy legal battle with Top Rank, Oxnard's Mikey Garcia is free to sign with another promotional company and hopes to get back into the ring in the near future.

Mikey Garcia will fight for a title in a third weight class Jan. 28 in Las Vegas/Associated Press file photo

Mikey Garcia has big goals for 2017. He will start trying to accomplishing them Jan. 28 when he challenges Dejan Zlaticanin of Montenegro for his lightweight title at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime).

“I’m really happy to have been given this opportunity to claim a world title in a third division,” said Garcia, who has won titles at featherweight and super featherweight. “This is going to be an amazing fight. He’s a hungry world champion, he’s very dangerous. These are the kind of fights I want. This is what I need to prove myself.

“This is only the beginning. This is going to be a huge year for me. I want to win multiple titles and maybe conquer multiple divisions this year.”

Garcia, of Oxnard, did not fight for 2 1/2 years because of a contract dispute with his former promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank Inc. After a settlement, Garcia got back into the ring this past July 30 and stopped Elio Rojas in the fifth round at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Garcia, 28, is 35-0 with 29 knockouts. Zlaticanin, 32, is 22-0 with 15 knockouts. They will tangle underneath the featherweight championship rematch between Leo Santa Cruz of Lincoln Heights and Carl Frampton of Northern Ireland.

Carl Frampton: In spite of Leo Santa Cruz’s personal issues, he fought hard

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Robert Morales

Leo Santa Cruz vs. Carl Frampton: Winner, Scorecard and Reaction

Carl Frampton will take on Leo Santa Cruz in a Jan. 28 rematch in Las Vegas/AP photo by Peter Morrison

There has been some chatter about how difficult it must have been for Leo Santa Cruz to train for his fight this past July 30 against Carl Frampton of Northern Ireland. Santa Cruz’s father, Jose, was very sick from his battle with cancer, so it’s understandable if the younger Santa Cruz wasn’t entirely focused on the task inside the ring. (Jose Santa Cruz is now in remission).

Frampton, who took Santa Cruz’s featherweight title via majority decision that night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, concedes Santa Cruz had a lot going on from a personal standpoint. But he finds it hard to believe Santa Cruz could have fought much harder than he did.

“There’s no doubt that Leo went through a difficult time with his father’s illness,” said Frampton, who Jan. 28 will tangle with Santa Cruz in a rematch at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime). “I also know that Leo trained very hard anyway. He threw about a thousand (1,002) punches last fight and was throwing all the way to the end. You can’t throw much more than that, so I don’t think he’s going to improve his work rate.

“I believe he’ll come up with a different game plan, but I genuinely believe that I’ll be able to deal with anything he brings to the ring. It’s not going to be an easy fight, but I’ll do whatever it takes to win and I believe I will.”

Dejan Zlaticanin predicts knockout of Mikey Garcia on Dec. 10 at Galen Center

Posted on December 2, 2016 by Robert Morales

Dejan Zlaticanin

Dejan Zlaticanin/Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

Dejan Zlaticanin of Montenegro won the lightweight world title with a third-round stoppage of Franklin Mamani of Bolivia in June in Verona, N.Y. It made him kind of a big deal in his homeland.

“To be the first world champion from Montenegro is historic,” Zlaticanin said. “I think it’s made me a national hero in the country and I’m honored. The people in my country love me and I love them back.”

Zlaticanin (22-0, 15 KOs) wants them to love him even more and he figures a successful title defense over someone like Mikey Garcia will do just that. The two square off Dec. 10 at Galen Center (on Showtime) underneath the main event between Abner Mares of Hawaiian Gardens and featherweight champion Jesus Cuellar of Argentina.

“When I beat Mikey Garcia, that will make me an even bigger star,” Zlaticanin said at Thursday’s news conference in Los Angeles. “I think Mikey is a good puncher, and he has good timing, but I can hit him easily and I’m planning to knock him out.”

Garcia (35-0, 29 KOs), of Oxnard, has won world titles at featherweight and super featherweight. He relishes the chance to win one in a third.

“I’m really happy to have been given this opportunity to claim a world title in a third division,” Garcia said. “This is going to be an amazing fight. He’s a hungry world champion. He’s very dangerous. These are the kind of fights that I want. This is what I need to prove myself.”

Leo Santa Cruz, Carl Frampton exchange pleasantries at L.A. news conference promoting their rematch

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Robert Morales

Leo Santa Cruz

Leo Santa Cruz/Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

Trash-talking is part of the sweet science. Heck, it’s part of every sport. But it’s always nice when there is none because there’s nothing wrong with athletes showing some class.

Leo Santa Cruz of Lincoln Heights and Carl Frampton of Belfast, Northern Ireland on Thursday played host to a Los Angeles news conference promoting their Jan. 28 rematch at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime). The two squared off on July 30 at Barclays Center in New York City, Frampton taking Santa Cruz’s featherweight world title via majority decision in a close, and terrific, fight.

“I think the rematch with Leo Santa Cruz is going to be an amazing fight,” Frampton said to reporters and fans outside the Los Angeles Central Public Library. “The first one is considered one of the fights of the year. I don’t think it’s going to be any different. I think we’re kicking off 2017 with a bang, and Leo is an amazing fighter.”

Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs) thanked Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KOs) for giving him the shot in July, and that he was only too happy to give him the rematch as quickly as possible.

“These are the type of fights I want to be involved in,” said Frampton, 29. “If you want people to remember you in 20 or 30 years time, when you thank boxing, you need to be thanking guys like Leo Santa Cruz. I respect him a hell of a lot, I respect him and his team.”

Santa Cruz, 28, was equally kind.

“Carl Frampton is a great fighter and you guys saw, he got the respect from you guys because he showed that he’s a great fighter, a great champion,” he said. “And I know it’s going to be a pretty even fight this time, too, a pretty close fight because we both are world champions and we both train really hard for our families, for you guys, for the fans – to give them great shows.”

Santa Cruz a couple of days earlier at a news conference in Belfast said that he’s looking forward to this training camp because for the first fight his father’s health was weighing heavily on him.

Promoter Richard Schaefer of Ringstar Spors announced at the news conference that Jose Santa Cruz’s cancer is in remission. A big round of applause followed.

Schaefer said more than half of the 13,000-plus tickets available for this were sold on the first day. They are priced $54, $104, $204, $304, $404 and $504.

Inside Boxing

The sweet science blog from the Los Angeles News Group

Monthly Archives: December 2016