Vyacheslav Shabranskyy, Sullivan Barrera ready to rumble Friday in Indio

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Robert Morales

Vyacheslav Shabransky Bernard Hopkins v Sergey Kovalev

Vyacheslav Shabranskyy/Photo by Getty Images

Golden Boy Promotions has its hands full this week. Not only is it promoting Bernard Hopkins’ final fight Saturday against light heavyweight contender Joe Smith Jr. at the Fabulous Forum (on HBO), it’s staging Friday’s light heavyweight bout between Sullivan Barrera of Cuba and Vyacheslav Shabranskyy of Ukraine at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio (on HBO Latino).

It’s a big fight for both guys.

“Sullivan is one of the toughest opponents I have faced yet,” Shabranskyy said. “He’s faced fighters like Andre Ward and has gone the distance and has demonstrated his skill. Knowing that he needs this fight will make him even more hungry in the ring, and we are
expecting him to come forward.

“With this fight, I get the opportunity to face opponents like Andre Ward. But first things first; I have to finish Barrera.”

Barrera (17-1, 12 KOs) in March lost a wide 12-round decision to Ward, who Nov. 19 took Sergey Kovalev’s three world titles via narrow decision at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Barrera believes his rounds with Ward have made him a better fighter.

“I believe this fight is the most important fight of my career,” said Barrera, 34. “This fight will demonstrate that I am among some of the top fighters out there. My fight with Andre Ward has built me, and has given me the maturity to step back and think clearly. I needed that loss to win this fight.”

Shabranksyy, 29, is 17-0 with 14 knockouts.

Judges in Antonio Orozco-Abner Lopez fight really stunk up the joint in Indio

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Robert Morales

Antonio Orozco, right, was lucky to win by the wide margin he won by in Saturday’s fight with Abner Lopez/Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

It’s such a shame that we have to deal with bad scoring, even though it has always been part of the sweet science.

Take Saturday’s junior welterweight fight between top contender Antonio Orozco of San Diego and Abner Lopez of Tijuana at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio. After 10 rounds, Lopez had done well enough that it would not have been shocking if he had been announced as the winner. At the very least, the scores should have been close.

Yet, veteran judges Lou Moret and Pat Russell came up with the same ridiculous score of 99-91 in favor of Orozco, the house fighter for Golden Boy Promotions. Max DeLuca had it 97-93 for Orozco.

There were more than a few boos when the cards were read. I polled a few of my press-row peers and they all said they thought the bout was close. One veteran writer had it even. Heck, I spoke with someone in Orozco’s camp. I’ll leave his name out of it, but he told me, “It was close.”

So when even someone from Orozco’s camp concedes the bout was close, I’d say that makes it official – the cards just stunk.

You can’t help but feel badly for Lopez (23-6) . He came in with five losses and he was not supposed to be much of a problem for undefeated Orozco (25-0). If anything, this was thought by some to be your proverbial stay-busy fight for Orozco.

For the most part, it was Lopez stalking Orozco. Lopez fought with supreme confidence, and he gave Orozco way more grief than those lousy scorecards suggest.

Shame on the judges. They’ve been around too long to come up with scores like this in an obvious close fight.

Joseph Diaz Jr., Victor Proa make weight for Saturday’s fight at Fantasy Springs

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Robert Morales

Joseph Diaz Jr./Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

Joseph Diaz Jr. of South El Monte and Victor Proa of Mexico on Friday made weight for their featherweight bout Saturday at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio (on HBO Latino).

Diaz (20-0, 11 KOs) – ranked No. 3 in the world – weighed in at the 126-pound limit while Proa (28-1-2, 21 KOs) came in well under at 123.8 pounds. Proa has fought just once over the past 6 1/2 years and that was this past February.

The co-main event will feature highly ranked junior welterweight Antonio Orozco (24-0, 16 KOs) of San Diego going against Abner Lopez (23-5, 19 KOs) of Tijuana. Orozco weighed 142, two pounds over the 140-pound limit. Lopez came in at 140.

South El Monte’s Joseph Diaz Jr. to take on Victor Proa of Mexico on July 30

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Robert Morales

Joseph Diaz Jr./Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

When Golden Boy Promotions announced Wednesday that junior welterweight Antonio Orozco of San Diego and featherweight Joseph Diaz Jr. of South El Monte would co-headline its July 30 card at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, Golden Boy had yet to secure an opponent for Diaz.

That has changed as Golden Boy has lined up Victor Proa of Mexico as Diaz’s foe for this card that will be televised by HBO Latino.

Proa, 31, is 28-1-2 with 21 knockouts. But that is very misleading because Proa’s ring record is comprised mostly of tomato cans. In Proa’s most recent bout, he took on Oswaldo Oziel Delgado and Proa stopped Delgado in the first round. Delgado entered with a record of 0-4.

Diaz (20-0, 11 KOs) is ranked as high as No. 3 in the world by one organization.

Orozco (24-0, 16 KOs) will tangle with Abner Lopez (23-5, 19 KOs) of Tijuana. Orozco is ranked as high as No. 1, but as a junior welterweight.

Joseph Diaz Jr. of South El Monte looks to fight best of the featherweights

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Robert Morales

Joseph Diaz Jr./Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

Joseph Diaz Jr. of South El Monte has compiled a professional record of 20-0 and 11 knockouts since representing the U.S. in the 2012 London Games. He is ranked as high as No. 3 at featherweight by one governing body.

Diaz, just 23, is getting closer to a world-title shot in one of boxing’s talent-rich divisions, which has champions like Leo Santa Cruz, Gary Russell Jr. and Jesus Cuellar and contenders like Carl Frampton and Oscar Valdez. Diaz may not take a back seat to any of them, but that remains to be seen.

Diaz wants to make believers out of boxing fans, though, and he takes that responsibility seriously. Diaz was part of a news conference Wednesday at the Golden Boy Promotions offices in downtown Los Angeles. He’ll next fight July 30 at Fantasy Springs Casino on Indio (on HBO Latino) and although his opponent is still to be determined, he vowed to continue to show fans what he’s about.

“I’m excited to give everyone a great performance,” said Diaz, who trains out of the Teamster’s Youth Boxing Club in South El Monte. “I’ve been training very hard, and I want to showcase that I am at the same level as all the champions in the featherweight division. Hopefully, I can go for a world title soon.”

Diaz fights for Golden Boy. Its senior vice-president, Eric Gomez, touched on the 126-pound division moving forward.

“We are in an Olympic year, and our co-headliner will be ex-Olympian, Joseph Diaz, Jr. who also has a great record as a featherweight fighter,” Gomez said. “I believe the featherweight division will be the hottest division in the next few years because of all the talent we have following in the footsteps of Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.”

Inside Boxing

The sweet science blog from the Los Angeles News Group

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