Wednesday, April 27, 2016

No Holds Barred: Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto, Edwin Rodriguez, Thomas Williams Jr.


On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the April 30 fights between welterweights Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto, and light heavyweights Edwin Rodriguez and Thomas Williams Jr.

These fights take place this Saturday at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, and will be shown live in primetime in the U.S. in English on Fox and in Spanish on Fox Deportes.

Victor Ortiz (31-5-2, 24 KOs) and Andre Berto (30-4, 23 KOs) first met five years ago, on April 16, 2011, in a wild fight of the year that saw both met him the canvas twice over the 12 rounds of the bout. Although Ortiz was the underdog going into this fight, he won a unanimous decision victory as well as capturing Berto's WBC title and handing him his first pro loss.

Since then, both fighters have had their ups and downs, with Ortiz going 2-3 and Berto 3-3, with each man losing to Floyd Mayweather along the way. So this rematch, a 12-round welterweight bout, besides likely guaranteeing fireworks in the ring, is crucial for both fighters at this stage of their careers.

Light heavyweights Edwin Rodriguez (28-1, 19 KOs) and Thomas Williams Jr. (19-1, 13 KOs) are still both contenders and have each yet to win a world title belt. This fight, a ten-round affair, also promises to feature their knockout power and put them closer to that title shot, perhaps against WBC champ Adonis Stevenson.

We spoke with Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto, Edwin Rodriguez, and Thomas Williams Jr. on a media conference call Monday.

(Photos of Ortiz-Berto 1 by Cathlin Daley.)

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

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