No Holds Barred: Is Anthony Joshua Boxing's Next Superstar?

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with boxers Anthony Joshua and Dominic Breazeale, and Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Showtime Sports, and Eddie Hearn, President of Matchroom Sports, about the June 25 Joshua-Breazeale fight and the future of boxing and the heavyweight division.

The fight between the IBF champ Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) and the challenger Breazeale (17-0, 15 KOs) headlines a card at The O2 in London, which will be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office in the U.K. and on Showtime in the U.S.

While both fighters are thus far unbeaten as pros, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Joshua is a big favorite in this fight. Joshua is viewed by many as the heir apparent to the title of world heavyweight champion, and as the next major international superstar in boxing.

We spoke with them on a media conference call Wednesday.

With all the hype and prognostications about his future, Anthony Joshua is trying to stay focused on one thing: boxing.

"I only see great things if I stay locked away in the gym," he said.

For his part, Dominic Breazeale is not intimidated by the hoopla surrounding his opponent.

"It's great," he said. "All the distractions are on Anthony. It's something he's got to deal with."

And we discussed when Anthony Joshua might fight in America, his new deal with Showtime, and more.

(Photos by Lawrence Lustig.)

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No Holds Barred: Deontay Wilder, Eric Molina, The Heavyweights

(Wilder Photo Credit: Bill Hoffman)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with heavyweight boxers Deontay Wilder and Eric Molina. Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs), who holds the WBC heavyweight belt, will face the huge underdog Molina (23-2, 17 KOs) in Birmingham, Alabama, headlining a card which will be televised live in the U.S. on Showtime.

We spoke with Deontay Wilder and Eric Molina on a media conference call last Wednesday.

While Molina is given almost no chance of defeating Wilder and this fight has been criticized by many, we discuss why these types of fights are typical in boxing, where there is no central governing body. We also discuss the future of the heavyweight division, including the top champion Wladimir Klitschko, undefeated fighters like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, and what appear to be plans to develop Wilder into a major star. We also discuss the resurgence of interest in boxing this year, how several recent televised mismatches have nonetheless drawn good TV ratings in the U.S., why major premium TV networks are essentially acting as promoters, and much more.

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No Holds Barred: Bernard Hopkins on Black Fighters, and Why It's Good to Duck

(Alien Photo Credit: Brendan Montenegro/Roundbyround.com)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the October 26 fight between the IBF light heavyweight champion and boxing legend, Bernard Hopkins, and challenger Karo Murat.

The 48-year-old Hopkins (53-6-2, 32 KOs), from Philadelphia, will be facing the 30-year-old Murat (25-1-1, 15 KOs), born in Iraq and fighting out of Germany, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This fight will headline a card which will be shown live in the U.S. on Showtime.

Both Hopkins and Murat were on a media conference call Thursday, and we have excerpts from that.

Despite his age advantage, Murat is a huge underdog. He has never fought for a major world title or in the U.S., and has never faced any opponent on the level of Hopkins. Still, he said on this conference call that Hopkins has been reduced to throwing one punch at a time and then clinching, and that he is confident he can win.

Hopkins - who has shed his long-standing nickname of "The Executioner" and is now calling himself "The Alien" because he is doing things a human of his age should not be able to do - not only dismissed such claims, but emphasized how he combines offense and defense. Such boxing skills, he said, are no longer seen as important or even marketable, especially by many TV executives. Boxing has changed today to where it "has sort of gotten to a barbaric" place. All-time greats like Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard, and in particular many Black fighters, he said, "would be boring today" and accused of not being able to sell tickets and pay-per-view buys. The TV executives believe, "if they duck, don't buy it." He attributed his longevity in boxing to his combination of offense and defense, proving "why it's good to duck."

He added, "I got two rules: I hit you, and I got to make you not hit me. What's wrong with that?"

But, he said, "The customers will drink anything you give them, if it's promoted right."

We play from this conference call our questions for Karo Murat, and the commentary by Bernard Hopkins on "why it's good to duck."

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No Holds Barred: Andre Ward, Carl Froch, and Boxing Governance

(Photo by: Tom Casino / Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Super Six World Boxing Classic finalists Andre Ward and Carl Froch, and discusses why the bad governance in boxing made this super middleweight tournament necessary.

On Saturday, December 17, WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KOs) will face WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (28-1, 20 KOs) in the finals of the two-year-long Super Six World Boxing Classic. This fight will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and will be televised live in the U.S. on Showtime and in the U.K. on Sky Sports. The winner will earn the right to be called the best super middleweight in the world.

We spoke with both Andre Ward and Carl Froch at the kickoff news conference in August for this fight, which had originally been scheduled for October 29 but had to be postponed after Ward suffered a cut during training. We discussed what to expect in this fight, as well as the need for a boxers' union. We also previewed this fight with New York TV host Kristal Hart, whose show airs on Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

In addition, we open with a commentary on why it took an American television network, Showtime, to organize a tournament of the top fighters in the world in this division, when legitimate sports regularly have competitions pitting the best against the best.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

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Is Vitali Is or Is Vitali Ain’t?

(Photo by Eddie Goldman)

Here they are above, at the kickoff New York news conference on August 27. The contracts have been signed, the TV deals have been set, the media conference call has been held, and the words have flown. Supposedly, WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter will face WBC heavyweight champion “emeritus” Vitali Klitschko this Saturday, October 11, in Berlin, Germany.

But will their fists actually fly October 11? I wonder not what the odds are for who will win and how, but if there will be a fight and a winner at all.

We already recently had the Sept. 13 Nate Campbell-Joan Guzman fight cancelled when Guzman was too far over the lightweight limit, and the Oct. 4 Arthur Abraham-Raul Marquez fight cancelled when Abraham claimed he had the flu.

The brittle elder Klitschko is now 37 years old, hasn’t fought since December 2004, and had a few fights after that cancelled with Hasim Rahman, before retiring in 2005. Now he claims that he is all healed from his ailments and ready to fight.

This is boxing, so not only expect the unexpected, but count on it. At least Showtime also has the Antonio Tarver-Chad Dawson light heavyweight title fight from Las Vegas scheduled for their telecast in case the heavyweights fall through. And if the whole card goes bust, there’s always “The Grand Ole Opry” on GAC.

Will Controversy Follow Ricardo Torres and Kendall Holt to Vegas This Saturday?

Rematches are supposed to settle scores, we are told, but I can’t help wondering if this coming Saturday’s second fight between WBO junior welterweight champion Ricardo Torres and challenger Kendall Holt will produce still more controversy.

Their first bout, held Sept. 1, 2007, in Torres’s hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia, was clearly marred by a wildly unruly crowd and a negligent referee (American Geno Rodriguez). Holt complained that he had been hit in the head with a beer can during the fight, and the ring was repeatedly soaked with debris and liquids thrown into it. The referee did little to get it cleaned up, much less try to establish some order.

In a protest filed with the WBO, which, of course, they later denied, Henry Cortes, Holt’s manager, stated that in the 11th round, after Holt had been knocked down by Torres, “The ring was drenched with water and hundreds or thousands of pieces of ice.” Despite that, the fight was not stopped and the ring was not cleaned.

Keith Idec, the only American reporter covering the fight, confirmed the chaotic scene there in his report.

Perhaps the greatest controversy came because of the stoppage in that 11th round. Torres had already dropped Holt, who got up quickly, but then began to run to try to survive the round. Torres stalked him and got him in the corner, firing a barrage of punches. Just as Holt retaliated with a punch, albeit weakly thrown, the referee stepped in to stop the bout, and award Torres a TKO victory. The hometown fans went home delirious, while Holt had to return to New Jersey believing that he had been robbed.

At the time of the stoppage, two judges had Holt ahead while one had Torres ahead, although the 11th round would have likely been at least 10-8 for Torres had the round ended with no more knockdowns.

Torres, you may recall, at that time unbeaten, made his American debut Sept. 24, 2005, against then-WBO junior welterweight champ Miguel Cotto, in Atlantic City. In a memorable brawl, Torres dropped Cotto in the second round, but was dropped four times himself, as Cotto won by a seventh-round knockout.

After that fight, when Cotto went up to welterweight, Torres got another crack at that vacated belt, when he faced Mike Arnaoutis in Las Vegas on Nov. 18, 2006. Torres won by a split decision, and then defended it with a lopsided points victory over Arturo Morua on April 28, 2007, also in Barranquilla, Colombia. Torres’s next fight was against Holt, and he has not fought since.

Holt is a talented but sometimes inconsistent fighter, whose only other loss was in 2004, on ESPN2 to Thomas Davis. In a wild and quick battle, Holt dropped Davis in the first, but was then dropped and stopped himself later in that round. That was the last big win for Davis, who has lost four of his last five fights.

After that loss, Holt was able to revive his career, defeating David Diaz by eighth-round TKO in 2005. That was Diaz’s only loss until he was mauled by Manny Pacquiao last Saturday. He picked up lopsided unanimous decisions against Isaac Hlatswayo in 2006 and Mike Arnaoutis in 2007 to get his title shot against Torres. After the controversial loss, Holt returned to the ring in February to win a majority decision against Ben Tackie in a very conservatively fought fight. That victory earned him the rematch with Torres.

On a media teleconference call this week, Torres maintained that the original stoppage was justified, while Holt vowed to fight more aggressively in the rematch. This time they hope to avoid any controversy, as the bout is being held in Las Vegas, which, as we know, has not had any major controversy since – last week, in the Soto-Lorenzo DQ mess.

While the American networks refused to show their first fight, Showtime will telecast this one live, this Saturday night, July 5.

Their first fight was shown on the Argentine television network Space. That telecast, in Spanish, has been posted in its entirety on YouTube, although the video quality is not the best. Still, you can get a good idea what went on there.

Here is that video, so check it out and make sure to catch the rematch:

Ricardo Torres vs. Kendall Holt 1, Part 1 of 5 - Rounds 1-2



Ricardo Torres vs. Kendall Holt 1, Part 2 of 5 - Rounds 3-5



Ricardo Torres vs. Kendall Holt 1, Part 3 of 5 - Rounds 6-7



Ricardo Torres vs. Kendall Holt 1, Part 4 of 5 - Rounds 8-10



Ricardo Torres vs. Kendall Holt 1, Part 5 of 5 - Round 11

April 12: Good, But Not The Best

Baseball, for those who still believe in it, is back with yet another season set to culminate in a World Series, as happens every year (except 1994). American football is still buzzing about the upset victory in the Super Bowl by the Giants. Other professional sports, including NBA basketball and NHL hockey, are gearing up for their playoffs. Boxing, as we know, has no season and rarely has organized elimination tournaments.

The two televised boxing cards scheduled for this Saturday, April 12, on HBO and on Showtime, at times which deliberately overlap, each feature two fights in the same weight class on their respective shows. While several of the top fighters in these divisions will appear on these shows, none of these fights pits the best against the best at those weights.

HBO has a welterweight doubleheader from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In their two title fights, WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (31-0, 25 KOs) will defend his belt against the popular but limited Alfonso Gomez (18-3-2, 8 KOs) of “The Contender”, and IBF welterweight champion Kermit Cintron (29-1, 27 KOs) will try to avenge the only defeat of his professional career when he fights Antonio Margarito (35-5, 25 KOs).

The best in this division is Floyd Mayweather Jr. He is more or less taking a sabbatical, appearing on BET’s “Iron Ring” mixed martial arts series, acting on the disgraceful pro “wrestling” circuit, and then likely having a highly unanticipated rematch with Oscar De La Hoya in September which will be hyped as another chapter in “The Mayweather Family” soap opera, focusing on which Mayweather is training whom, and so on.

In Mayweather’s absence, Cotto, after KO’ing Zab Judah and decisioning Shane Mosley last year, is also trying to take a breather. After Gomez, he likely will face Ricardo Mayorga in the summer. Mayorga has fought just once in 2005, 2006, and 2007, getting stopped by De La Hoya in his 2006 cameo. Cotto-Mayorga may be an entertaining slugfest while it lasts, but it is certainly not the best against the best.

Cintron was taken apart three years ago by Margarito. Since then, he has stopped all five of his opponents and claims to be a more mature and improved fighter. But none of his victims has been top-tier welterweights. Margarito, destroying Golden Johnson in one round after dropping a close decision to Paul Williams last year, may have slowed a bit since first facing Cintron, so this fight has the potential to be more competitive than their first. In any case, while a good matchup, it still is not the best against the best. Even if the winner faces Cotto in a partial unification bout, we should not have to wait another year or even more for a welterweight World Series.

The light heavyweight fights on Showtime are being billed as featuring the best in that division. Almost, but not so. Their April 12 card, from the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, features former undisputed light heavyweight champion, 39-year-old Antonio Tarver (26-4, 19 KOs), against IBF light heavyweight champion, 35-year-old Clinton Woods (41-3-1, 24 KOs), and one of the rising stars in boxing, 25-year-old WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (25-0, 17 KOs), against former world champion, 39-year-old Glen Johnson (47-11-2, 32 KOs).

Clearly this is being staged as some sort of limited playoff, with the winners advancing to a partial unification. The Tarver-Woods winner has the IBF belt, and will likely next face the Dawson-Johnson winner, who will hold the WBC belt. Again, however, it is not the best against the best.

The linear light heavyweight champion is 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins, who faces super middleweight king Joe Calzaghe the following week, and on HBO. The undefeated Dawson is clearly the future of the division, but he needs a marquee opponent to gain recognition, both from the public and the slow-witted boxing media. If, as expected, Dawson wins Saturday’s fight, and impressively enough, he can next get a partial unification fight and then stand in line for whatever is left of the division after Hopkins-Calzaghe – and perhaps have to jump to HBO as well.

So Saturday’s cards overall should be good and interesting, and be viewed by all boxing people, despite the stubborn network war which has these being shown live at almost the same time. Both networks offer replays, or you can record one while watching the other live.

I will be in Atlantic City this weekend, first covering the YAMMA Pit Fighting mixed martial arts show Friday and then the boxing Saturday. I’ll tape the Showtime card and watch it when I return home. Hopefully some of you reading this will be at one of these shows.

If you are in Atlantic City, let me know when you are going to the Mountain Bar at Bally’s Wild Wild West. That bar also may not be the best, bit it is still plenty good.

Your Weekend Itinerary for March 7-8

The major fights which will be televised in America this weekend will probably land, both on the sporting and entertainment scales, somewhere between last week’s shining Vazquez-Marquez 3 and the previous week’s stinking Klitschko-Ibragimov 0.

Highly-touted South African featherweight Thomas Mashaba (20-1-4, 12 KOs) makes his American debut Friday, March 7, on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” and at the final fight card at the Fox Theatre in the Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, Conn. His opponent is Mexican journeyman Cristobal Cruz (31-11-2, 23 KOs), who has dropped two of his last three and four of his last seven fights, albeit against accomplished fighters Zahir Raheem, Francisco Lorenzo (twice), and Steven Luevano. This is a showcase for Mashaba, but what else can we expect from this increasingly dreadful show?

Saturday, March 8, brings a full slate of important title fights on the American premium networks.

Showtime, as usual, has a compelling fight with their telecast from England of the cruiserweight unification fight between David Haye (20-1, 19 KOs), holder of two of these belts and generally regarded as the best in that division, against another titleholder, Enzo Maccarinelli (28-1, 21 KOs), trained by Enzo Calzaghe. This fights starts at 2 AM GMT at the O2 Arena in London to accommodate us Yanks, who will see it live at 9 PM EST. Setanata has the TV honors in the UK. Haye says he will move up to heavyweight after this one. Both men’s knockout power may be especially on display before this international audience. In the U.S., Showtime’s boxing telecast is followed by a mixed martial arts card, also from England.

At basically the same time, HBO gives us more heavyweights. Finally, after many had given up on ever seeing this fight, WBC regular heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev (34-5, 26 KOs) takes on WBC interim heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (29-1, 22 KOs) in Cancun, Mexico. Supposedly the winner has WBC heavyweight champion emeritus Vitali Klitschko next, another matchup about which we skeptics shake our heads. With Peter being dropped three times and almost stopped by late substitute Jameel McCline last year in Madison Square Garden, and the 39-year-old Maskaev sitting inactive since Dec. 2006 and postponing this bout a couple of times, it seems best to wonder who will lose rather than who will win this fight.

If these heavyweights manage to deliver yet another performance worthy of purgatory, the HBO co-feature has the exciting and unbeaten multiple lightweight beltholder Juan Diaz (33-0, 17 KOs) defending those straps against the slick and dangerous Nate Campbell (31-5-1, 25 KOs). A lot of the prefight drama has focused on the battle between Diaz’s promoter Don King and his manager Willie Savannah. King announced yesterday that he will no longer promote Diaz after this fight, citing his numerous disputes with Savannah over money, opponents for Diaz, and the like. This controversy may or may not play a role in the fight’s outcome between the 24-year-old college student Diaz and the 35-year-old veteran Campbell, or, if it goes to the judges, their decision. But this one will be televised widely, so whatever happens in Mexico may not simply stay there.

HBO will not be televising the undercard, which includes the return of the vastly underrated heavyweight (and supposedly retooled by trainer Manny Siaca Sr.) John Ruiz (42-7-1, 29 KOs), still just 36, against Jameel McCline (38-3-3, 23 KOs), and a super lightweight eliminator between unbeaten Timothy Bradley (21-0, 11 KOs) and former champion Jose Luis Castillo (56-8-1, 48 KOs).

Ruiz, the victim of questionable decision losses in Germany against Nikolai Valuev and Ruslan Chagaev in the WBA title roulette game, only fought once in 2007, against journeyman Otis Tisdale. Showing movement heretofore absent or at least underutilized in his approach, Ruiz stopped Tisdale in two. If he is given the chance, and especially with today’s heavyweight wreckage, Ruiz could capture one or more of these belts once again.

If you want to see the undercard on this typically loaded Don King show, you either have to be in Mexico, be in a country where the international feed is available, or know how to watch these things online. The same can be said of Friday’s card in Nottingham, England, featuring unbeaten junior featherweight Kiko Martinez vs. Rendall Munroe; Saturday’s fourth bout between flyweight champ Daisuke Naito and former champ Pongsaklek Wonjongkam in Tokyo, Japan, which should be available both on Japanese and Thai TV; and the women’s fights of Ina Menzer vs. Sandy Tsagouris and Alesia Graf vs. Fatuma Zarika from Krefeld, Germany, which will be telecast there on ZDF (http://www.zdf.de/). The latter telecast will apparently feature just the two women’s fights on that card, but after all, March 8 is International Women’s Day, so what better way to celebrate that than televising women fighting each other?

Now make sure that you do all your shopping and errands before this busy weekend.

NO HOLDS BARRED: Charles Farrell and Frank Lotierzo on the Fight of the Year: Vazquez-Marquez 3

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman speaks with our colleagues Charles Farrell and Frank Lotierzo of The Boxing Standard.

Our lengthy discussion focuses mainly on this past Saturday's thrilling rubber match between super bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez and former world champion Rafael Marquez, won by Vazquez by split decision. We analyze this fight, what it means for boxing, how the American boxing media once again largely blew this story, and more.

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Still They Came

WBC super bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez at the postfight news conference after their third fight, March 1, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Vazquez won by a split decision. Photo by Tom Casino/SHOWTIME.

They stood in front of each other for twelve rounds, both knowing that one had a slight edge in power, the other in technique. They had each stopped the other, splitting their last two fights, within a year, yet they both advanced fearlessly, without questions or complaints. They both knew from the opening bell that this would be yet another war, with the outcome uncertain, but with their bodies certain to be bloodied and racked with pain afterwards, and still they came. They threw jabs and uppercuts and straight rights and left hooks from every angle imaginable, all the while knowing that their counterpart would do the same, and land about as frequently as they would. Still they came, still they battered one another, still they took it all in stride.

This was glory in the ring, valor on TV, and the best boxing has to offer. Arguments about the referee’s calls, the possibility of a fourth meeting, and so on, while they have their place, are petty in comparison to the need to celebrate and honor this classic performance.

In an age when mediocrity is shamelessly paraded and peddled to the public, here was true greatness, here was historic nobility on display before our eyes.

This is the replay schedule in the U.S. for the third fight between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez:

DAY CHANNEL
Monday, March 3, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT SHO EXTREME
Tuesday, March 4, 10:00 p.m. ET/PT SHO 2
Wednesday, March 5, 11 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME

My guess is that Showtime will add more replays as the word spreads about the significance, ferocity, and beauty of this fight.

If you say you are a fight fan and failed to catch this battle the first time, do not fail again.

Why Can’t They All Be Like Vazquez and Marquez?

After watching this Friday’s televised mismatches and mediocre fights, and still fearing brain atrophy from witnessing last week’s Klitschko-Ibragimov rock-paper-scissors contest, we finally have a delicious fight on tap after all this junk food.

Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez will show ‘em how it should be done, again, for the third time tonight at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Showtime has the honor of telecasting it in the U.S., while various Internet pirates will attempt to stream it to people in areas where it is not available, or who just want to pilfer it.

The technique, poise, courage, strategy, valor, and aggressiveness of both fighters put so many of boxing’s paycheck-collectors to shame, especially among the guys who weigh about what both of these super bantamweights do together. The first two fights between Vazquez and Marquez, both last year, with Marquez taking the first and Vazquez the second, were surely the best of 2007, although somehow the Boxing Writers Association of America members voted for Pavlik-Taylor 1 over Vazquez-Marquez 2.

Whether or not this third affair between these two Mexico City champions becomes a third classic will soon be evident. As usual, most of the American boxing media has been rather ho-hum about all this. Perhaps they will instead be tuning into ESPN Classic, which will be showing tonight – seriously – the “Best of Butterbean 1”.

Let this be the start of our Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez 3 thread. The show starts fairly early, at 9 PM ET, so you can watch it, post here, and still get down to the barroom and tell everyone what they’ve just missed.

PS -- Showtime has made the video of the first two Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fights available, online and for free, here: