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Jorge's Corner
The Voice of Boxing in Central and Northern California

The Riot at the Hyatt
Monterey CA

November 27, 2004

They say genius is 90 percent perspiration, and only ten percent inspiration, Promoter Jerry Hoffman is living proof.  Jerry works as matchmaker, ring announcer, organizer and everything in between. He works like a man possessed and begins planning the next show the day after the fight.  I gotta admire his work ethic.  Jerry Hoffman has the right formula. He gives fight fans exciting shows, and gives local fighters a chance to get into the mix as professionals. He never has ten round main events, and as my buddy David Nelson, a referee says, the “good thing is that you don’t have to watch ten rounds, if it’s a bad fight”. Not all of the fights are evenly matched, but that's the boxing business.  I got no complaints; Hoffman’s shows are always classy events. He has a lot of security which prevents brawls and no longer sales standing room only tickets.  The Hyatt is a great place to hold fights, and Knuckles the sports bar, is a within walking distance. I congratulate Mr. Hoffman on another great Riot at the Hyatt.

The first bout matched John Elissia of Fresno, and Israel Sandoval of San Jose.  I don’t know what else I can say about poor Israel ³ The Body Bag², Sandoval. He keeps coming back and keeps getting the beans knocked out of him. Thank God, the commission requires a CT scan before issuing a license; otherwise the poor guy would get brain damage.  Israel, who’s lost eleven bouts in a row deserves credit.  Anyone who has ever had a dream and failed the first dozen times should speak with Israel Sandoval. Thomas Edison would have liked this guy. As a sportswriter and fight fan I can say this “Hey Israel, get a better trainer”. I’ve been beating the drum on this topic since I began writing about the fights.  Yet, it seems nothing changes. I’ve been saying ³ a fighter is only as good as his trainer ² for so long, it must sound like preaching, but sweet baby James, this guy needs help.

John Elissia came out as a southpaw and nailed Sandoval with a left hook that rocked him, I thought John was gonna stop him, but somehow Sandoval survived.  Elissia continued his body attack and Sandoval mirrored him, the first sign of a looser.    It was obvious that Sandoval lacked training. Elissia out boxed, out maneuvered and out classed Sandoval it was clearly a no contest.  The last seconds of the round saw Sandoval almost knocked out again. The corner men splashed water on me and my equipment, what I can I say.  This same lack of professionalism showed in their training.  The second round saw Elissia once more rock Sandoval and press him against the ropes. He pounded him mercilessly, somehow once more Sandoval dodged a bullet. Then K-bang, like two charging bulls, they cracked heads, blood started streaming down Israel’s head and down his arm.  The crowd, who always works hard at getting a buzz, let out a terrifying holler.  The loudness, already ear splitting, grew louder.  His corner kept shouting instructions which I found ridiculously.  Israel was exhausted, taking a beating, doing everything wrong, and the corner was telling him to attack. Talk about bad strategy.   Its no wonder Israel keeps getting beat, his corner must be watching another fight.   Elissia continued to pound Sandoval with uppercuts, body shots and head shots mercilessly.  The referee, Mr. Marcus Rosales, whom I have had concerns about, said something no one heard, when Israel did not comply immediately, Rosales took a point.  Sandoval mistakenly argued, which is bad idea.  A referee is the closest thing to God in the ring, no matter how wrong he might be.  The commission will never interfere with a referee during a fight. It would give the trainers reason to file complaints, which the commission hates.  It would also expose the ongoing conflicts between the ego maniacs who work there.  If any of you have ever tried to call the commission, file a complaint, raise a point, or take issue with anything, you’ve learned that they will just ignore you. THERE IS NO ONE TO TAKE YOUR COMPLAINTS' TOO.  It’s a circular closed system. If you bring up a problem, they’ll refer you to someone, who will then refer you back to whom you initially complained about. Like what happened to me. Basically, you’ll get the run around, which gives you an idea of just how many complaints they must be getting.  They get angry when anyone questions anything they do.  I once got into a shouting match with a commissioner at Fats Cats in Modesto about a letter I wrote complaining about his arbitrary rules.  The guy was making up rules that are not in the book.  I always believed that if was not in the book, it was not a rule, and they had no power to enforce it, not so.  The guys must be self ordained because he kept on making up rules. He must get his authority, like President, directly from God.  I also know God, and he’s never given me authority to make up rules, that’s why he wrote them down, so everyone could know them. The problem is these guys take it personally, they never forget who had the nerve to challenge their make believe perfection. As I said, if you don’t like how your complaint was handled, too bad.  It’s amazing, that such an agency could survive, but that’s how it is.  It’s not personal with me. I don’t have a personal problem with any of them, but I do object to how they do their jobs.  As a former boxer, I had to follow the rules, as a solider I had to follow the rules, as a cop I was had to follow the rules, as a tax payer I have to follow the rules, yet these guys, who are the alleged authority on the rules,  bend and break them,...........and get away with  it.

The round ended and the fight continued with Elissia beating Sandoval like an unwanted, ugly, red-haired step child. He hit him with so many rights, I’m sure Sandoval was begging for a left. Yet, Elissia was unable to drop Sandoval, who must have the thickest skull in California.  The beating continued until Marcus Rosales, the referee stepped in, and pulled Elissia off Sandoval.  He threw Elissia back and away from Sandoval.  Elissia was unable to maintain his balance, and fell onto the canvas.  Once more I stand in amazement.  I could not hear what the referee said, I am certain Elissia, in the heat of battle, with the screaming crowd, could not hear it either, yet the referee took a point.  As I said earlier, this is the worst referee I have ever seen in my life.  Not only are his actions questionable, I believe he used excessive physical force, he should not have to do so, if he was doing his job.  He should have given Sandoval an eight counted before he took such a terrible beating.  Marcus Rosales, whom I’m sure is a great human being, simply is not a good a referee.  I’m certain he means well, and I believe, he believes, he is doing the right thing, but I have to point out his consistent blunders. Like I said egos, bad judgment and self delusion. I don’t know who trained this guy, but its’ the Peter Principal, in action, he has risen to the level of incompetence.

The fight continued and Israel Sandoval took such a beating it should have been stopped.  Elissia controlled the fight until Rosales, halted the fight due the cut above Sandoval’s left eye.  The doctor came in and checked Sandoval. Rosales should have stopped it right there, without having to call in the doctor, as it was clearly a no-contest.  I don’t understand. I once saw him accidentally trip a fighter, then count him out for not getting up. The poor guy was fighting the main event, it was the 10th round and he was exhausted, he tripped on Rosales's feet, and fell backwards, knocking the wind out of himself, and could not get up. Instead of giving the fighter time to recover from an accident he caused, Rosales counted him out... I was stunned. Rosales almost caused a riot at the Fresno Radisson that night. Israel Sandoval took a terrible beating for no apparent reason, other than the incompetence of the referee.  John Elissia won the decision.

The second bout matched Richard Paige and Toshi Kuwata. Watching Kuwata step into the ring, I feared for Richard. I did not think it would last six rounds. Richard was intimidated by Toshi, who looked like he could punch through walls. The bell sounded and Toshi came out aggressively, and tried to kill Richard immediately. Thank God, Richard was in good physical condition and had a hard head.  I was disappointed when Toshi, who was feinting, and setting up a hook, failed to jab. Then he used his hand to parry a jab downwards in an amateurish maneuver. This is a poor technique, I usually only see it in the movies.  Toshi, obviously no Samurai, failed to attack.  Hachiman, the Japanese God of War must be rolling over in his grave.  Although Toshi had a quick left jab, he failed to use it.  It was painful to watch such potential go to waste.  This round set up the remainder of the bout.  I did not care for the lack of fundamentals displayed by either fighter. Paige dropped his hands, while Toshi did nothing. Both had terrible foot work, lacked balance and neither could box. Once the blood starting dripping from Toshi’s mouth, Paige gained confidence.  Then Toshi landed a bomb that rocked Paige. But instead of backing away, Paige started to punch and soon had Toshi against the ropes, where he beat him with at least twenty punches, without any response. Paige, who was willing to take chances, beat Toshi on points. Richard Paige got the decision, after a delay in the final score. Another controversy. The judges miscounted the scores and initially had it as a draw, when the error was discovered, and corrected, Richard Paige won, by one point.  David Nelson, my buddy from the amateurs, was the third man in the ring.

The third bout matched the best female boxer I’ve seen come out of Central California. Carina Moreno with a great amateur record and Yvonne Caples with a pretty good professional record. Seven wins, six losses two with wins by knock out. I was disappointed with Caples. I was led to believe she had real boxing skills and punching power. She has neither.  Caples, lacked polish, speed, power and zip.  She punched with her elbows out, like a girl.  She threw fat cat punches, and smelly cheese over hand rights. (I coined these terms, just in case you’ve never heard of them before).   She did not seem to know what it means to put your weight behind a punch.  She appeared frail, almost sickly.  Carina, who looks like a fighter, still failed to knock out the powder puff.  I couldn’t believe the lack of fundamentals Carina displayed. She japed by stepping across herself, and then bringing up her back foot completely behind the already mispositioned front foot. She therefore had no power, no balance and no way to effectively land a solid shot.  The fact that Carina must have hit Caples over three hundred times speaks volumes for her lack of punching power. After eight rounds of pounding Caples, the best Carina could do was bloody her nose.  The fact that Yvonne has fought for four world titles speaks volumes of the level competition that exist amongst the female ranks. It’s wide open for anyone willing to put in the time to learn the fundamentals and has a punch.  Caples used her face for a mitt to catch punches.  With blood dripping form her noise, along with the black mouth piece, silver dental work, and swollen face Yvonne looked ready to drop, but Carina could not drop her!   I Carina never landed a solid shot, not even with all the opportunities to do so. Watching Carina completely overwhelm this alleged world champion was as dull as watching old movies on TV.  It clearly says Carina’s is ready to step up and make a drive for stardom now, not next year.  I’m glad Carina beat her opponent. On the other hand, I pray someone teaches her fundamentals. Otherwise, I predicted a bright but very short career. She needs to improve considerably.

The main event matched Dangerous David Ryan and Shotgun Jesse Martinez. I’ve seen both fighters before. I didn’t believe Jesse was gonna change styles, or coaches, so I expected the same poor performance. I’d heard Ryan had decided to remain in California and expected some improvement. I saw none. Ryan, who has every advantage physically, lacks punching power. He drops his hands in a Roy Jones style and never plants his feet before punching. This means he has no body weight behind his punch and all of his punches are just a pitter patter.   Jesse Martinez must have a skull as thick as a buffalo’s, and can not be knocked out by hitting him on the head. Yet, Ryan failed to punch at Jesse’s body.  Ryan rarely threw body shots and uppercuts even though Martinez charged in like a bull, leading with his head.  Martinez lacked everything, except heart.  I gotta wonder what kind of boxer Jesse would be, if he had a coach who knew something.

Ryan, easily out pointed Martinez, but only hurt him twice, this out of the hundred punches landed.  Martinez who now has 17 loses, never cut off Ryan’s escape and seemed contented to chase him around.  It was not very interesting.  I am surprised Ryan’s corner never taught him how to pivot while throwing his left hook, or right hand.  A little punching technique might have put Martinez on the canvas.  I thought Martinez deserved to loose. I still don’t understanding why he has not sought help else where.  I mean if you gonna get punched and beat up, you might as well try to fight a little better and maybe earn more money.   Everyone knows professional boxing is about the money.  The fans just wanna see a good fight, but the fighters wanna get paid. They should earn a fair, honest wage, however, that’s not how it works. Promoters are focused on money and putting on a fight takes a lot of it.  Plus, they gotta pay the commission, whether the fight makes money or not.

I was told by Ryan's coach Mr. Garcia, they turned down a last minute offer of six thousands dollars elsewhere.  I gotta wonder what I would have done if one of my fighters had an opportunity to earn six grand, compared to say, maybe two.  I might be inclined to come up with bogus injuries too. Mr. Garcia stated they would never take a last minute fight, even though they were ready. I respect his position, although I might not agree. Professional boxing is about making money, and just like the promoter, fighters have to go where the money is.  Professional boxing is not about the sport, or the challenge, that’s just how it’s marketed.  Big promoters like Trump or King never talk about the money, they talk about the fight, but it’s just to hide how much money is involved.  Don King would not cross the street, if he was not getting paid.  Let’s face it, promoters don’t put on shows to give boxers an opportunity to fight. Promoters know there will always be another hungry young fighter willing to fight for nickels.  They do it for the money.   If the only way to measure success is money, than a fighter has a right to earn as much as they can.  Remember, a fighter has a very short career, he’s gotta go for the bucks.  This is the main reason fighters must be very careful of whom they choose as their managers.  Besides, most promoters only put on two shows a year, that’s not much work for a fighter.   I would suggest Mr. Garcia made a bad business decision. I’m sure Ryan would have liked to earn more money, the punches still hurt as much, whether you make six thousands or six hundred.

I believe a workshop on boxing business strategy would go over great, I know I’d like to go.  God knows we need one. You can throw a rock and find dozens of experts. Every guy with a TV set thinks they know boxing.  That's as stupid as believing you know how to be a doctor because you watch ER.  I’ve heard ridiculous arguments by these sofa warriors.  These make believe fighters, who never entered the ring are full of it.  I’ve also known hundred of street dogs who thought they could be boxers because they beat up some loser.  Yet, I’ve never know one gang member who had the discipline, dedication and focus to make it in the ring.  Sadly, I’ve trained a couple of ‘em.  Looking back, were it not for the lessons I learned, it would have been a waste of time. As a result I don’t take ex-convicts, returning county jail inmates, street fighters, thugs, wannabe rappers or hip hop fools.  I don’t want anyone who looks or talks like a gangster around my boxers either. 

Boxing and controversy go hand in hand.  There will always be conflicts. Problems with the commission will continue. I seriously doubt there will ever be honesty in a game so corrupted by ego, money and power.  That does not mean we shouldn’t try to make it better.  Still, I gotta say Thank God for Boxing!

Fans can find my articles at Boxinginfo.com, The RingsportsR.com, Exclusivelyboxing.com and thesanjoaquinguardin.com

San Jose CA. HP Pavilion

Nov. 18, 2004

Once again I braved the deadly fog, crazy drivers and made the journey from Gunsmoke, (Stockton) to cover the best sport in the world.  When I first started, I was told I’d never be able to do it, now four years later, here I am.  Its like they say, genius is 90% perspiration, and 10 % inspiration. Dreaming is the first stop towards greatness.

Sugar Ray Leonard and friends promoted the last fight of the season.  It was a great show for the most part.  The HP Pavilion is a great setting, and we had a good crowd.  My old buddy Jerry Hoffman, worked as the master of ceremonies. As always Jim Sparaco and his crew did an excellent job.

It’s a privilege to be able to sit ring side as a writer for The RingsportsR.com, boxinginfo.com, exclusivelyboxing.com and now as CEO and Editor in Chief of, The San Joaquin County Guardian.  Too bad, most of what I see is not what I would teach my students.  Many a great trainers has said, ³ a boxer is only as good as his corner ². I would take one step further and say, “A fighter is only as good as his coach”. A fighter and coach are like father and son. A father, at least the ones worth a damn, wants his son to do better, have more, and get further ahead. That’s why parents are disappointed when their kids go bad.

Bout one, matched Jesse Curry (1-1) with Joe De la Cruz (0-2).  It was clear form the beginning that De la Cruz was intimidated by Curry.  Joe worn white trunks with black and red trim with black shoes, but looked scared.   While Curry wore black and looked confident He immediately took the fight to De La Cruz, who lacked everything. The poor guy, held his hands down by his waist, this is so common, as to be a disease.  I have no idea why any fighter would do this. It’s like asking to get nailed. It demonstrates poor training, terrible coaching and simple stupidity.  To add to his lack of defensive hand positioning, he lacked footwork, which equals no balance, and therefore no power in his punches. Marty Sammon, my old war buddy worked as referee. Curry stalked De la Cruz who moved continually to his left in a big circle, and waved his arms like tree branches blowing in the breeze. Curry, who seems seasoned beyond what his professional record indicates, hunted him down and administered a sound thrashing. The crowd gave him lots of support.  Cheering madly with every blow landed.  I would have to give De la Cruz’s trainer a failing mark.  I have no idea what they do during training, but it can’t be much, judging form De La Cruz’s performance.  The poor boy was out of his league.  He must not have had very much amateur experience, if any at all.  What's worse, I’ll bet he’s still with the same guy who taught him all his knows, which is little.  Curry landed solid shots that bloodied De la Cruz in the first round then proceed to beat him like an ugly, red headed, step child. I think kettle drums take less of a beating. I believe De la Cruz should forget what he thinks he knows about boxing, and get another coach. It’s clear he has enough heart to step into the ring, but lacks the skills, the hand speed and the killer instinct. The crowd was still arriving as Curry, loaded up a right hand that landed squarely on Joe’s chin and dropped him.  I gotta say, Joe has a good chin, because that shot might have killed a buffalo.  To my surprise, Joe got up, took the count and reengaged, but it was clear that Curry was gonna rip off his head. Mercifully, Marty, the only man I know personally, that jumped out of a perfectly good airplane, stopped the fight.  In speaking with Marty, he made it known he was ready for active duty and would once again be ready to jump with his old Airborne unit.  He added however, that jumping was the easy part, it was the landings that worried him.  I believe Marty’s favorite music is old Army marching songs.  Curry scored a TKO in the third round and hopefully an easy payday. Joe took home a terrible ass whipping, a bloody nose, a third loss, and hopefully plans for a new coach.

Bout Two; Matched Molly McDonnell form Portland Oregon with Tracy Carlton form Compton. Tracy wore red trunks, while Molly wore black. Molly is managed by Jackie Kallen, known as the first lady of boxing. Jackie’s smile reminded me of a used car salesman. I’ve been to her part of the country and know some of the same people.  Jackie has been around boxing all her life, which is why Molly was not fighting some one like Kelsey Jeffries, thank God.  Molly has the makings of a champion, and I believe will someday give Kelsey a problem.  Kelsey, whom I consider a friend, has had too many easy fights. This is fine, boxing is a business and taking fights she can win is part of the strategy. I don’t begrudge her business sense. My concern has to do with her lack of improvement.  Kelsey has the heart of a giant, and an equally hard head.  I wish she would let someone help her.  Given time, I believe McDonnell will mature into a dangerous opponent for Kelsey. Molly looks experienced beyond her short professional career. She demonstrated this by soundly defeating Carlton, who posed no contest. Much to Molly’s credit, she attacked in a calm, calculated manner, never risking too much, and carefully taking Tracy, a bigger, taller, fighter down, like chopping a tree. Tracy lacked everything. She seemed to be out of gas after the first round. She lacked foot work, hand speed, zip, and punched like a girl. Molly punched like a heavyweight and threw bombs that rocked Carlton to her socks.  It took Molly less than two rounds to dismantle, and beat Carlton so bad, the referee stepped in and stopped it. Once again the crowd disapproved and demonstrated their lack of appreciation for the subtle skills of boxing.   Many fans, it seems abandon all pretense of civility, drink too much, curse too loud, and loose themselves in a desire for bloody knock down brawls.  I like boxing, not watching two fools knocking the cheese out of each.  Personally, I thought Dave, the referee, did an excellent job, and made a professional call.

This brings to mind a little tidbit you might like to know.   It seems that 90% of all small businesses fail because of employee theft. According to studies, 87% of all people will steal under any circumstance, and 5 percent will steal when given an opportunity. Doing the math, that means that out of 100 people only eight are worthy of trust.  That means 92% of people are liars and thieves. The study added that religion or level of education, ethnicity or social economic status did not change the results.   The report added that regardless of status in the community, title, position, age, or gender, 92% of all people will steal.  So when drunken fans boo, and misbehave, I try to remember Boxing needs fans, but man, I am just so glad I don’t have to work with ‘em.

Bout Three, Matched Sergio Rios, (3-0, 2 KOs) with Alvaro Ayala (3-5). I’ve been following Sergio’s career since the first time he stepped into the ring as a pro. He’s made tremendous improvements, yet has still not learned how to pivot and put his body weight into a punch. He throws dozens of punches, never quits, does not like to back up, and has enough energy to light New York City, but he has no fundamentals.  This is what I mean when I give coaches bad reviews. The problem in many cases is that boxers don’t have many choices of whom to pick when they start. They have to take who ever is available. In Stockton, the PAL Gym is run by a grumpy old guy about 90 years old, who trains David Martinez, a professional fighter.  The problem is that old timer ignores everyone else, and only training consists of banging on the heavy bag, if there's a room, and beating the hell out of each other in sparring. These kids go in there and swing away at each other without any idea of what boxing is. They have no defensives skills, no footwork, no counterpunch skills, no technique, no nothing.  If one of them survives the beatings, and shows some heart, the old man gets them a bout. I heard from a relative the old guy matched their 16 year old nephew with a 32 year old man.  Of course, the kid took a beating. This is so far below bad, it’s obscene, but that’s how it is in Stockton.  Like I said, a fighter is only as good as the man who coaches him.

Alvaro Ayala had all the tools and some of the same problems as Rios. Both fighters seemed to suffer from bad coaching. Neither of them has a punch, so they pounded each other for five rounds, without seemingly hurting each other. Ayala’s arms were so long, he could not punch at Rios who likes to get in close. The poor guy never leaned the simple technique of stepping back and punching. The exact same mistake Hearns made against Sugar Ray. Both fighters lack knowledge of fundamentals. On the up side, I gotta say, both of these guys came to fight and never stopped punching. Finally in the sixth round after beating each other for over 15 minutes, the ref stopped it.  I plan to write Santa Claus and specifically ask that Sergio Rios get a brand new trainer, one who knows fundamentals. I hate to see a fighter with so much heart not get good training. Its one of my biggest pet peeves with trainers, who talk guff, while their fighters take the beatings.  I suggest that Sergio contact Candy Lopez, the PAL coach for the San Jose league, and beg him to train him. Candy is one of the few guys in this game I respect. He knows fundamentals, speaks Spanish, and loves the game. Bout four matched Ernesto Zavala, a southpaw with a record of 19-3, with 8 KOs, against Ernest ³Too Slick² Johnson, (15-1-0, 6 KOs) I don’t know where they got the name ³ Too Slick², it sounds like a name used by inmates.  I met a guy once who wanted me to train him, and insisted I call him ³ Shank ³.  Yea right, I refused to have anything to do with idiots or fools.  I avoid these ³ tough guys² like bad smells.   I wasn’t impressed with “To Slick”. I believe he came to survive, not to win. He fought a lack luster fight, lacked punching power, lacked passion and seemed to drift in and out of the fight.  While Zavala had zip, wanted to win and tried like hell to take Ernest out. The problem is that Zavala at 32 years, lacked the ability to out fox Ernest, or defeat him.  I gotta wonder why Zavala has only had 22 fights in his long life, while Ernest almost equals his experience in a much shorter time. Zavala landed slapping body shots and chased Ernest around the ring. I’ll admit that Johnson moved like a greased monkey, but he did it without scoring blows, or punching with any authority. I was expecting to see much more, especially after the write up. The heat butts didn't help, Zavala cracked heads with Johnson who wore corn rows, and must have had a harder head, because he never bled, while Zavala did.  It seems life in Chula Vista helped him develop thicker bones. I wish Freddy Roach, who receives a lot of praise, had taught Zavala how to pivot, and put some power behind his punches. I think Freddy should have also taught his fighters how to switch from left to right foot lead.  For all the hype about Roach, I’m yet to be impressed.   Zavala got the decision. Ernest seems to have lost the zeal young fighter must have. Most washed out boxers don’t stop caring until they are over thirty.

Speak of given up, the main event was a dull as driving to Fresno on Hi-Way 99.  Gilbert Martinez must be one of the worse heavy weights in California. He has no boxing skills. He swings his arms around like a bear and fights just John Ruiz, the man made famous for losing to Roy Jones Jr. I don’t know what to say about Gilbert, except that he is simply awful. I met his coach once, and I don’t understand why Gilbert has not improved, developed or quit. What’s going on?  The poor guy would flick his jab, three times, swing his left arm out and around while stepping into his punch with his back foot, thereby negating any power the punch might have had. The boos of the crowd did not seem to faze or interest Martinez who never changed, or did anything different. He just plotted along, repeating the same awful mistakes throughout the bout. What made the crowd boo even louder was that his opponent, Sherman, The Tank William's was just as bad. Williams, like Johnson did not seem to want to win, just survive, not get hurt, and go home with a pay check. It was like watching an old carpenter pounding nails, building another structure of which he cares nothing about.  Doing as little as he can, and still get paid.  Sherman adopted the exact style, and rhythm of fighting as Martinez. He never did anything but respond when attacked, and only rarely attacked himself.  After eight rounds of frustration, I began shouting instructions at Gilbert, who was once again in a clinch with Williams. I bet they clinched 900 times during the ten rounds.  One of the fans called it dancing. I shouted "step back and upper cut", a move I thought was as simply as spitting out your mouth piece, but Gilbert never seemed to get it. Watching Gilbert Martinez is as boring as watching Andy Griffin. It’s the same old thing, one jab, a left hay maker and clinching, over and over at nauseum. I happy when the round ended and the card girls came up, at least they pretended to care.  Having to observe 10 rounds of bad boxing is a real challenge.  I have written on Gilbert in the past, and I wish I could find something uplifting to say. I’m sure he’s a good person. I wish I could say ³ Yea Man, what a fight². I wish I could say how brave he was, but I can’t.  I think Gilbert knows he is a draw simply because he is a heavy weight, and he doesn’t give a damn whether he wins or looses.  I think Gilbert couldn’t give a damn what anyone thinks. He’s in it for the pay check. He knows he can’t box, and he don’t care. He knows he’ll never be a champion and that's ok with him.  I gotta write Santa Claus another letter and ask he give Gilbert Martinez some enthusiasm, or a new career. The dullest fight of the year ended in a draw, whoopee.

One nice thing about going to the fights is seeing old friends.  I want to say, it’s been my privilege to work as a ringside sports writer and commentator.  I love what I do, and I try very hard to do it well. I tell it as I see, and even though I may not like what I see, I have great respect for the boxers, even the ones I don’t think care, or know how to box. Boxing is a very tough game, and it takes tremendous courage to be up there. I teach my students that boxing is 90 % psychological and 10% physical.  If a boxer is unable to defeat his weaknesses, he’ll never make it in the ring. My shaman grandfather taught me the importance of self discipline, consistency and forbearance.  I try my best to pass my years of training, and experience to my students. However, even when one has a great student, its still an uphill struggle. There are so many obstacles put there by the 92% of the people the study spoke of, yet we must persevere and press on.

Now as the CEO and Editor in Chief of The San Joaquin County Guardian. You can see my boxing articles at exclusivelyboxing.com, boxinginfo, and theringmagazine.com as well as sanjoaquinguardian.com.  For those of you who read my articles and respond, thank you.  Even those of you who disagree with my observations, I hope the best for all of you in the coming year. I continue to believe we could clean up boxing, if each person reached out and helped a stranger, and they pay it forward. Get involved, boxing belongs to the fans, not the commission or the promoters. Get involved, write your congressman, ask for better officials, better commissioners and higher standards of conduct for them.

Once again, I gotta say “Thank God for Boxing”  

See you Ringside,

Jorge A. Martinez
Sportswriter/Trainer/Manager
dancingskyhorse@earthlink.net

 

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