The Future of CUBA in the Pros, by Weightclasses. (List Inside) ***UPDATED/VIDEO***

WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (10-0, 8 KOs) dropped Teon Kennedy (17-2-2, 7 KOs) five times en route to a fifth round TKO. The two-time Olympic gold medalist Rigondeaux dropped Kennedy in once in round one and twice in round two, again in round four and a last time in round five before the bout was waved off by referee Russell Mora. Time was 1:11.

 

Dan Rafael‏@danrafaelespn

Was told by @GaryShawBoxing that Franco-Russell is off. Both camps had issues. Ridiculous. #boxing

 

David Price vs. Mike Perez possible for July 14th Khan-Garcia undercard

 

A los boxeadores cubanos les está costando mucho esfuerzo y paciencia para mantenerse activos encima del ring, pero ninguno como a Luis Franco.

Tras una serie de fallidos intentos por atraer a rivales de consideración, el pluma antillano creyó que su momento había llegado contra Gary Russell Jr. Después de todo, su equipo de promoción había ganado el derecho de organizar el combate en una subasta efectuada en Honolulu, Hawaii, pero el equipo perdedor, Golden Boy Promotions, decidió olímpicamente retirar a su boxeador. Así como así.

“Esto es como una maldición’’, explicó Richard Dobal, uno de los encargados de promover al cubano, que no ve acción desde diciembre pasado. “Seguimos comprometidos con hacer de Franco un campeón, pero ha sido difícil asegurarle una pelea eliminatoria para ir contra el campeón. En este caso de Russell se trata totalmente de cobardía. No del boxeador, sino de los que lo guían. Nos han evadido desde el primer día y ahora se han echado para atrás por completo’’.

La potencial batallar con Russell ya había fallado en par de ocasiones al no ponerse de acuerdo las promotoras en términos de la bolsa, pero en la convención anual de la Federación Internacional del Boxeo (FIB), el grupo que representa a Franco (11-0, 7 KO) ganó la subasta al ofrecer $220,000, una cifra superior a la presentada por la compañía que preside Oscar de la Hoya.

De esta manera, los promotores de Franco obtuvieron el derecho de organizar la cartelera y se disponían a entablar negociaciones con HBO en busca de una fecha en julio. Sin embargo, Golden Boy contraatacó con una especie de ultimátum: si quieren pelear con Russell tendrán que hacerlo en la velada del 30 de junio que será transmitida por Showtime. O lo toman o lo dejan.

“Por supuesto que no accedimos a esas pretensiones’’, agregó Dobal. “¿Entonces para qué ganamos la subasta? Por supuesto que ellos quieren controlarlo todo, Gary Russell es una de sus estrellas en ascenso y lo van a proteger al máximo. Es cierto que Franco no ha recibido tanta prensa como él, pero de que le puede ganar, le puede ganar. Y ellos tienen miedo de lo que pudiera pasar’’.

Según los estatutos de la FIB, al negarse a aceptar una pelea obligatoria, Russell (19-0, 11 KO). será sacado seis meses del ranking, un tímido regaño que pone de manifiesto uno de los males del boxeo actual: los organismos pierden cada vez más terreno. En el caso de la FIB para combatir con el campeón de la división pluma, el australiano Billy Dibb (34-1, 21 KO), una eliminación entre los que le preceden en la clasificación es absolutamente necesaria.

Pero Russell es el último de una larga fila de clasificados de la FIB que se ha negado a aceptar el reto de Franco.

Ante de él se negaron a pelear o no se concretaron acuerdos con el filipino Rey Bautista, el panameño Nicholas Walters, el mexicano Daniel Escobedo. Otro filipino, Michael Farenas, dijo que estaba dispuesto, pero días después de aceptar el compromiso subió a un cuadrilátero en su tierra y eso lo sacó de manera automática de la carrera por el título mundial.

En este momento, las esperanzas se cifran en el argentino Mauricio Muñoz (25-3, 12 KO), a quien se le enviaron los papeles del combate y parece estar dispuesto a combatir con Franco en algún momento de julio o principios de agosto, pero con el rosario de penas en que se ha convertido esta historia, los promotores del cubano cruzan los dedos para que

 

Luis Franco having a hard time to get a fight, something Cubans are familiar with.

 

Cuban 3 times Olympic Champion Teofilo Stevenson is dead . Like my username sugests you'll always be number 1 . RIP Champ . Peace . ( BBC )

 

the untimely and unfortunate passing of Teófilo Stevenson, one of the greatest amateur and Olympic fighters in boxing history, we in the boxing community have not to look far to recognize the influx of Cuban born fighters that are beginning to break into the world rankings; Olympic medallists, who had to defect from their homeland in order to have to opportunity to become boxing greats.


Many of these fighters leave behind everything in order to follow their dream of becoming a champion, hoping that one day they will be reunited with their families.

The first Cuban that comes to mind after this past weekend fights is WBA Super Bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (10-0, 8KO). Nicknamed ‘El Chacal’ or ‘The Jackal’, the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Gold Medallist and hard punching Cuban southpaw made his first big step onto the boxing scene, with a hard fought split-decision victory over Ricardo Cordoba for the interim WBA Super Bantamweight title on the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito under card. Since then we have seen brutal beat downs of his opponents in the overmatched Willie Casey, Rico Ramos and his most recent opponent, Teon Kennedy on Saturday night’s Pacquiao-Bradley under card. With power in both hands, the 31-year old Cuban defector has great opportunities to make a name for himself with other exciting Super Bantamweight fighters like WBO Champion Nonito ‘The Filipino Flash’ Donaire and WBA Champion Abner Mares. With a talent laden weight class, the Super Bantamweight division will be fun to watch develop over the next year.

With a controversial decision once again gracing boxing headlines, we can’t help but think of interim WBA Lightweight champion Richard Abril (17-3-1, 8KO). Abril broke into the mainstream boxing media when he crashed Brandon Rios’ press conference about Cuban fighter Yuriorkis Gamboa backing out of their highly anticipated fight. Words were exchanged and a physical altercation ensued between the two fighters. With the Gamboa fight now off, Abril became his obvious replacement. Coming into the fight as the odds on favorite, Rios once again failed to make weight coming in two pounds over the limit and after being completely dominated by the Cuban, Abril was on the losing end of a controversial split-decision by scores of 116-112 and 115-113 for Rios and 117-111 for Abril. Many boxing writers and analysts still believe that Abril pitched a shutout effort against the Top Rank promoted fighter on April 14th in Las Vegas, while Rios’ team believe Abril should have been penalized for his clinching. With his awkward fighting style and newly found fan base, Abril has two options at this time. He can move up in weight to a talent stacked Jr. Welterweight division or he can stay at Lightweight and try to unify the alphabet titles. Was Abril’s domination of Rios just an off night for Rios or is Abril ready to take the next big step of his career to establish himself as a force in the Lightweight division?

Jr. Middleweight Erislandy Lara (16-1-1, 11KO), a 2005 World Amateur Gold Medallist, is back in the gym fresh off his first round-three knockdown annihilation of Ronald Hearns on Showtime this past April. After a surprising draw with Carlos Molina, Lara returned to the ring four month’s later to end up on the losing side of a majority decision against former Welterweight and Junior Middleweight champion Paul ‘The Punisher’ Williams, a decision that still has boxing fans wondering what the judges were watching that night. With nine of his eleven knockouts coming in the first round, Lara is the complete boxer, using both power and boxing ability to take out his opponents. Trained by Ronnie Shields, the Cuban, now living in Miami, Florida, is currently in preparation for a June 30th stay busy fight against Freddy Hernandez on the Cornelius Bundrage-Cory Spinks under card. With another first found knockout a possibility for June 30th, Lara will most likely be looking to end the year with a bang with big name opposition. With names like Vanes Martirosyan, Anthony Mundine and Carlos Quintana being mentioned as possible opponents, Lara will be looking to make big strides in at the end of the year.

A 2004 Olympic Gold Medallist, Featherweight fighter Yuriorkis Gamboa (21-0, 16KO) has been in the media in recent months with his alleged split with promotional powerhouse Top Rank Promotions. With notable victories over Jorge Solis, current WBO Featherweight champion Orlando Salido, journeyman Daniel Ponce De Leon and stepping stone Rogers Mtagwa, Gamboa is reportedly trying to make amends with Bob Arum after being seen training at Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas. Gamboa, known for his all action power punching style has yet to fight in 2012 and after backing out of his fight with Brandon Rios in April, Gamboa doesn’t have the time to be inactive. A reconciliation with Top Rank would be in Gamboa’s best interest so he doesn’t take the entire year off. A stay busy fight this summer and an under card appearance at the end of the year could help Gamboa’s chance of getting a showdown with WBO Super Featherweight champion Adrien Broner in what would prove to be an all action fight in a battle of the little guys.

With the great amateur and Olympic boxing background that comes out of Cuba, we are beginning to see more and more great fighters coming out of the tiny island in the Caribbean; Fighters that are not only risking it all in life, but are willing to risk it all in the ring. The boxing world may never see a fighter like Teófilo Stevenson again, but these Cuban fighters, young and old, do their best to make their mark on boxing history in their own special way.

 

Odlanier Solis Fights His Way Back To Top 10 Ranking
On May 19th Cuban heavyweight sensation Odlanier Solis returned to action by outclassing IBF intercontinental champion Konstantin Airich in Pharr, Texas. It was Solis’ first fight since suffering a bad knee injury at the end of the first round of his WBC world heavyweight title fight against Vitali Klitschko in March 2011 in Germany.

Now the WBC awarded the Cuban’s comeback win with the number 10 spot in their heavyweight ratings putting Solis in a position where he is a potential challenger for Klitschko’s title again. Vitali has already announced that he wants to fight again in early September in Kiev (Ukraine); lots of names have been discussed but no deal has been officially announced yet.

"Vitali is a great champion who has had a very impressive career. If he wants a worthy ending for his championship reign he should give Odlanier Solis another shot at the title. There is definitely no better challenger for him out there at the moment", says Solis’ promoter Ahmet Oner.

The first fight in March ended after only three minutes. At the post fight presser Oner and Klitschko manager Bernd Boente had a lively discussion about the question whether Vitali knocked the Cuban out or it was Solis’ knee injury ending the fight. But not only the involved managers couldn’t come to an agreement. Lots of fans and experts still argue about the ending of Klitschko vs. Solis I.

"I was very emotional immediately after the fight", states Oner. "From today’s perspective I see the whole story more relaxed. Everybody knows that Bernd Boente and I will never be best friends forever but in the end we are both businessmen and I’m sure we could come to an agreement for the sake of the sport and the business. This is not a personal thing between me and him; it’s a championship fight the world wants to see – rather than Vitali beating up a nameless tomato can."

Oner is convinced that there is a broad public interest in Germany and all over the world in a potential rematch between Klitschko and Solis: "It doesn’t matter how you see the ending of the first fight. At the end of the day Solis suffered a bad injury – and these two have unfinished business because they couldn’t end their fight. There are too many unanswered questions just to ignore them. Vitali has the chance to prove that he is not only a great champion but a great personality, too. He can give Solis the chance for a rematch he has always requested from Lennox Lewis. Vitali know how it feels to lose a fight because of an injury. I hope that he remembers that and gives Solis the shot he never got from Lennox."

Oner doesn’t comment on specific names which were discussed as possible opponents for Vitali over the past weeks: "I don’t want to take anything away from anybody. But I think everybody who knows boxing also knows that Solis is the best option for Vitali from a sportive perspective. And we are even ready to prove that! There are still three months to go until early September. Solis would face any of the names discussed in an elimination bout. We can do it next week if necessary. Solis would not only step into the ring against any possible opponent right aways – he would also beat all of the names who have been discussed over the past weeks!"

Adds "La Sombra": "It would be great if Vitali gave me another chance. I want to prove what I can do to him when my knee doesn’t give in. I know that I will be heavyweight champion of the world. But to be the legitimate champion I have to beat the best – and Vitali is the best.

"When I fough Airich I wasn’t at 100 percent. It was good to see that I can go 12 rounds though. And for a possible fight in September I have enough time to get into the best possible shape. If Vitali is looking for a real challenge for his last fight I am ready to go!"

 

light heavyweight Vilier Quinonez SC TBA july 13

 

Kid Cubano
Hi. Please tell me there is information about Solis? He trains? When the next fight?

 

He's hoping to get a fight with adamek in September , nothing done yet.

 

Last night at don king card Angelo " la cobra" Santana won by KO as well as Joey Hernandez .

 

One source has indicated to Fightnews.com that WBC super welterweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Jose “Chepo” Reynoso met with Golden Boy Promotions to review and analyze the possible opponents. The company is making every effort to nail down Alvarez’s new opponent for September 15, but is waiting to see what happens this weekend in bouts between Erislandy Lara vs. Freddy Hernandez and Cory Spinks vs. Cornelius Bundrage for the IBF super welterweight title. There is a possibility that the event will be televised on CBS. The pay-per-view is practically ruled out

 

Rances Barthelemy next fight
2012-08-18 Alejandro Rodriguez 14(7)-6(3)-

 

super featherweight Rances Barthelemy SC Alejandro Rodriguez 8
light heavyweight Yunieski Gonzalez SC TBA 6
light heavyweight Vilier Quinonez SC TBA 6
on the same card in august 18 in Florida