Short Punches and Pivot: Danny

Giovanni Acosta Vs. Zaul Trujillo: Larry Holmes Gym

Shadowboxing: Danny Sandoz

Danny Sandoz: Heavy Bag Workout

George Chuvalo: Boxer Who Never Hit the Deck

Break Out the Jab

This is a case of an over-zealous photographer-coach forgetting to mute the sound on a video clip. However, I felt vindicated when the referee gave a standing 8 count to Ninji's opponent who was hit with only the jab in this first-round action.

Sparring Session: King's Gym; Reading Pa.

Justin

 Fast and athletic, Justin spends his time between boxing and the running track. He recently finished first in the 200 meter hurdles. The speed shows in the boxing ring, as does the footwork.

The Blue Team at Pedone's Heavy Hitters

 

Leyon Azubuike at Pedone's

Librado Andrade Stops Robert Steiglitz

If ever you’re in a Jack-In-The-Box hamburger joint and have an unpleasant experience, my advice is to keep your temper in check. Behind the counter may be a guy like Librado Andre. The Mexican-American fighter made his living flipping hamburgers and it looked for awhile that he’d soon be back to it as he began his boxing career. It should be an inspiration to all fighters to know that Andrade lost sixteen of his first eighteen boxing matches. The thing you’ve got to know about Librado Andrade is that he’s imperturbable. Now making decent box office earnings, the L.A. super middleweight is sure to become a fan favorite with his take-no-prisoners fighting style.


I saw Andrade losing a decision to Mikkel Kessler about a year ago. It was the kind of fight where the winner didn’t look a great deal better than the loser. It seemed as if Andrade would be just as eager to walk through a barrage of gunfire as he was to taking the fight to Kessler. You had to respect a guy like that. Just tough. Like fighting with a machine with no reverse gears.

Last night Librado Andrade put away the favored number one super-middleweight contender Robert Steiglitz of Germany in a pitched battle that was a model of Andrade body punching. Or crunching. Andrade’s boxing skills, which may still be described as Neanderthal, seemed to me uniquely aggressive. Steiglitz sustained a creative battering with uppercuts, left hooks, and right hands over the top of Steiglitz’s defense.

Steiglitz was born in Russia but is now a German citizen. Max Kellerman described the German boxer as more a participant in a “sport” rather than as a participant in the Mexican boxing concept of a life or death struggle designed to weed out inferior beings. Steiglitz showed skill and courage even as his chances of winning faded. sly, Steiglitz was fast, experienced, and powerful in knocking out 19 of 31 previous opponents. This was only the second time Steiglitz had been himself KO’d.

Fight News: Joel Casamayor vs. Michael Katsidis

The Joel Casamayor vs. Michael Katsidis fight 03/23/08 was pretty wild. Casamayor is a whole lot more interesting when someone makes him fight. This one was definitely a tussle and put Casamayor’s stock up in my book. I always knew Casamayor could box but this is one of the few times I’ve seen him “fight.” Katsidis hit the deck twice in the first round but recovered to rock Casamayor with a series of punches which put Joel out of the ropes. The bad news is that Casamayor climbed right back in and went back to a clever boxing style that kept the less experienced Katsidis marching forward into straight lefts which eventually forced Michael’s early retirement. Katsidis needs some sparring with fast southpaws next time around but he is rugged, exciting, and durable. Not to mention honest, gracious, and sincere in defeat. Not a whine was heard at the stoppage.

Luis Melindez with fighter

Luis Melindez, former professional fighter, trains amateur and professional boxers at his gym at 315 Linden Street in Allentown, PA.<

Junior Salcido Taping Joey Percia

 

Boxing Is a Tough Sport

 

Boxing makes your body hard. No one knows that better than Jesse Harris boxer Mark "Scooch" Wilson, shown here in training for his first fight. The Ring Girl hired for the Palo Alto-Pottsvile Golden Gloves was gracious and personable when I photographed her with Mark. In due time,Mark recovered sufficiently so that I managed to drag him away from her.

The Jesse Harris Crew

 Jesse Harris Boxing of Stroudsburg, Allentown, and Carbondale has a lot of boxers in the field. On the left is Jeremy Kramer, fresh off a fast-paced win against Ervin Torres of Allentown. To the right of Jeremy is Junior Salcido, trainer and boxer. Partially hidden from view is Giovanni Acosta. Next to him is Mark "Scooch" Wilson, in training (see photo) with the Palo Alto Ring Girl. On the right is Jesse Harris fighter Joey Percia, who lost by decision to Lincolnway Boxing's Ignacio Figuero.

Justin, left: Miguel, right

 Both these fighters from Pedone's Heavy Hitters Gym should see action in the coming months.

Fight Schedule

 

Trainer Brian Pedone looks over the shoulder of Lucas Robinson to check the fight schedule.

Pedone's Heavy Hitters to Fight in PA Golden Gloves

Pennsylvania Central Championship Golden Gloves kicks off in Palo Alto Pennsylvania Friday, March 14th. There will be four fighters scheduled from Brian Pedone's Heavy Hitters Gym. Pictured here are some of Pedone's Heavy Hands fighters from the Stroudsburg area. That's Luke "Six Hands" in the red shirt. Luke's set for his fourth match and many people have noticed the big improvement. Look for surprises as his converted (and current) martial artist has working his punching power. That's slick Danny Sandoz with the punch mitts. We're keeping Danny in the shade until fight time. Expect to see a fluid style and punches in bunches as the elusive 106 pounder bangs out a message.

Ninji likes a 21 foot ring but he'll have to settle for whatever. Anyway, he's gotten used to the 14 foot ring at Pedone's Heavy Hitters Gym on Ann Street in Stroudsburg. That means he can hit across the ring without even moving his feet. Ninji is brand new, looking forward to his first fight. Look for the long guns.

The Tears of Ordinary Men

As I listen in the background to the blubbering retirement speech of Brett Favre, I can understand his being moved to tears after 17 years of NFL ball. What I don’t understand is the selective great weeping obsession of the mainstream media, an obsession which seems selective and morbid. I can’t imagine boxers crying as long or as profoundly as the Packers quarterback and I certainly can’t imagine the camera focused on their faces at a public crying event like a news conference.

Listen, I’ve nothing against emotion in sports. Boxers sometimes cry when they lose matches, and they cry also when they win them, but the cameras do not move in to capture every tear as they did in the Brett Favre seemingly 3-hour waterworks drama. Are a boxer’s tears not as valuable as those of a football player? Isn’t there something a little latte or elitist about this? There were no tears even when Muhammad Ali retired, and he is the greatest boxer of modern times, None for Lennox Lewis. None for Caesar Chavez, nor Roberto Duran. None for Archie Moore or Rocky Marciano (although his death in plane crash accounted for some). I could list a lot of fighters who were great, and not so great, and not for any were there any tears in retirement.

And yet boxers are the greatest athletes of all time. They are proud and enduring, alone in a sport that rips your heart out when it’s not lifting you to unprecedented heights of challenge and emotion.

I guess, for fighters, the silence and the forgetting is familiar, just as are the tears of ordinary men.

Hillary Clinton Kicks Ass: The Kelly Pavlik Effect

I call it the Kelly Pavlik effect. A few days ago, when all was lost and the wide sweep of the press had Hillary KO’d in the early rounds, I turned to my wife and fellow boxing fan.

“Who’s that guy beside Hillary on stage? Doesn’t it look like Kelly Pavlik?”

It was indeed, and the impact of Kelly Pavlik on Hillary Clinton's Ohio win can't be underestimated in blue-collar and gritty Youngstown, OH. It was just the connection Hillary needed to make the case that, if she wasn't one of them, she at least really did know where the people of Youngstown were coming from and where they wanted to go. Like Hillary Clinton, Ohio wants to go straight to the top.

It is likely that congresswoman Stephanie Jones-Tubbs was another of Clinton's key cornermen (cornerwomen?. Jones-Tubbs short speech a week before the Ohio primaries was level, loyal, a punch landed straight to the chops of those many disloyal Democrats who abandoned Hillary Clinton in favor of smoke, lofty oratory, and irresponsible promises.

Look for Congresswoman Jones-Tubbs to be animated and kickin' in the 12th and final round, which will be fought against the great Republican Nominee John McCain.

Kelly Pavlik Vs Jose Zertuche January 2007