Knocking Them Out at the Jesse Harris Gym

It wasn't too long ago that Amanda was boxing for the Jesse Harris Women's team. That was before she became a workaholic. Now, with two jobs and contemplating a third, Amanda's still knocking them out but in a different way.

Fitness Boxers Watch the Sparring at the Jesse Harris Gym

Jarod Sharp Meets Marvin Pinto

Boxing Safety

How does amateur boxing safety rank with other contact sports? Amateur boxing ranks as the safest sport among contact sports such as football and wrestling and among other events such as equestrian events and motorcyle racing.

Doesn't boxing rank as the sport with the most injuries? No, according to the National Safety Council's 1996 accident report, amateur boxing ranked 23rd on its list of injuries. Boxing ranks lower in number of injuries when compared to hockey, soccer, gymnastics, and in-line skating.

How does boxing compare to other sports in amount of fatality rates?


Fatality rates per 100,000 participants


Horse-racing...........128
Sky-diving...............123
Hang gliding.............55
Mountaineering........51
Scuba diving............11
Motorcycle racing......7
College football..........3
Boxing...................1.

The Bump and Punch

Trujillo and Acosta collide toward the end of a sparring session.

Giovanni Acosta Vs. Zaul Trujillo at Larry Holmes Boxing Center In Easton, PA

Trujillo is a four-time Golden Gloves Champion who trains at the Larry Holmes Boxing Training Center. Giovanni is trained by RJ Sockwell at the Jesse Harris Boxing Gym in Stroudsburg, PA.

Sockwell Vs Pinto at Larry Holmes Boxing Center

The only thing I don't like about this video is my own voice. I vow each time to keep my mouth shut but it never happens. Marvin Pinto is trained by Luis Melendez of Allentown, PA. Sockwell is trained by Jesse Harris, three-time boxing hall-of-famer.

Sparring at Larry Holmes Training Center

RJ Sockwell in an October 2007 sparring session at the Larry Holmes Training Center in Easton, PA.

Getting Ready

  Manager/Trainer Luis Melendez readies fighter Marvin Pinto.

Jarod and Giovanni

 

Al Wilkerson and Jesse Oltmanns

 

Larry Holmes Gym Easton PA

 

Kelly Pavlik's Rise and Jermain Taylor's Fall

Photo Credit to US Presswire



Boxing is the only sport in the world where there are times you can’t be helped by any amount of wisdom, support, fans, skill, training, experience or trash talk. Even with all those things combined, Jermain Taylor slumped to the floor in the seventh round in a fight that can only be rationalized as the upset of the year.

I won’t join with all of those who will now pretend they were not surprised. Lots of people will now have to paraphrase their predictions of a Taylor rout. I thought Taylor was the stronger fighter and that the body and the conditioning would prevail. I was looking for a “renewed” Taylor, anxious to demonstrate a willingness to mix and overpower.

At first, the fight seemed to follow the expected pattern with Pavlik down in the 2nd round. But I always did believe that Pavlik had heart. It was heart that made him dust off the cobwebs and finish the round, battered but still on his feet. And it was heart that made him come roaring back to rock Taylor with powerful and accurate punches which backed him to the ropes.

There’s never been any doubt about Pavlik’s heart or his killer instinct. With Taylor in the corner, he moved in to deliver the right punches, uppercut, left hook, left anything… At that point, a puff of wind would have blown Taylor down.

So Youngstown Ohio, home of many great fighters, is back on the map again. And so it is with boxing: Kelly Pavlik’s rise led to Jermain Taylor’s fall.

Taylor-Pavlik: A Tough Fight For One Round

Emmanuel Steward, the usually unemotional and restrained trainer for Jermain Taylor, fired a short hook to the ribcage with his remark about his guy’s upcoming fight with Kelly Pavlik:

"It's going to be a tough fight — for about one round," Steward said at the news conference for Saturday's battle in Atlantic City.

It’s too late to comment and too hard to top that quip, so I thought I’d just repeat what I’d learned from listening to boxing fans around the country. Pavlik has lots of supporters who believe in the big bomb theory of boxing, but it is hard to find a single one who will pick Kelly to win big. Pavlik’s supporters are very much inclined to talk up his strong points but, when it comes to conclusions, they are very much hedging their bets.

Truly, I think that Pavlik’s support comes from a tiny GWH contingent and a huge sentiment-for-the-underdog-and-less- ballyhooed fighter. Will Cinderella make it to the ball or be reduced to cleaning the cinders?

Sam Peter Named New WBC Heavyweight Champion

And the new heavyweight champion is….

Samuel Peter became the World Boxing Council's interim heavyweight champion Monday after Oleg Maskaev dropped out of their Oct. 6 title fight with a back injury. The WBC awarded the title to him. That is only fair for Sam Peter who was anxious to throw down and deserved the shot, but what about me? Don’t I deserve a heavyweight belt? At running my mouth, if nothing else.

Meanwhile, Jermain Taylor hopes to break out of the perception that he’s a dull, uninspiring fighter. That’s not anything I believe, incidentally. Pavlik has lots of fans who like his head-on punching style. That’s not always such a good play against a guy as strong as Taylor is. Pavlik has hopes set high for a major upset due to his devastating KO of Edison Miranda.

It seems to me that Taylor has sometimes been over-anxious, tense, and sometimes defense-minded. Those aren’t capital offenses and part of the reason may be that many of the opponents he’s faced, (B-hop, for instance) were ring technicians. That’s not a sin, either. Ask Floyd Mayweather, Jr. as he waits for Ricky Hatton.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. began his campaign of psychological warfare against Hatton at yesterday’s press conference in New York. An Associated Press story about the press conference quotes Mayweather as saying that Castillo and Kostya Tzu were “over the hill’ when Hatton beat them. Hatton says he’s not intimidated and describes Mayweather’s lack of respect for him and others as a “lack of class.”

Let the games begin!

Wouldn't You Love to Fight the Winner of the Tommie Lee Kid Rock Fight?

24 September 2007 (Sawf News) - Feuding Pamela Anderson exes, Kid Rock and Tommy Lee are now being offered $5 million to duke it out in a winner take all boxing match. So they say. Another article says that Bob Arum has signed on and the purse is now $5 million. Plus Pamela Anderson. I would watch if for free but who needs to see ugly no-talent boxing? Maybe if they gave each other pistols....

If you like punishment, there's a full story on the right hand side of this page under the Boxing News, Views, and Clues heading.

Roll That Shoulder: Jesse Oltmann

Maskaev's Nigerian Nightmare: Sam Peter Fight Cancelled

The reason given is a back injury. WBC Heavyweight Champion Oleg Maskaev disappointed Sam Peter by pulling out of the mandatory title defense with the Nigerian power puncher set for October 6. Adding weight to the suspicion that Maskaev is ducking Sam Peter was that Maskaev pushed to fight Vitali Klitscho instead of Sam Peter. The WBC made Maskaev fight Sam Peter instead, since Peter was the real deal and number one challenger.

Interestingly, Sam Peter's only loss was to Wladimir Klitscho, Vitali's successful brother. Maskaev remains an interesting fighter in spite of the five losses on his record. He beat Hasim Rahman in October of 2006 and has a lot of other competent names on his tally. But this doesn't look good for Maskaev and whomever he chooses to fight next, unless it's Sam Peter, will be diminished by the big looming shadow of the Nigerian Nightmare.

Your Past Determines Your Future

Interview with Jesse Harris Boxing Coach and Trainer, Al Wilkerson

Giovanni Fronting TKO : Future Olympics