NO HOLDS BARRED

(Photo of Gavril and Brooker by Idris Erba/Mayweather Promotions)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague and correspondent Keisha Morrisey.

On October 8, she covered the debut card of a new monthly boxing series, the Sin City Showdown, which was promoted by Mayweather Promotions, and took place at Sam's Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada.

We spoke with her by phone Saturday.

In the main event, Ronald Gavril (17-1, 13 KOs) arose from a fifth-round knockdown to score two knockdowns of his own in the tenth round against Christopher Brooker (11-2, 5 KOs), after which referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight, resulting in a TKO victory for Gavril. With this win, Gavril captured the vacant NABF super middleweight belt. This was an exciting, competitive, back-and-forth fight, which put Gavril in the mix to fight for a WBC title.

The rest of the card featured up-and-coming fighters trying to make their marks in boxing. The co-main event saw welterweight prospect Ladarius Miller (12-1, 3 KOs) score a second-round TKO over Ronald Rivas (5-5-1 3 KOs).

"They presented an excellent night of classic boxing bouts," Keisha Morrisey said. She stressed "the importance of the club fights night in the sport of boxing."

She noted, "For me, the club fights are always the best fights, because that's where you get the most action."

We discussed why such cards often provide "the best fights in town", the TMT fighters on this card, what the future might hold for Floyd Mayweather, the next show in this series on November 4, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The Boxing Tribune, boxing's independent media. Unlike every other major boxing website, The Boxing Tribune is not funded or owned by promoters, managers, or networks, and is fully independent and free to write the truth. For independent boxing news and views, go to http://boxingtribune-news.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

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Labels: club fights, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Keisha Morrisey, Las Vegas, No Holds Barred, Ronald Gavril, Sin City Showdown

(Photo of Floyd Mayweather Sr., Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, and Freddie Roach by Esther Lin/Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague and correspondent Keisha Morrisey.

She will be traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao mega-fight this Saturday, May 2.

We spoke with her by phone Wednesday.

While the unbeaten Mayweather, at 47-0, goes into this fight the favorite, it is far from a given that he will win this long-awaited battle.

"I'm expecting the unexpected," she said. "Actually I'm a bit nervous. I have butterflies in my stomach, because I think that you have two great fighters here. Manny Pacquiao was really great in the beginning of his career when he first started in boxing. And then he took the loss to [Juan Manuel] Marquez, which was really unexpected to everyone. Sometimes things happen in boxing, so you just never know."

She added, "Floyd is training really hard. Manny has always been a one-sided fighter. So I think that again, anything could happen, but I'm really expecting the unexpected."

We discussed possible scenarios for this fight, including the rendering of a controversial verdict which would set the stage for a lucrative rematch.

While she did not offer a prediction about who will win this fight, she did say, "Something is just not going to be right."

We also discussed her long history of correctly predicting fights through the years including many upsets, the importance of proper training for fighters, the role of trainers Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Freddie Roach in this fight, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Keisha Morrisey, Manny Pacquiao, No Holds Barred

This news conference took place Wednesday, January 14, at NBC's studio 8H, the home of "Saturday Night Live", at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York.

Left to right: Keith Thurman, Adrien Broner, Danny Garcia, Thomas "Hitman" Hearns, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Lamont Peterson, John Molina Jr., and Robert Guerrero.

Al Michaels video at news conference.

Sugar Ray Leonard.

Sugar Ray Leonard.

Lamont Jones, Vice President of Operations for Haymon Boxing Management.

Keith Thurman and Robert Guerrero.

Adrien Broner and John Molina Jr.

Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson.

Eddie Goldman, Keisha Morrisey, and Roberto Duran.

Eddie interviewing Roberto Duran with manager Luis DeCubas Jr. and Keisha Morrisey.

Eddie interviewing John Miller, Chief Marketing Officer, NBC Sports Group.

Eddie interviewing boxing promoter Lou DiBella.

Eddie interviewing Lamont Peterson.

Eddie interviewing Keith Thurman.

(Photos of fighters, Al Michaels, Sugar Ray Leonard, Lamont Jones, Keith Thurman and Robert Guerrero, Adrien Broner and John Molina Jr., and Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson by Eddie Goldman. The other photos are courtesy of Keisha Morrisey.)

Labels: Adrien Broner, Eddie Goldman, John Miller, Keisha Morrisey, Keith Thurman, Lamont Peterson, Lou DiBella, NBC. Al Haymon, No Holds Barred, PBC, Premier Boxing Champions, Roberto Duran

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with our correspondent Keisha Morrisey and "The Fight Professor" Stephen Quadros.

We were all at the Glory 9 kickboxing card, which took place Saturday, June 22, at the Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York.

Keisha Morrisey also shuttled between this event and the boxing card at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, headlined by the Adrien Broner-Paulie Malignaggi fight. This provided her an unparalleled opportunity to compare both live shows.

Right after the fights, we had a short discussion with Stephen Quadros, who was a TV commentator for Glory 9, about the highs and lows of this card, including the three victories by Tyrone Spong to win the eight-man, light heavyweight tournament.

We spoke with Keisha Morrisey Sunday by phone about how she evaluated these two events.

"Just in walking into the Glory event, you automatically felt the illumination in the room, the energy of the fans. The music was beautiful, the ambiance, everything about the setting was right on point," she said in this interview.

As far as the boxing at the Barclays Center, she added, "It's unreal the energy that you do not have at a boxing event there."

We discussed why Glory 9 was by far the better event, the future of boxing and kickboxing in the combat sports world, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

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American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: Adrien Broner, boxing, Brooklyn, Eddie Goldman, Glory 9, Keisha Morrisey, kickboxing, New York, No Holds Barred, Paulie Malignaggi, Stephen Quadros, Tyrone Spong

Labels: boxing, Broadway, Eddie Goldman, Keisha Morrisey, Mike Tyson, No Holds Barred, Spike Lee, Undisputed Truth

Labels: Battle Dojos, Eddie Goldman, Keisha Morrisey, Kushinda Lamarr Thornton, martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, values, violence

Labels: boxing, Bryan Perez, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Keisha Morrisey, Leonard Ellerbe, Miguel Cotto, No Holds Barred, Roger

Labels: Agbeko, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Keisha Morrisey, Mares, Mora, No Holds Barred, referee

(Photo: Esther Lin/Strikeforce)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman had a late night discussion with two of our correspondents, Keisha Morrisey and Bob Carson, about the fight festivities from Saturday night, May 15. Right after these shows concluded, we spoke about the Strikeforce card from St. Louis shown on Showtime, the HBO boxing card from New York headlined by the Amir Khan-Paulie Malignaggi fight, and the cancellation of the Shine Fights mixed martial arts card which was supposed to feature former champion boxer Ricardo Mayorga against mixed martial arts veteran Din Thomas.

Who is chiefly to blame for the cancellation of the Shine Fights card following an injunction granted to Don King against this card because of a claim that his company has exclusive rights to promote the fights of Mayorga? Which card was better between the Strikeforce-Showtime card and the HBO boxing card? Will Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, who stopped Brett Rogers in the first round of their fight Saturday, ever fight top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko? Should fighters in mixed martial arts and boxing insist on drug testing based on the protocols of the World Anti-Doping Agency? What do we think of the various athletic commissions, which use different tests if any at all? Are fighters with steroid-laden bodies effective or even sexy? What is next for Strikeforce? How impressive was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu great Roger Gracie, who submitted Kevin Randleman in the second round of their fight with a rear naked choke, in his Strikeforce and American debut? Why is the promotion of boxing to the public so awful?

These and other key questions are answered in our discussion, which is almost like hanging out after the fights and chatting with our trio of combat sports aficionados.

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.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Bragging Rights Corner, for news and always independent opinion about the sport and business of boxing. Check out their web site at http://www.braggingrightscorner.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: Bob Carson, Eddie Goldman, Keisha Morrisey, No Holds Barred, Strikeforce

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman begins by discussing how the one-sided beatdown administered by Manny Pacquiao on Oscar De La Hoya this past Saturday, December 6, was symptomatic of the continuing decline of American boxing. With this decisive win by the much smaller Pacquiao over De La Hoya, American boxing now has no real superstars.

We next discuss a local New York card which resulted in several surprises. Of the 13 fights on Ring Promotions' "Holiday Hits" show held Thursday, December 4, at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, there were four upsets, including in both of the featured bouts.

Right after the fights concluded, we spoke with our colleague Keisha Morrisey to discuss this show. We also spoke with three of the victorious fighters: light heavyweight Will Rosinsky (3-0, 3 KOs), heavyweight Tor Hamer (2-0, 2 KOs), and veteran heavyweight Marcellus Brown (26-17-1, 22 KOs), who won his main event bout with Nagy Aguilera (10-1, 6 KOs) by disqualification.

It is free to listen to SecondsOut Radio, but you must register to gain access to it. Just click here, and listen, learn, and enjoy.

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, HBO, Holiday Hits, Keisha Morrisey, Manny Pacquiao, Marcellus Brown, Nagy Aguilera, Oscar De La Hoya, pay-per-view, Ring Promotions, SecondsOut Radio, Tor Hamer, Will Rosinsky

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman discusses how the November 8 card at Madison Square Garden in New York, headlined by the one-sided drubbing by Joe Calzaghe of Roy Jones Jr., was yet another sign of the long decline of American boxing.

We also discuss this theme with Keisha Morrisey, who was there covering the fight. We discuss the fight itself, the future of Roy Jones Jr. after this loss, why fighters need to learn the boxing business, the poor marketing done to get the fans to know who these fighters are, the failure to reach the urban market, and more.

It is free to listen to SecondsOut Radio, but you must register to gain access to it. Just click here, and listen, learn, and enjoy.

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, HBO, Joe Calzaghe, Keisha Morrisey, Madison Square Garden, pay-per-view, Roy Jones, SecondsOut Radio

Eddie Goldman of No Holds Barred and SecondsOut Radio and Keisha Morrisey of Bloodline Boxing Entertainment will be guests on the nationally-syndicated "Joey Reynolds Show" Wednesday night/Thursday morning, November 7/8. Eddie is also the boxing correspondent for the "Joey Reynolds Show".

We plan to discuss the Miguel Cotto-Shane Mosley fight scheduled for this Saturday night, November 10, at Madison Square Garden, as well as whatever else may come up.

The "Joey Reynolds Show" is a national radio broadcast in New York on WOR 710 AM and on 100 other stations via the WOR Network. The show airs live beginning at midnight EST and runs to 5 AM EST. We are presently scheduled to come on about 2 AM.

You can also listen to the "Joey Reynolds Show" online. For more information on the show's webcast, go to http://www.wor710.com/.

For more information on the "Joey Reynolds Show," go to http://wor710.com/pages/46370.php?contentType=4&contentId=157588.

For more information on show producer Myra Chanin, go to http://motherwonderful.com/.

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, Joey Reynolds, Keisha Morrisey, Madison Square Garden, Miguel Cotto, radio, Shane Mosley, WOR

Keisha Morrisey of Bloodline Boxing Entertainment and Eddie Goldman of No Holds Barred and SecondsOut Radio will be guests on the nationally-syndicated "Joey Reynolds Show" Thursday night/Friday morning, June 28/29.

We plan to discuss boxing, politics, entertainment, and just about anything else which might cross our minds.

The "Joey Reynolds Show" is heard on over 80 radio stations. This talk show airs live beginning at midnight and runs to 5 AM ET, on WOR 710 AM in New York. We are presently scheduled to come on towards the end of the show.

You can also listen to the "Joey Reynolds Show" online. For more information on the show's webcast, go to http://www.wor710.com/.

For more information on the "Joey Reynolds Show," go to http://wor710.com/pages/46370.php?contentType=4&contentId=157588.

For more information on Myra Chanin, who works with the show, and also about Joey and the show, go to http://motherwonderful.com/.

Labels: Bloodline Boxing, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Joey Reynolds, Keisha Morrisey, No Holds Barred, SecondsOut Radio, WOR

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman focuses on boxing's talent-rich but chaotic 140-pound division.

There are five fighters who currently hold more-or-less major world titles in this division: WBC champ Junior Witter of the UK, WBA champ Souleymane M'baye of France, new IBF champ Paulie Malignaggi of the US, WBO champ Ricardo Torres of Colombia, and Ricky Hatton of the UK who holds The Ring magazine's belt and is considered the linear champion by some.

This past Saturday night, June 16, Malignaggi (32-1, 5 KOs) took a 12-round shutout decision over Lovemore N'dou (45-9-1, 30 KOs) at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., to capture his belt.

This coming Saturday night, June 23, Hatton (42-0, 30 KOs) faces former lightweight champ Jose Luis Castillo (55-7-1, 47 KOs) in a 12-round fight at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

First, we get a report from Keisha Morrisey of Bloodline Boxing Entertainment who covered the Mohegan Sun show from ringside. We discuss Malignaggi's victory over N'dou, the disappointing televised co-feature between Andre Dirrell and Curtis Stevens, and some of the young prospects on the non-televised undercard whose performances were noteworthy and entertained the fans.

We next speak with the new IBF 140-pound champ, Paulie Malignaggi, to get his take on what is undoubtedly the biggest victory of his pro career.

And we speak with the man everyone seems to be gunning for in this division, Ricky Hatton, about how he is approaching this fight with Jose Luis Castillo.

It is free to listen to SecondsOut Radio, but you must register to gain access to it. Just click here, and listen, learn, and enjoy.

Labels: Bloodline Boxing, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Keisha Morrisey, Paulie Malignaggi, Ricky Hatton, SecondsOut Radio