NO HOLDS BARRED

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman begins by critiquing the major fights of this past weekend, and explaining what they really meant. Plus, we focus upon how the promoters and television networks did or did not bother to adjust to the continuing economic crisis.

We discuss the Randall Bailey-Frankie Figueroa 140-pound title eliminator in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, Friday, April 3, on ESPN2, won by Bailey with a stunning one-punch, fourth-round knockout; the Alexander Povetkin-Jason Estrada heavyweight fight in Düsseldorf, Germany, Sat., April 4, on ARD, won by Povetkin by a lackluster decision; the Timothy Bradley-Kendall Holt 140-pound WBC/WBO title unification fight in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Sat., April 4, on Showtime, won by Bradley by unanimous decision; and the lightweight pay-per-view fights from Austin, Texas, USA, Sat., April 4, including Edwin Valero stopping Antonio Pitalua in two rounds to win the vacant WBC belt, Michael Katsidis defeating Jesus Chavez when Chavez did not answer the bell after the seventh round, and Vicente Escobedo winning an entertaining ten-round decision over Carlos Hernandez.

This coming Saturday, April 11, two of the most-avoided fighters in boxing will face each other. Paul Williams, this time fighting as a middleweight, will take on the veteran Winky Wright in the main event of a card which will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and telecast live in the USA on HBO. The co-feature will be a 12-round heavyweight fight between contender Chris Arreola and the veteran former title challenger, Jameel McCline. We had a chance to speak with Paul Williams, Winky Wright, and Chris Arreola on recent media conference calls.

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

Labels: boxing, Carlos Hernandez, Chris Arreola, Eddie Goldman, Edwin Valero, Frankie Figueroa, Kendall Holt, Paul Williams, Randall Bailey, SecondsOut Radio, Timothy Bradley, Vicente Escobedo, Winky Wright

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman once again discusses some of the good and bad going on in boxing.

We begin with the ever-burgeoning negative side. We follow up on the commentaries of the past two weeks on this show by Dr. Margaret Goodman, focusing again on why the March 14 fight between Amir Khan and Marco Antonio Barrera should have been stopped far sooner than it was because of a severe cut on Barrera's forehead due to an accidental head clash in the first round. We discuss the latest findings in the Antonio Margarito-Javier Capetillo hand wrap scandal, where authorities in California have officially revealed that the hand wraps they were attempting to use against Shane Mosley in their January 24 fight contained calcium and sulfur, two key ingredients of plaster of Paris. We explain that while lifetime bans of Margarito and Capetillo might be justified in this case, there is, unfortunately and incredibly, no central body in boxing which has the authority to issue such a ban. And we also discuss how the American boxing establishment has let the marquee division in boxing, the heavyweights, slip right through their hands and end up centered in Europe.

On the positive side, we preview the important 140-pound title unification fight between WBO champion Kendall Holt (25-2, 13 KOs) and WBC champion Timothy Bradley (23-0, 11 KOs). This fight, between these two Americans, will take place Saturday, April 4, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It will be telecast live in the U.S. on Showtime.

We spoke with both Kendall Holt and Timothy Bradley to get their views on what they expect to happen in this fight.

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

Labels: Amir Khan, Antonio Margarito, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Javier Capetillo, Juan Carlos Gomez, Kendall Holt, Marco Antonio Barrera, Margaret Goodman, SecondsOut Radio, Timothy Bradley, Vitali Klitschko

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman had the pleasure of speaking with one of the most knowledgeable people alive in the sport of boxing, the legendary matchmaker Johnny Bos.

Right after the marathon of televised fights on Saturday, December 13, we had a lengthy discussion by telephone about the fights themselves and also numerous pressing issues in boxing. We began with the Yuri Foreman-James Moore junior middleweight fight, won by Foreman by a lopsided ten-round unanimous decision (Johnny is Yuri's matchmaker). We also analyzed the Kendall Holt-Demetrius Hopkins, James Toney-Fres Oquendo, Wladimir Klitschko-Hasim Rahman, and Shawn Estrada-Shaun Spaid fights, as well as the Tomasz Adamek-Steve Cunningham and Joseph Agbeko-William Gonzalez fights from Thursday, December 11.

Interspersed in our discussion were commentaries on why boxing is killing itself today, why young fighters are not being developed properly, how boxing is more "crooked" today than in the past, which major promoter has a history of putting on the best and most competitive cards, the many obstacles Johnny is trying to overcome to continue working in boxing, and more.

Johnny is a one-of-a-kind personality and a genuine throwback to the glory days of boxing, so this interview should stimulate some very lively and absolutely necessary discussion about the fate of the sport and business of boxing.

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, Demetrius Hopkins, Eddie Goldman, Fres Oquendo, Hasim Rahman, James Moore, James Toney, Johnny Bos, Kendall Holt, SecondsOut Radio, Shawn Estrada, Wladimir Klitschko, Yuri Foreman

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman begins by commenting on yet another woeful heavyweight title fight, this past Saturday's 11th-round knockout by IBF-WBO champ Wladimir Klitschko over Tony Thompson in Hamburg, Germany, and the state of the heavyweight division.

The subject of the actions and inactions of ringside physicians once again came to the fore during the June 28 Humberto Soto-Francisco Lorenzo 130-pound title fight, which was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. After Lorenzo had been knocked down in the fourth round and then took a knee after a barrage of punches by Soto, he was struck in the back of the head, while still down, by Soto. The fight was over, but the ringside officials took several minutes to discuss the impact of that foul by Soto, and to decide whether to award a TKO victory to Soto or to disqualify him for the foul. While all this was going on, Lorenzo was lying on the canvas, bleeding and hurt, by legal and/or illegal blows.

Dr. Margaret Goodman, a neurologist and former chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, is a long-time fighter for the health and safety of boxers. Now, she is speaking out in criticism of the failures of the ringside physicians in the Soto-Lorenzo fight, as well as in the July 5 Kendall Holt-Ricardo Torres fight, also held in Las Vegas. In the latter fight, Holt was knocked down twice in the early seconds of the first round, but rallied to knock Torres out cold, all in just 61 seconds.

Dr. Goodman has also written an article entitled "A Barely Noticed Death" for an upcoming edition of The Ring. This piece focuses on the death on March 19 of this year of journeyman boxer Rafael Ortiz, who had last fought March 8 in the state of Washington, and the disgracefully inadequate prefight and postfight medical examinations he received.

This week we spoke at length with Dr. Margaret Goodman about these medical failures, and what we can do to fight for fighter safety.

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, Francisco Lorenzo, Humberto Soto, Kendall Holt, Margaret Goodman, Nevada Athletic Commission, Rafael Ortiz, Ricardo Torres, SecondsOut Radio

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman begins by commenting on this past Saturday's thrilling fight between Kendall Holt (24-2, 13 KOs) and Ricardo Torres (32-2, 28 KOs). After being dropped twice, Holt rallied to knock out Torres in just 61 seconds of the first round to capture the WBO junior welterweight title from Torres. This fight, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, and shown live in the U.S. on Showtime, will be replayed Tuesday, July 8, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, on SHO2.

Next, the annual meeting of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) took place this past weekend in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The ABC is comprised of the athletic commissions in the U.S. and Canada, including in their tribal communities, and Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Nick Lembo, counsel for the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, attended this meeting. We had a lengthy interview with him about what the ABC is and is not doing to deal with the many controversies which continue to arise in the sport of boxing.

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: Association of Boxing Commissions, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Kendall Holt, Montreal, New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, Nick Lembo, Ricardo Torres, SecondsOut Radio, Showtime

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman begins by commenting on the discussion we had on the most recent edition of this show with the award-winning boxing writer and author, Thomas Hauser of SecondsOut.com, about his views on UFC and the mixed martial arts. While we obviously disagreed with most of his views on MMA, we comment on the need to establish the positive social benefits of legalizing and sanctioning MMA. This is not only not done by most of the supporters of MMA, but many of the major MMA promotions actually promote anti-social values and bad sportsmanship.

Next, we preview the much-anticipated rematch between WBO junior welterweight champion Ricardo Torres (32-1, 28 KOs) and challenger Kendall Holt (23-2, 12 KOs). Their first bout, held Sept. 1, 2007, in Torres's hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia, ended with a controversial 11th-round TKO win for Torres. This fight was clearly marred by a wildly unruly crowd, which repeatedly soaked the ring with debris and liquids, even hitting Holt and a cornerman with beer cans.

The Torres-Holt rematch takes place this Saturday night, July 5, at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be televised live in the U.S. on Showtime. It is the most important fight being held this weekend, and should be an energetic, exciting scrap.

On a media teleconference call this week, we spoke with both Ricardo Torres and Kendall Holt about their first fight and what to expect in this one. We also got the comments of promoter Bob Arum about the continuing controversies in boxing, including the much-discussed disqualification last week of Humberto Soto in his fight with Francisco Lorenzo.

We next had a lengthy interview with Nick Lembo, counsel for the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, and a longtime supporter of mixed martial arts. He is attending the annual meeting of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), which is going on this weekend in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. MMA is a major topic at this meeting.

Among the topics we discussed were: what the ABC is doing to educate various commissions about regulating MMA in their jurisdictions, why the New York legislature did not recently approve the legalization of the sport, the need for the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act to be extended to MMA, why MMA promoters should work together like even boxing promoters often do, UFC contracts, the establishment by the ABC of an official MMA record keeper, federal ID cards for MMA fighters, clarifications of the MMA unified rules, guidelines for amateur MMA, the ABC deciding to make discussion about MMA a regular part of their agenda along with boxing, and more.

You can listen to No Holds Barred here or here. Just press the play button on the player.

The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

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

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Labels: Association of Boxing Commissions, Bob Arum, boxing, Boxing Standard, Eddie Goldman, Kendall Holt, mixed martial arts, MMA, Nick Lembo, No Holds Barred, Ricardo Torres, Showtime, UFC

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman begins by previewing the megafight between the undefeated WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (43-0, 32 KOs) and the undefeated WBC/WBA champion Mikkel Kessler (39-0, 29 KOs). This long-awaited title unification fight will take place November 3 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, near Calzaghe's home.

We spoke with both champions, Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler, at a New York news conference this past week to get their takes on what to expect in this fight.

On September 1, WBO 140-pound champion Ricardo Torres (32-1, 28 KOs) defended his title with a highly controversial 11th-round TKO win over Kendall Holt (22-2, 12 KOs). This fight took place at the Salon Jumbo del Country Club in Barranquilla, Colombia, Torres's home country. Subsequent reports questioned many aspects of the conduct of this fight, including the stoppage, interference from fans and others during the fight, and more. Videos of both the final round and the entire fight have appeared online, with many who have seen them, along with those in attendance, agreeing that justice was not done that night.

We got a chance to speak with Kendall Holt about all this when he attended the Calzaghe-Kessler news conference, and we have that interview for you this week.

Also, as many already know, the scheduled September 15 fight between WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez and Rocky Juarez has been cancelled. The reported reason is that Marquez suffered a cut on his right hand which led to an infection and swelling, thus leading to the fight's cancellation. We discuss this situation this week.

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, Joe Calzaghe, Juan Manuel Marquez, Kendall Holt, Mikkel Kessler, Rocky Juarez, SecondsOut Radio