FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – Each fight is a learning experience for any young boxer and 2008 U.S. Olympic first alternate Danny O’Connor is no exception. His pro debut in September resulted in a second-round stoppage of Jose Guerrido, but his November 11th win against 15-fight veteran Anthony Woods was much more important in terms of 23-year-old O’Connor’s development process.
O’Connor (2-0, 2 KOs) pitched a shutout against fellow light welterweight Anthony Woods (5-11, 2 KOs), winning all four rounds on each of the three judge’s scorecards (40-35, 40-36, 40-36) at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
One invaluable lesson learned by O’Connor is that, when the action doesn’t go exactly according to pre-fight plans, adjustments must be made during the action. “It was an exciting fight to watch,” he said. “We both threw a lot of punches. He’s a tough fighter; game, coming forward throwing punches. So was I. I wanted to show more of my boxing skills than I did in my first fight. I did but not as much as I wanted to because I didn’t settled down, rather looking for a knockout, instead of boxing more. Every fight is a learning experience for me and I’m already applying what I learned from that fight in the gym. I did go four rounds and now I’m used to fighting 3-minute rounds. I can’t wait for my next fight.”
O’Connor, fighting out of Framingham (MA), won this year’s US Future Stars National Championship, in which he was named Most Outstanding Boxer, as well as the National Golden Gloves Tournament, both in the 141-pound light welterweight division. Danny’s most notable victory as an amateur was a dominating performance against eventual 2008 Olympic Gold medalist Felix Diaz, of the Dominican Republic, who O’Connor beat on May 29 in a USA-Dominican Republic dual meet.
Uncertain about the exact date of his next fight, O’Connor is working hard at the 401 Gym in Cranston, Rhode Island with his head trainer, Dave Keefe, who also co-manages Danny with Rob Valle. O’Connor is promoted by Seminole Warriors Boxing.
“Both Rob and I were glad Danny got some rounds in,” Keefe noted. “Seminole Warriors Boxing and our team are on the same page; knocking out everyone doesn’t always yield the best long-term results. These early fights are part of the learning process for Danny.”
LOS ANGELES, CA - Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank announced the addition of two 12-round title fights to the December 6 pay-per-view undercard of "The Dream Match," headlined by the 12-round welterweight collision between two of boxing's biggest attractions OSCAR DE LA HOYA and MANNY PACQUIAO.
NABO junior welterweight champion and Top-Five contender "Vicious" VICTOR ORTIZ defends his title against JEFFREY RESTO andWBO junior featherweight champion JUAN MANUEL "Juanma" LOPEZ defends his crown against Top-10 contender and Argentinian National super bantamweight champion SERGIO "Rocky" MEDINA. Combined, these four warriors have a sterling record of 100-4-1 (69 KOs) - a winning percentage of 95% and a victory by knockout ratio of 69%.
Ortiz (22-1-1, 17 KOs), from Oxnard, Calif., a former amateur standout, is currently riding a two-year, 16-bout unbeaten streak, including 12 knockout victories. He captured the vacant NABO title in his last fight, a fifth-round stoppage of Roberto Arrieta in September. Recent knockout victories of former world champion Carlos Maussa and contender Emmanuel Clottey have raised his world rating to a career-high, No, 5 in both the WBO and the WBA. Resto (22-2, 13 KOs) is enjoying a four-year winning streak. This year, the Bronx native of both Mexican and Puerto Rican descent scored decision wins over Humberto Tapia and Hector Altorre, who had a combined record of 27-8-1 when he fought them. Resto is currently rated No. 7 by the NABO.
Lopez (23-0, 21 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, will be making his second world title defense on December 6. The 2004 Puerto Rican Olympian has not had an opponent go the distance with him in over two years. He captured the world title in June, knocking out defending champion Daniel Ponce De Leon in the first round. He retained the title in his first defense in October against Cesar Figueroa, again by first-round knockout. Medina (33-1, 18 KOs), from Salta, Argentina, enters the fight riding a five-bout winning streak, while collecting the WBO-Inter-Continental, the Argentina National and the WBA Latin American junior featherweight titles en route to a top-10 world rating.
Promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, Inc., presented by Tequila Cazadores and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, DeWalt Tools, Full Throttle Energy Drink and Southwest Airlines. De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao, a 12-round welterweight battle, will take place Saturday, Dec. 6 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nev. The fight will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
MGM Grand will host closed circuit viewing in conjunction with the upcoming "Dream Match" between the 'Golden Boy' Oscar de la Hoya and Manny 'Pacman' Pacquiao. Tickets for the closed circuit telecast are priced at $100 (preferred viewing) and $60, not including handling fees. All seats are general admission and are now on sale at the MGM Grand ticket office outlets at the Concierge desk and the KÀ Theatre box office. Tickets also will be available by visiting www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 702-474-4000. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Additional MGM MIRAGE properties will host closed circuit viewing and tickets will go on sale at a later date
Jack Perry hopes to take a step closer to a Midlands Area Title shot by improving his unbeaten record at the Trent FM Arena Nottingham on Saturday, 6th December.
The Derby boxer is considering stepping up from light-welterweight to welterweight and will see how he gets on at a heavier weight limit over four rounds on the undercard of Carl Froch’s (Nottingham) WBC World Super-Middleweight Title fight against Jean Pascal (Canada) which will be shown live by ITV1
The 21-year-old will be aiming to erase the disappointing memories of his last outing at the same city centre venue when he was held to a draw by Tom Glover in May, which is the only blemish on his eight-fight career.
Since then, Jack has beaten Kristian Laight on points and feels in top form after preparing at the Ingle’s gym in Sheffield.
“I’m hoping to get a title shot – the Midlands or British Masters – next year before I’m 22,” said Jack.
“My only blip so far was my last fight at the Arena, so obviously I’m looking to put that right in the next one.
“I boxed really late on in the show in the last one and it affected me. I had warmed up three times for the fight and when the fight came around I just felt drained and not myself in there. But this time will be different.
“I train with the Ingles up in Sheffield and it has been great experience training alongside British champions like Kell Brook and former world champions like Junior Witter.
“I’m think about moving up a division to welterweight so training alongside British welterweight champion Kell Brook has been great. I don’t feel a full welterweight yet but I’m in between the two at the moment and am looking to move up.
“Training alongside people like Junior Witter makes you set your standards higher and it means you realise you can be there yourself.”
Jack hopes to celebrate victory with a curry.
“One of my sponsors is an Indian restaurant called Anoki," said Jack. "It’s great getting free meals there when I’m not training and I’m hoping to have an after party there.”
Rod Anderton hopes he can make it a double title triumph for Nottingham at the Trent FM Arena Nottingham on Saturday, 6th December.
Anderton (Nottingham) challenges Danny McIntosh (Norwich) for the English Light-Heavyweight Title on the same bill as Carl Froch’s (Nottingham) WBC World Super-Middleweight Title fight against Jean Pascal (Canada).
Also, Nottingham's Tyrone Wright challenges Paul David for the English Super-Middleweight Title elsewhere on the same bill.
Anderton will be challenging for his first major title and is confident of taking the belt in McIntosh’s first defence on the Hennessy Sports show, which will be shown live by ITV1.
“It’s a massive night for Nottingham boxing and it’s great to be a part of it,” said Anderton. “Carl is fighting for a world title and it would be great if the three of us won titles on the night. It’s a massive night for both of our careers and there are a few other local lads in action.
“There can’t have been many more bigger nights for Nottingham and East Midlands boxing than this.
“It’s a big chance for me to shine, especially with the chance of the fight being shown on terrestrial TV. I’ve also sold over 300 tickets so I want to deliver for my fans.
“I hope McIntosh is ready for a hard fight because I’m ready to it to him. He beat Steve Spartacus for the title, but Spartacus didn’t have a long time to prepare for it. I’ve had seven weeks and feel great. I’m ready to take this opportunity.”
Anderton wants to make up for the last two times he was in action at the big city centre venue.
“The last time I was supposed to box at the Arena I had to pull out at the last minute sick," said Rod. "I went from one extreme to the other very quickly. I was getting ready for the fight and feeling great, but then next minute I had covered the changing room in sick. I was gutted because I couldn’t fight then.
“The time before that the referee somehow gave a draw when I fought Phil Callaghan for the second time. I had stopped him before and thought I beat him again so I couldn’t understand the decision.
“But it has gone well since and I’ve won four on the trot so I’m feeling well up for the fight. I’m looking for a better outcome than the last two times I was down to fight at the Arena.”
Los Angeles, CA – On Saturday, November 29, undefeated Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola will be taking what he hopes is another step toward a World Heavyweight Championship, when he defends his WBC Continental Americas title against Travis “Freight Train” Walker on the first-ever professional boxing card to be held at the new state-of-the-art Citizens Business Bank Arenain Ontario, California.
And while preparing to do battle with a hard-hitting, world class heavyweight is nothing new for the Riverside, California native with an unblemished 25-0 record including 22 knockouts, being followed around by a world class camera crew was certainly a new experience for the 27-year old Mexican-American knockout artist.
HBO Sports which will televise the Arreola-Walker contest on “HBO: Boxing After Dark” as co-feature to the interim 12-round WBO Super Welterweight Championship Bout between Paul “The Punisher” Williams and Verno Phillips, has developed a series of original human interest short features on eight promising young boxers entitled “Ring Life.” One of the principal subjects is Arreola.
“It was a pretty surreal experience having cameras with you and having to answer all kinds of questions,” Arreola conveyed. “I’m not used to it. I kept asking myself, ‘How did I get here? Is this how it’s gonna be when I’m Heavyweight Champion of the World? Overall it was a pretty cool experience.”
“Chris was extremely cooperative during production,” acknowledged Dan Klein, of Wonderland Productions, which shot the footage for HBO. “He opened up his home to us and took us inside his training. We shot inside Chris’ home, on the horse trails he uses for roadwork, at local restaurants and barbershops, on the road in his car and inside his gym.”
Arreola agreed to participate in the HBO series and allowed full access to his daily routine as he prepared for his biggest fight to date – one in which has Walker’s NABF Heavyweight title at stake and is also being sanctioned as an IBF Heavyweight Elimination bout.
“Whatever Dan (Goossen) says I am good with,” Arreola said. “I don’t question Dan. I know he asked me to do this for my own good. It’s great exposure for me. After being in boxing for 15 years, it’s finally paying off.”
“HBO is interested in profiling up and coming fighters with great back-stories,” explained Thomas Huffine, coordinating producer for this HBO short series. “The goal of this series is to build awareness of the dedication and commitment that these fighters have to realize their dreams.”
