Notebook: Pavlik, Sanchez, Hopkins, Cotto, More
Super welterweight contender Ray Sanchez of Albuquerque, N.M. is working out in Las Vegas blast-furnace heat to wire in for his showdown against Joaquin Zamora of Pecos, N.M. on Sept. 5.
"Ray is working real hard to be fully prepared," said chief trainer Jesse Reid at the Top Rank gym today.
Reid said Sanchez is working ".....on getting the right kind of angles."
"It's a 45-degree thing, angling in to effectively fight Zamora," said Reid. "Ray is going to work on that, spar a lot, run a lot."
Sanchez knows all about Zamora. Sanchez told Chris Cozzone of Newmexicoboxing.com that "....I've know Zamora for years and we're great friends. Zamora is tough and he has proved himself. In the last 4 years he has stepped up and polished his skills -- I better be ready."
Sanchez plans to train in Las Vegas through August 29, then head home to Albuquerque.
Sanchez vs. Zamora is the centerpiece of a huge Top Rank/Prime Time Promotions fight card at the Isleta Hotel and Casino in Albuquerque, N.M. on Friday, Sept 5.
Urbano Antillon, 23-0, will take on Guadalupe Rosales, 26-2, in a 12-round NABF, NABO super featherweight title bout which will open the televised portion of the card on Telefutura. Antillon, who has been fighting at lightweight, is going down to the 130 pound division for this bout.
Demetrius Hopkins, 28-0, of Philadelphia will make his Top Rank debut against Juaquin Gallardo, 18-7-2, of Oakland in a 10-round bout. Hopkins is a tremendously skilled contender handled by Cameron Dunkin who manages champions and star fighters...
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More updates:
Tickets are off to a very strong start for Kelly Pavlik vs. Bernard Hopkins on Oct 18 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Top Rank and Golden Boy are promoting. "We are thrilled with the response from fight fans," said Todd duBoef, president of Top Rank.....
Running and light exercises for Miguel Cotto in Puerto Rico.....Miguel will be at ringside for the Aug 22 fight card featuring Daniel Jimenez vs. Shamir Reyes in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Top Rank and Cotto Promotions are co-promoting...
Hard puncher Mike Alvarado, 22-0, will fight in his hometown of Denver on Friday, Oct. 3. On the undercard Top Rank matchmaker Brad Goodman has put together an all-out scorcher: Brandon Rios, 18-0, of Oxnard, Ca. vs. Manny Perez, 12-4, of Denver in a battle of 130-pounders. "There are some fights you cannot wait to see and this is one of them. I'll be at ringside on Oct. 3," Brad said today. Telefutura will televise. Fights will be at the Stockyard Arena....
Vanes "Nightmare" Martirosyan, the wildly popular U.S.A. Olympian from Glendale, Ca., will return to action on Sept. 19. Top Rank will soon announce the venue for that fight card....
Stat of the day, from Kevin Iole at Yahoo Sports, about 31-0, light fly world champion Ivan 'Iron Boy' Calderon:
"Calderon has done astonishingly well with his physical gifts. He’s won 415 of the 500 rounds during his 15 title fights, an amazing 83 percent round-winning ratio."
Those are some kind of numbers. Calderon defends against former champion Hugo Cazares on Top Rank's Latin Fury 6 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico on August 30. That's a scorcher of a fight too...