CHICAGO, IL - Forget the cold weather and the snow in Chicago. Skip the holidays. Junior welterweight prospect Ivan Popoca is too focused on the task at hand to pay much attention to either.
Preparing for his next fight on Friday, January 23rd, the undefeated junior welterweight hasn’t stopped training through the holidays. Fighting five times in 2008, Popoca’s last two bouts have ended in crushing first round knockouts, further cementing his status for Chicago fight fans as must-see events.
“For me, 2009 is going to be a huge year, I want to set the tone on January 23rd and move forward quickly from there. Six to eight fights in 2009 and a move up to the world rankings” said the confident 26 year old.
Training at Chicago ’s JABB Boxing Gym for the last few years, Popoca’s name has become synonymous with its growing clientele of pros and amateurs.
“In the last six months, he’s really become the boss here. He’s here to train everyday without fail and he’ll spar anyone. We had some tough Russian professionals here last month and Ivan was the first one to challenge them. Same with many other pros who are more experienced, he’s fearless and will challenge anyone” said gym owner Dominic Pesoli, also President of 8 Count Productions, which handles Popoca.
Known for his all out wars in the gym, Popoca typically stops traffic in the gym as other fighters halt their workouts to catch a glimpse of the most talked about prospect in the Chicagoland area.
Continued Pesoli, “He sets the tone here, other fighters, amateur and pro know this is serious business when they see how hard he works. He loves to spar and he’s got a bit of a street fighter mentality which works to his advantage in the ring.”
Said trainer Mike Garcia, “Ivan’s one of the hardest working guys I’ve ever been around. He’s really come around and turned the corner in the last year and he’s become much smarter to go along with his aggressiveness. 2009 could be a terrific year for him. Boxing fans in Chicago want to see action packed fights and that’s what Ivan gives them, every time out.”
Popoca, 8-0-1 (7KO’s), will face Houston ’s Daniel Garcia at Cicero Stadium as part of “NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION”, an evening of world class professional boxing presented by Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions. The equally heavy handed Garcia brings a record of 9-5-1 (7KO’s), into the scheduled six rounder against Popoca.
Advance tickets, starting at $30, can be obtained in advance by calling the 8 Count Productions office at 312-226-5800. Cicero Stadium is located at 1909 S. Laramie in Cicero . Doors on the evening of the event will open at 7pm with the first bell at 8pm.
Top U.S. heavyweight in 2009: 2004 U.S. Olympian Jason “Big Six” Estrada
PROVIDENCE – 2004 U.S. Olympian Jason “Big Six” Estrada, arguably one of the most decorated amateur boxers of the 21st century, is in many ways the United States’ top heavyweight hope to bring home a world title belt.
Estrada possesses the quickest hands and feet in the heavyweight division, along with solid “whiskers,” and he has also shown steady improvement in the power game. All told, though, he’s perceived by many promoters, managers and fighters as too risky to fight, largely because he can box the ears off of anybody in the world who weighs 200 pounds or more.
Estrada (15-1, 3 KOs, 1 NC) won all five of his 2008 fights against opponents with a combined record of 109-24-4 (67 KOs), including former world title challenger Charles Shufford (20-7-1) and multi-regional title-holder Lance “Mount” Whitaker (32-4-1) by 10-round decisions, as well as Derek “The One Man Riot” Bryant (20-4-1, 17 KOs) and Texas State champ Domonic Jenkins (13-8-1) by 8-round decisions, and Carolina champion Moultrie Witherspoon (14-1) by seventh-round technical knockout.
However, finding competitive fights for Jason, who has lost very few rounds during his 4-year pro career, has become a growing problem for his promoter, Jimmy Burchfield. Despite his constant efforts to lure “rated” heavyweights to fight Estrada, Burchfield has been turned down more often than a nerd at the Playboy mansion. A perfect example recently happened when Burchfield’s company, Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc., and the Estrada Unit (Jason’s managerial company that includes his father/head trainer Dr. Roland Estrada) agreed to all terms for a WBF heavyweight title fight against Frans Botha in South Africa. While awaiting a signed contract, Burchfield surprisingly discovered that Botha would instead be defending his title against a challenger who sports a 20-15-3 record, Ron Guerrero, who has lost three of his last five, including a first-round knockout loss to Jenkins (aforementioned loser to Estrada by 8-round decision by scores of 79-73 three times) .
“Sooner or later, though, the top heavyweights will to have to fight Jason,” Burchfield commented. ”Like in the days of Vinny Paz, Jason never refuses to fight anybody. He was experienced when he turned pro four years ago because of his vast amateur experience. Heavyweights mature later than other fighters and even though Jason has matured as he’s gotten older, he isn’t anywhere near his potential peak, and will be a dominating heavyweight for years to come.
“Jason has completely dedicated himself to bringing the world title back to the United States. He even opened his own gym (“Big Six Academy”) in Providence to train and teach youngsters. Part of his problem, though, is he makes everything in the ring look so easy. He’s a pure boxer who is learning how to sit on his punches more. The skeptics should be silenced by now, especially those questioning his ability to fight tall heavyweights like the present world champions (7-0 Nicolai Valuev, 6-7 ½ Vitaly Klitschko and 6-6 ½ Wladimir Klitschko). Jason fights his best against taller opponents and everybody saw what he did against (6-8) Lance Whitaker, who came into that fight in the best shape he’s been in for years. Jason Estrada is going to be world champion.”
The 28-year-old Estrada, who is gradually moving up in ratings (WBC #32, NABF #7) has indeed fought anybody and everybody put in the ring with him and none of his opponents had a losing record (260-86-11 combined record of his opponents) when they fought Jason. His only loss was to Travis Walker, who Jason had beaten three times without a loss in the amateurs, by an 8-round majority decision a year ago when Estrada was hampered by a sore shoulder preventing him from effectively throwing his vaunted jab.
Providence-native Estrada compiled an incredible 261-14 record in U.S. competition. He was the first boxer to win both the U.S. Nationals and U.S. Challenge three years (2001-2003) in a row. Highlights of his amateur career included representing the United States in the 2004 Olympics and capturing a gold medal at the 2003 Pan-American Games.
During his extraordinary amateur career, Estrada defeated some of today’s leading professionals including former world title challenger DaVarryl “The Touch of Sleep” Williamson (25-5, 21 KOs), unbeatens Malik Scott (32-0, 11 KOs) and Donnell “The Real Touch of Sleep” Holmes (29-0-2, 25 KOs), Malcolm “The Showstopper” Tann (23-4, 12 KOs), and Felix “Bad News” Cora, Jr. (19-2-2, 9 KOs).
Beibut Shumenov - Hottest prospect in boxing
LAS VEGAS – Former Kazakhstan Olympian Beibut Shumenov (7-0, 5 KOs), fresh off of his impressive 10-round decision victory against Columbian knockout artist Epifanio “Diamente” Mendoza (28-6-1, 24 KOs), arguably is the most ambitious, fastest-rising prospect in boxing.
Fighting only 13 months as a professional unbeaten light heavyweight Shumenov has already captured three championship belts – WBC Asian Boxing Council, WBO Asia Pacific and PABA. His most defining victory to date was a one-sided victory by 12-round decision (120-107, 120-108, 120-108) against former WBC title-holder Montell “Ice” Griffin (50-8, 30 KOs) this past August in Kazakhstan.
Shumenov, 25, was recently named the WBC Asian Boxing Council Organization’s 2008 Boxer of the Year. Beibut headlined against Mendoza in his new promotional company’s (KZ Event Productions) U.S. debut December 13th in Bellevue, Washington.
“I’m enjoying boxing but it’s more of a hobby than career for me,” Shumenov explained. “I see myself going another route in the future. I want to challenge myself mentally, as a promoter, like I have physically as a boxer. I plan to expand my boxing company, KZ Event Productions, Inc., and promote boxing as a businessman. I enjoy organizing fights and building my own career.”
In his previous two fights, Mendoza lost to former world champion Jeff Lacy by controversial decision, as well as to Chad Dawson for the WBC light heavyweight title. Beibut easily handled the veteran Mendoza, who was a late replacement for former world champion Kelvin Davis, by scores of 100-90, 98-92 and 97-93.
“When Davis pulled out of the fight only a few days before the show,” Shumenov said, “I was ready to cancel the show rather than fight just any opponent. I was offered a 5-0 guy with three knockouts. No offense to him but I’d already beaten Montell Griffin, (Lavell) Finger, (Donnell) Wiggins and (Shannon) Miller. I didn’t want to go backwards. I was either going to fight somebody with a good record, well-known name or title, or I wasn’t going to fight at all. As soon as I realized that Mendoza had just fought Lacy and Dawson, I accepted the fight, and I want to thank Mendoza for taking the fight on such short notice. He’s a tough guy who came to win.
“I haven’t reached my limit in terms of mastering my skills, but I am ready now to fight any of the top light heavyweights in the world such as Joe Calzaghe, Bernard Hopkins, Chad Dawson, Zsolt Erdie, Roy Jones, Jr., Julio Cesar Gonzalez, Hugo Garay or Andrian Diaconu. I am working hard to improve my mastership and, when I reach the highest levels of my skills, I’d like to demonstrate it against all of the world’s best fighters.”
Already rated No. 15 by the WBO, Shumenov was highly-touted in the 2004 Olympics, winning his opening bout against Polish representative Aleksy Kuziemsky (presently 16-0 as a pro prospect), 37-22. But hampered by a hand injury, Beibut was defeated in the round of 16 by Turkey’s Ihsan Yildorim Tarham, 27-19, in the same light heavyweight division in which Andre Ward won a gold medal for the United States.
There’s no slowing down the confident Beibut, who is like an old-time fighter who doesn’t want easy opponents to build-up his record. His fourth pro fight was a scheduled 12-round title fight against Wiggins. In his seventh bout Beibut looked very good against a much more experienced, former world title challenger Mendoza. Shumenov just wants to fight the best and position himself for a world title shot in late 2009 or early 2010.
The KZ Event Productions website ( www.kzeventproductions.com ) with soon be launched with additional information about Beibut Shumenov and his new promotional company.
