221 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Mitch Abramson byline.
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If talking were the deciding factor in a fight, then Bernard Hopkins would be undefeated. Hopkins showcased his verbal repertoire on Wednesday. Hopkins' upcoming opponent, Chad Dawson, replaced trainer Emanuel Steward with a corner combination of John Scully and former champion Winky Wright.
Steven Martinez didn’t take the bait. The undefeated junior middleweight from the Bronx bit his tongue, instead. A rival from his hometown had dismissed him as a potential opponent, saying he wasn’t in his class. Martinez didn’t issue a response. He just shrugged it off. For an offensive fighter such as Martinez, whose best defense is often his offense, it was an interesting reaction. But Martinez, a former National Golden Gloves champion, is laid back and quiet outside the ring. It’s not his style to call out other fighters.
As a corner man for Darren Barker on Saturday night, Joey Gamache, the former lightweight champion, got a good look at Sergio Martinez. Gamache was busy in Atlantic City, helping four different boxers achieve victories in three of their fights. One of the fighters he guided to a win was Andy Lee, who won an impressive decision against Brian Vera. As a result of the win, Lee has been mentioned as a possible opponent for Martinez and his WBC Diamond middleweight title. While Gamache was admiring of Martinez’s effort- he stopped Barker in the 11th round- he also saw some flaws. The normally bubbly Martinez labored against the defensive-minded Barker, working harder than he usually does.
Chad Dawson admitted that his career had stagnated and that he had become a “bored” fighter before hooking up with current trainer John Scully, he said during a conference call with the media on Wednesday. Dawson has often been criticized for not seizing the moment in fights and throwing enough punches, a tendency he seemed to imply was a result of his prior training.
Darren Barker, not exactly shy about bold proclamations (and with a talent for filling a reporter's notebook) will attempt to expose Sergio Martinez’s lack of experience on Saturday in Atlantic City when they meet for Martinez’s WBC Diamond middleweight title, he told BoxingScene.com.
In the final round of his sparring on Monday, Darren Barker slipped on the ring mat and fell flat on the canvas. He got up flexing his right ankle and then resumed sparring, seemingly fine. His handlers outside the ring let out a deep sigh of relief. Barker, making his first appearance stateside in 23 fights, faces Sergio Martinez on Saturday in Atlantic City for Martinez’s WBC Diamond middleweight title. It's by far the biggest fight of Barker’s career.
Tony Sims, the trainer and manager of Darren Barker, was highly critical of Sergio Martinez, taking shots at his quality of opposition and pointing out his lack of experience at middleweight. Martinez and Barker will meet in the main event on HBO on Saturday in Atlantic City for Martinez's WBC Diamond middleweight title.
Joey Gamache, the eternally youthful-looking, former lightweight champion, will be in Andy Lee’s corner on Saturday, assisting Emanuel Steward, when he faces Brian Vera in Atlantic City in their rematch on HBO. Gamache, who used to work full-time for Steward at his Kronk gym in Detroit before moving back to New York, believes Lee will avenge the only loss of his career against Vera and get a step closer to a title shot in the middleweight division.
Pawel Wolak couldn’t stop smiling during a recent press conference. Sitting at the far end of the dais, dressed in a snappy charcoal suit, Wolak was a secondary performer during the press conference in Manhattan to hype the rematch between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito. But he was there, posing with the fighters, as much a part of the promotion as they were.
Robert Garcia believes that Victor Ortiz, a fighter he used to train, mentally unraveled in his fight with Floyd Mayweather last Saturday, exhibiting “mental weakness” that he displayed in the amateurs and early in his professional career. Garcia also believes that Ortiz was happy when the fight was over, as evidenced by a smiling Ortiz, after he got sucker punched legally by Mayweather at the end of the fourth round.