Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Carl Froch is Supremely Confident
Carl Froch is a confident guy and he's telling anybody that will listen that he will beat Jermain Taylor on April 25th. He will even draw you a picture.
Undefeated WBC super middleweight titlist Carl “The Cobra” Froch and Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor along with their respective promoters and others associated with the bout, spoke during an international conference call Tuesday afternoon about their upcoming title fight on April 25th at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods.
The fight will be televised by Showtime and what became clear right away is that Froch, with a record of 24-0 (19KO), is a supremely confident fighter who has such a manner about him that there doesn’t seem to be one iota of self doubt in his mind that he will prove victorious over former middleweight champion Taylor, 28-2-1 (17KO).
Froch spoke clearly and confidently during the call and said it was of no consequence to him whatsoever as to where the fight took place after there was some back and forth between the two camps over the venue and whether the fight should have taken place in Froch’s native England - or whether the United States was the better selection.
Ultimately, Taylor’s promoter Lou DiBella said the fight made more financial sense to be in the United States as more money was available through American television than what would have been the case had the fight been in England. Froch said he took DiBella “at your word” that he was telling the truth regarding the fact that more money was available with the fight being in the States.
Jermain Taylor is training hard and says he will be a champion again once he takes the title from England's Carl Froch.
But Froch wanted it known that it didn’t matter to him where the fight happens. He went into detail about the many places he has fought during his amateur and professional careers including an April 2005 appearance at The Avalon in Hollywood, California in which he scored an eighth round stoppage over Henry Porras.
Froch said that, “I am the larger man and the stronger man,” in regards to how he matched up with Taylor. Froch took a shot at Taylor when he said Jermain “got tired” and “took a lot of punches against Kelly Pavlik” to whom Taylor has lost twice against and was knocked out when he fought him the first time.
Froch also pointed out - and accurately so - that Taylor hadn’t “knocked out an opponent in four years” so he found it somewhat surprising that Taylor was predicting a knockout against him.
When I asked Froch how he would describe his own fighting style he said that he could basically implement any style he needed to at any given time. But he characterized himself as “rangy” and “powerful” and said that he got hit more than he should have in his win against Jean Pascal to win the title but that was simply because he was so excited to fight for the WBC belt.
Froch said he won’t settle on any one style ahead of the fight but will instead be like “Bruce Lee” and “lay 100 hurts” on Taylor. Froch claimed he’s going to wait and see what the former middleweight champ can bring to the table when the two meet in the ring face-to-face and then go from there.
Froch seems to have a method to his madness and he claims that on April 25th he will put it all together to notch another win.
For his part, Taylor was not much for words and he sounded in a somewhat surly mood. Asked to introduce himself to the international group of reporters and say a few words, Taylor said he was “ready to fight” and “that’s about all I have to say.”
However, Taylor did open up later on and he said that he has been watching tapes of Froch and he called him “slow” and felt as though he won’t have much of a time finding his chin. Taylor said he “didn’t even know who Carl Froch was” up until recently and that when people asked him who he was fighting next he was “embarrassed” to say it was Carl Froch. Taylor said that Froch’s opposition “was not strong” and that he barely recognized any of the names on his record.
Once Taylor got a little warmed up, he seemed to lose patience with Froch dominating the call and then claimed the only reason Froch is even part of his plans is because Froch holds the WBC title belt. The Little Rock, Arkansas native said that any other fight - unless it is for one of the title belts - “is just another fight” and as far as he was concerned “didn’t mean nothing.”
Both men promised to bring their best and both claimed they were going to beat the other.
The odds on the fight just went up last night on several on-line sportsbooks and at this point Taylor is the ever so slight favorite to win. That fact came as somewhat of a surprise to Froch who claimed that his undefeated record should mean something and that he was not coming all the way from Nottingham to lose and that he would be taking his championship belt “back to England.”
March 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
A Capiznon Blogger
A Capiznon Blogger
April 1 Conficker virus
All infected computers will come under the control of a master computer located somewhere across the web,as expected i assume all slave computer will become denial of service attack pawns, steal personal information, wipe your data drives, malware pop-ups and anything is possible. This is what is called a Botnet, in which computers are controlled remotely to spread the virus ,launch spam e-mail or even attack and shut down websites.
Microsoft has even posted a $250,000 reward for the capture of the virus author, but up to now they failed to catch that person.Initially once infected, the worm soft penetrated into the code of a computer and blocks security updates which could remove it and when activated.
Some noble ideas to make fun of this one is to have an patch that will force the clock to jump from March 31st to April 2nd, and then when the computer reads April 3rd, It will reset to the normal date “April 2nd”! But i think the author was clever enough that he would have had it launch for any day after April 1st.
So will just wait and see and what happen next..
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Solar cellphone charger
A little soldering is all it takes to make this cool little emergency cell phone charger.
Please note, you'll also be cutting the wire on the cell phone charger, so make sure it's not the only one you have! You can often find cheap chargers at stores -- it doesn't matter if it's AC or car compatible, since you'll only be using the end that plugs in your phone.
MATERIALS:
- 1 Altoids Tin case
- 2 Mini Solar Panels (3V 20mA each)
- 1 Solder (3")
- 1 Small Heat Shrink Tubing (4")
- 1 Large Heat Shrink Tubing (4")
- 1 Double Sided Tape (3")
- 1oz Flux
- 1 Solder Iron
- 1 Heat Gun
- 1 Wire Stripper
- 1 cell phone charger
STEP 1: Cut wires & tubing
Take the 2 solar power panels and cut all four wires to about 1" in length. Cut 1/4" of plastic off of the tip of each wire with the wire stripper so copper wires are exposed. This exposed wire is called a 'lead.' Cut the small heat shrink tubing into four equal pieces (1" each). Slide the small heat shrink tubing onto both black wires.
STEP 2: Solder solar panel leads
Using a toothpick, paint leads with flux on a red wire from one solar panel, and a black wire from the other solar panel. Put those two leads together, and solder using your piece of solder and the soldering iron.
STEP 3: Heat-shrink tubing
Slide small heat shrink tubing over the leads you just soldered together. Heat the tubing with heat gun just enough for it to shrink.
STEP 4: Cut phone charger wire
Cut off the wire from your old charger to about 2.5 feet and strip off 2.5" of outer plastic from the loose end. Cut 1/4" off of each of the inside wires to make leads. Slide the full length of the large heat shrink tubing onto this main wire for later use in Step 6.
STEP 5: Flux, solder and heat-shrink loose leads
On your main wire, slide a piece of small heat shrink tubing onto the red wire. Flux all loose leads of main wire as well as the solar panels with the toothpick. Solder red leads from main wire and solar panels together. Repeat with black wires. Slide heat shrink tubings over these soldered leads and use heat gun to shrink.
STEP 6: Test charger
Test the charger by connecting it to a phone under bright light.
STEP 7: Heat-shrink solar panel leads
On your main wire, slide large heat shrink tubing over the two soldered leads which connect to the solar panels. Use the heat gun to shrink the tubing.
STEP 8: Tape and close
On the back of the solar panels, cover the two brass rivets with double-sided tape (so they don't make contact with the Altoids tin.) Tape the two solar panels on the inside lid of the tin. Tuck the main wire into the case and close. Go somewhere sunny (Florida is nice) and charge it up!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Points to consider while writing articles
- Articles should be original and information rich.
- Articles should be keyword rich but not excessive to the point of keyword stuffing.
- The average length of articles should be between 500 and 700.
- Give a unique title to your article with main keyword into it so as to make it easy for web crawlers to identify and classify the topic of your article.
- Giving subheadings, bullets and numberings to articles make it presentable and easy to read for potential customers.
From: The Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009
Points to consider while writing articles
- Articles should be original and information rich.
- Articles should be keyword rich but not excessive to the point of keyword stuffing.
- The average length of articles should be between 500 and 700.
- Give a unique title to your article with main keyword into it so as to make it easy for web crawlers to identify and classify the topic of your article.
- Giving subheadings, bullets and numberings to articles make it presentable and easy to read for potential customers.
From: The Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Capiz Cultural and Social Life
Capiz Cultural and Social Life
The Chosen One Chooses His Father's Path
Thomas "The Hit Man" Hearns and his son Ronald pictured near the pool at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
On September 22, 1999 a determined 20 year-old young man named Ronald Dodson walked into a courthouse in Detroit, Michigan. When he walked out, his last name was legally changed to Hearns. It was one of the first steps of the journey in this life he has chosen for himself.
He was born in 1978 in Detroit, only a couple weeks before his father would knockout Clyde Gray, a tough as nails Canadian welterweight contender. His father was not yet known as the “The Hitman” or “The Motor City Cobra.
Despite the fact that Ronald was mostly raised by his mother, who had the last name Dodson, he would later always want it known that he was the son of a legend.
“I just wanted to have the same last name as my father,” says the now 30 year old Hearns, who is known as "The Chosen One."
“I used to always get asked, 'Why don't you guys have the same last name?' when I was a kid, and that would get to me sometimes. So I decided to change my name, to bear the same name as my Dad.”
His father never wanted him to fight. Never wanted to see his son in the gym lacing up the big gloves. He never wanted to see the pain, the cuts, the bruises or the blood stream down his son’s face as it had his own. A generation ago, the father faced the Leonards, the Durans and the Haglers so that his son would never have to climb the steps and slink his own way through the ropes.
But try as he might, Thomas Hearns couldn’t keep his son Ronald from being drawn into this morass of a sport they call the “hurt business.”
Hearns has racked up 21 straight wins since turning pro back in 2004.
His father had to scold his adolescent son away from the basement of the famed Kronk Gym in Detroit. Had to threaten him not to box and he would tell him that he shed his own blood so that he would never have to. Like any father, he always wanted more for his son and he figured the way to get more was through education and maybe basketball which was certainly a kinder and gentler way to compete. He would go so far as to have his son locked out of the Kronk. But when Dad was away, there he would be.
The father eventually shipped his son off to Washington, D.C. to get an education and to get him away from the Kronk and away from the tall, dark shadow that the father cast over his son’s every day life. His father was and still is a legend in Detroit.
Ronald would attend American University in Washington, would graduate with a degree in criminal justice and he would successfully play shooting guard for the Eagles. But the minute his four years in D.C. came to an end and he made his way back to Detroit he was nagging his famous father, pulling on his coattails and asking again if it would be O.K. if he took up boxing.
He’s tall like his Dad, has the same baleful eyes and the thin, rangy, muscular body. If you didn’t know better, when you see him in the dressing room after one of his fights adorned in his robe and trunks you’d think you were in the Joe Louis Arena in 1980 or at Caesars Palace in 1981. His soft-spoken nature and polite manner make you forget that in less than five years as a prizefighter he has run his pro record to 21-0 with 17 knockouts.
Hearns stopped Paul Clavette in six rounds when the pair met in Montreal, Quebec back in October.
He likes to tell the story of when he decided he wanted to become a fighter, like his Dad.
“I can remember seeing boxing on television for the very first time,” he told me after he had just knocked out Alexander Quiroz in Manchester, New Hampshire in less time than it takes to boil an egg. “Something just came alive inside of me, like a feeling that I can’t describe.”
He put his hand to his chest and rubbed it in a circular motion as he told the story. His long, spindly fingers and small wrists hid the fact that he just knocked out Quiroz with an electric right hand shot that looked exactly like the one his Dad landed against Pipino Cuevas 28 years earlier. Quiroz, a clubfighter from Colombia, crumpled to the canvas as though he were shocked.
“I know who my father is and so does everybody else,” explains Ronald. “But I do want my own identity and I’ve been waiting for this to happen all of my life. I truly feel that fighting is my destiny and I’m going to fulfill that destiny. Boxing is something that is obviously in my blood.”
With his famous father always helping to guide him and trained by his Uncle Billy Hearns (Tommy’s brother) and long time family friend Henry Hill, there have been very few mis-steps since Ronald turned pro in 2004. The father-son dynamic is interesting to watch and the nerves that his father displays when his son fights are worse than when he himself was facing off against a murderer’s row of some of the best fighters that have ever lived.
Can you see the resemblance? Father and son or brothers? Hearns and Hearns are extremely close and Tommy never misses one of Ronald's fights.
“When he’s up there in the ring, I can barely stand it,” said Tommy just before the fight against Quiroz began. I asked Hearns to talk to me about his son’s progression, but he claimed he couldn’t talk then because his nerves were getting the best of him.
During the two minutes and ten seconds it took for Ronald to dispatch Quiroz, Tommy never sat down and he rigidly stood next to his son’s corner. He had the appearance of a father watching through the fence at his child on a playground. It wasn’t until after the fight was over and Ronald was out of harms’ way could Hearns relax and a wide smile would break across his 50 year-old face.
“He’s my son and I’m proud of him and I love him,” said the elder Hearns. “Do I wish he never started to box? Yeah. But now that he’s here and he’s doing it then I’m going to do everything that I can to help him because that’s what a father is supposed to do.”
Fighting at 154 pounds, Hearns is knocking on the door of a top-10 ranking. On Saturday night in Miami, Oklahoma he’ll face an undefeated fighter by the name of Harry Joe Yorgey. Should he get by Yorgey the competition will be stepped up and a title shot could be in the offing by the end of this year.
Although he had only ten amateur fights, Hearns did win the 2004 AAU middleweight title and he feels what he lacks in experience will be made up for with hard work and by implementing the many tips that his father is able to share with him. He has fought less than 70 rounds as a pro but his father often gets into the ring and spars with him. With Billy, also a former fighter, supervising the training the younger Hearns feels he has all of the necessary components in place to soon win a world title.
“What I need is a little more time, Henry says maybe one or two more fights” says Hearns. “Then I truly feel I’ll be ready for any one of these guys that hold a belt. I want the opportunity to prove to the people that think I’m only here because of my Dad that I really have what it takes.”
March 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Sam Peter the Underdog Against "Fast" Eddie
Samuel Peter returns to the ring Friday night in hopes of getting back in line for another shot at a heavyweight title belt.
Promoter Dan Goossen is calling this weekend's ESPN2 Friday Night Fights heavyweight showdown between Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter and “Fast” Eddie Chambers a “crossroads fight” that will leave the loser on the outside looking in.
While that may or not be the case, the fighter with the most to lose would appear to be Samuel Peter who is attempting to resurrect his career after losing the WBC heavyweight title to Vitali Klitschko back in October.
The loss to Vitali was a humiliating one as Peter essentially blew every round on the scorecards and surrendered the belt with barely a whimper while sitting on his stool. It was the second time Peter had gone up against one of the Klitschko brothers and had fallen short, having also lost to Wladimir in 2005.
The 28 year-old, also known as “Big Sam” has been known to put on weight between fights, but he claims he’s trim and ready to go for Friday’s clash at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. While he didn’t reveal exactly what he weighs, Peter says the recent training under the watchful eye of longtime coach “Pops” Anderson is all but done and that he’s in shape.
“I don’t know what I weigh,” said a relaxed Peter when the topic was broached late Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t worry about the scales, about what the numbers say. I just know that I’m not done yet and that I need to get where I need to go and win back my belt.”
In a somewhat surprising development, Peter, 30-2 (23KO) is the betting underdog against the slick Chambers, 33-1 (18KO) who hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Most pundits and oddsmakers are predicting that Chambers will outbox Peter and take the decision.
Chambers will likely be 30 to 40 pounds lighter than Peter and he will attempt to use his quicker hands and deft movement to outbox the lumbering, former champ who routinely tips the scales somewhere between 250 and 260 pounds.
But Peter ignores what the oddsmakers say and claims he will use his strength and punching power to take care of business on Friday night.
“This is boxing and what am I going to say about all of that?” said a somewhat amused Peter about the betting odds.
“The most important thing for me to think about is winning and I don’t pay attention to all the other things…what people say about me. I come to win and you will see and the people will see. It’s important for me and I’m going to show you. The most important thing for me is to get my belt back and I have to beat him to do that. I will beat him...I’m going to answer all your questions and all the people’s questions about me. I will show the people what I can do.”
March 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Fernando Montiel Says He Wants Vic Darchinyan
Montiel (right) was at his awesome best when he knocked out Martin Castillo at the MGM Grand in defense of his WBO super flyweight title.
You won’t find Fernando Montiel’s name on any of the world pound-for-pound rankings, but it should probably be there. He’s only lost two fights in thirteen years and both of those were by way of close decisions.
The Mexican standout is a former flyweight and two-time super flyweight world titlist with a career record of 38-2 -1 (28)KO and he’s made 12 successful defenses of those title belts.
Montiel is fighting on Bob Arum’s “Tijuana Thunder” pay-per view card Saturday night from the Plaza de Toros Monumental in Tijuana, Mexico. He’ll face an unknown in Argentina’s Diego Oscar Silva (the # 3 ranked contender) for the interim WBO Bantamweight title and Montiel is heavily favored to win.
He’s as confident as any fighter you will ever talk to and he says he’s ready to meet Silva, even though he’s never seen him fight before.
“I don’t know anything about this guy I’m fighting on Saturday night, not a thing. But I know myself and I know I can fight and I will do what I have to do,” said Montiel through a translator on Tuesday afternoon.
“This fight this weekend is very important to me because this will be my fourth world title in three different weight divisions. So when I win this fight on Saturday night it will put me up there with the other great fighters in Mexican history like Chavez, Morales and Barrera,” said the 30 year-old Montiel.
Vic Darchinyan currently holds three of the four belts at 115 pounds. Montiel wants to take him on should Darchinyan decide to travel north to the Bantamweight division.
“A lot of people talk about me fighting Vic Darchinyan, but first I’ve got to get by this guy this weekend,” said the man also known as “Cochulito” who is very happy with the way his body feels with his recent move up to the 118-pound weight class.
Darchinyan is of course ranked in the top-10 of most pound-for-pound rankings as he holds wins over several well known names at 112 and 115 pounds and he is the current undisputed champ at 115.
“Bob Arum has mentioned to me that there might be a possibility that we could get a fight with Vic Darchinyan after I win on Saturday," says a hopeful Montiel. "So I want to tell you something, I just want to win and then after that I just want to be wherever Darchinyan is. Do you understand what I’m saying? After this, I want Vic Darchinyan and I will go where he is to get him.”
March 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110 (often erroneously called Me110)) was a twin-engine heavy fighter (Zerstörer - German for "Destroyer") in the service of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten, or "Ironsides".
Armament
The Bf 110's main strength was its ability to accept some extreme weaponry. Early versions had four MG 17 machine guns in the upper nose and two 20 mm MG FF/M cannons fitted in the lower part of the nose. Later versions replaced the MG FF/M with the more powerful 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons and many G-series aircraft, especially those who served in the bomber-destroyer role, had two 30 mm MK 108 cannons fitted instead of the MG 17. The defensive armament consisted of a single, flexible mounted MG 15 machine gun. Late F-series and prototype G-series were upgraded to a 7.92 mm MG 81 machine gun with a higher rate of fire and the G-series was equipped with the twin-version MG 81Z. Many G-series night fighters were retrofitted or factory-built with the Schräge Musik off-bore gun system for shooting down bombers while passing underneath, frequently equipped with two MG FF/M, but field installations of the MG 151/20 or MK 108 cannons were also utilized. The Schräge Musik cannons were typically mounted to the back of the rear cockpit.
The Bf 110G-2/R1 was also capable of accepting armament such as the Bordkanone series BK 37 cannon. A single hit from this weapon was could destroy any Allied bomber.
The fighter-bomber versions could carry up to 2,000 kg of bombs depending on the type.
Bayani Agbayani Nagwala?
Just to increase traffic on my site i have posted the links..hit starts at 115,500 hits..let us see how many hits i would get from this link..
Hear it yourself...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htvinoXMRQo
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Blogwalking Not Working at All
I realize that in this Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 contest at the moment is very hard. Can you imagine, I have blogwalked in more than hundreds dofollow blogs and leave my Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 link in each of its comment form, but the result is nothing. As you can see at the Inter-School SEO Contest leader board, Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 blog is still stucked nowhere. Although I am still new in this contest, but I think that’s very bad results. Besides spreading my Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 link into those kinds of dofollow blogs, I have been also helped by all of my closest friends by putting my Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 link into their blogroll and some of their articles. But in fact, it seems that there is no backlink behind. Based on that reason, I really feel that my SEO skill, especially on this Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 contest is still too far from my competitor. Well honestly speaking, I still consider myself as newbie when it comes to SEO. However, considering that this contest is still have more than 2 weeks left, I will not give up. I will start to practice my SEO knowledge in the next few days and see what will happen on the next. If there is still any a little hope, I will keep my Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 running, otherwise I will say quit if there’s still nothing happen. Let’s make a change on this Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 contest.
Blogwalking Not Working at All
I realize that in this Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 contest at the moment is very hard. Can you imagine, I have blogwalked in more than hundreds dofollow blogs and leave my Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 link in each of its comment form, but the result is nothing. As you can see at the Inter-School SEO Contest leader board, Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 blog is still stucked nowhere. Although I am still new in this contest, but I think that’s very bad results. Besides spreading my Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 link into those kinds of dofollow blogs, I have been also helped by all of my closest friends by putting my Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 link into their blogroll and some of their articles. But in fact, it seems that there is no backlink behind. Based on that reason, I really feel that my SEO skill, especially on this Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 contest is still too far from my competitor. Well honestly speaking, I still consider myself as newbie when it comes to SEO. However, considering that this contest is still have more than 2 weeks left, I will not give up. I will start to practice my SEO knowledge in the next few days and see what will happen on the next. If there is still any a little hope, I will keep my Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 running, otherwise I will say quit if there’s still nothing happen. Let’s make a change on this Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 contest.
Speed Up Firefox
Every time your browser requests a page or image from anywhere, that data is stored in your browser history for a default of 90 days—for most of us that translates to an enormous amount of data stored in the internal history database. The Mac Tips and Tricks weblog has a quick and very useful tip to make Firefox load more quickly—just visit Preferences -> Privacy -> History and turn the dial down to a more reasonable 5-10 days. You'll need to clear your history or restart Firefox after you make this change, but in my testing the startup speed improved significantly.
If you want to keep your entire computer clean instead, you can set reader favorite CCleaner to run silently with a keyboard shortcut, or set it up to run on a schedule for hassle-free system cleaning—just make sure to include Firefox in your CCleaner profile.Source: Lifehacker.com
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Arts of the Capiznon
Arts of the Capiznon
Omar Sheika’s Journey on the Road of Life
Omar Sheika will step through the ropes tomorrow night versus Roy Jones, Jr. in the role of challenger against the hometown favorite. But one thing is for certain, Omar Sheika is used to playing the familiar character, and like the song goes - “That’s just the way it is, and some things will never change.”
Sheika has made a career out of fighting on the road and unfortunately he hasn’t found the road to be a very accommodating place. The 32 year-old of Palestinian descent hails from the mean streets of Paterson, New Jersey and during the course of his 12 year professional career he’s only fought in his hometown once.
During the years that Sheika has been punching for pay and living the life of a prizefighter he’s managed to amass a career record of 27-8 (18KO), but the story behind the numbers is that six of those losses have come in the backyard of his opposition.
There was Tony Booth in England, Joe Calzaghe in Wales, Eric Lucas in Montreal, Scott Pemberton (twice) in Connecticut and Markus Beyer in Germany. So as he readies to face-off against Roy Jones, Jr. tomorrow night in Jones’ hometown of Pensacola, Florida inside what will be the unfriendly confines of the Pensacola Civic Center, it doesn’t seem to faze Sheika much.
“This is way better than fighting overseas - that’s for sure,” chuckles Sheika. “I don’t have to go across the pond. It’s here in the U.S., in Florida, so I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully there will be some Pensacola fans who will be backing me up after the fight, too.”
Sheika says that his plan against Jones will be to use his strength, aggressiveness and punching power to upset the betting favorite in front of his hometown fans.
“What I’m going to do is put him in the position where he will have to fight me,” says Sheika of Jones. “Especially with the fight being here in his hometown, I’m sure he also wants to put up a good fight. I’m sure his fans don’t want to see him running around and going in circles. Boxing fans don’t want to see that, they want to see a fight, that’s what they’re looking forward to and that’s what I’m going to make it.”
Sheika and Jones met face-to-face at the Pensacola press conference to announce their upcoming fight.
At one time, Sheika was one of the hottest young prospects in the sport. He used to dazzle national television audiences during the late 1990s’s on the now defunct USA Tuesday Night Fights series. Fighting back then as a super middleweight, he possessed blinding handspeed and electric punching power and he used that natural ability to score highlight reel knockouts. He became a fan favorite while frequently appearing on the marquee at Philadelphia’s famed Blue Horizon. After only three years as a pro he boasted an impressive record of 20-1 (13)KO. In June of 2000 he would narrowly defeat Glen Johnson at the Blue and for all intents and purposes he looked like a sure-fire future world champion.
After the win over Johnson, in what was probably his career highlight, Sheika would literally run head-long into Joe Calzaghe in August 2000 in a fiery scrap for the Welshman’s WBO super middleweight title. The fight was competitive, but it would be stopped on a cut caused by head clashes and after five rounds Sheika’s night would come to an end with him the loser on the scorecards.
Over the next five years, Sheika would fight three times for various 168-pound title belts, but each time he would come up short in dropping unanimous decisions to Eric Lucas, Jeff Lacy and Markus Beyer. The fight against Lacy was closer than the scorecards would lead one to believe and in the fight against Beyer, Sheika suffered a broken right hand.
In his losing effort against Beyer, Sheika suffered a bad break - literally -when he broke his right hand.
But in looking back over Sheika‘s career, it can be said that he was never the same fighter after the loss to Calzaghe. Since that fight his record reads a very mediocre 7-6 (5)KO. He had two fight of the year type wars against Scott “The Sandman” Pemberton in 2003 and 2004, but he came up on the losing end both times in fights that were brutal in their ferocity and intensity.
What would have been his prime years as a fighter went by quickly and in the past 3 ½ years Sheika has fought only once - a fourth round stoppage win over clubfighter Tiwon Taylor in September 2007. It was another fight in which Sheika would break his right hand. He didn’t fight at all in 2006 or 2008, but he says he is eager to face Jones, Jr. who is coming off a one-sided, beat down loss at the hands of - who else? Joe Calzaghe.
So with the fight against Jones only a day away, Sheika sees his chance for some degree of redemption.
“This fight means everything to me,” said Sheika, who has aged over the years and looks much older and heavier than he did when he was a young contender with matinee idol good looks. “To fight a legend like Roy Jones and to be able to go into the ring and hopefully beat him? It really does mean everything to me.”
Certainly a win over Jones, even in his current diminished state, would do wonders to revive what remains of Sheika’s floundering career. If nothing else, it would represent a symbolic victory for a fighter that never realized what everybody once saw as awesome potential and it would place a big win over a big name on his record.
Sheika has always fought on the road and regardless of the locale, he always comes to fight and give the fans their money's worth.
“I really do have a point to prove,” admits Sheika. “Boxing is now all about who you’re in there with and it’s all about big names. It doesn’t get any bigger than Roy Jones. For me, this is like the original ‘Rocky’ movie and I’m here to do the same thing that Rocky did.”
Sheika is eight years younger than Jones and he saw the same weaknesses in Jones when he fought Calzaghe as the rest of the world did. Sheika feels that his opportunity will come in exposing Jones’ age.
“You know, Roy still has some of the same skills now as he did before,” said Sheika. “But I don’t think he has the same skills to the same level that he did before. So what I’m going to do is use that to my advantage. I just have to fight my fight and get myself into the best shape I can possibly get into. I need to go in there and do what I do best and I’m injury free and healthy, so I believe I can walk away with victory easily.”
For the road weary Sheika, tomorrow night could be his one last chance to somehow make amends for all that has gone wrong over the years. His has been a sporadic career, that in some ways, seemed over just as it was really beginning.
“Opportunities happen and things happen in life,” explains a pragmatic Sheika. “Things happen in life and I really do think that things are meant to be and whatever happens - happens for a reason.”
March 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Kendall Holt: "I Don't Back Down, I Lay Backs Down"
Kendall Holt claims he can't wait to meet up with Timothy Bradley in Montreal on April 4th.
WBO jr. welterweight titlist Kendall “R-Rated” Holt is never short for words and as he prepares for his April 4th unification fight against WBC belt-holder Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley, he isn’t lacking for anecdotes and metaphors.
“Everything’s goin’ real good,” says Holt, a Paterson, New Jersey resident. “I’m gonna’ rain all over the desert. I’m happy this fight is happenin’ and unification is another dream I’m tryin’ to accomplish. Let me tell ya’ - I can’t wait to have that WBC belt wrapped around my waist.”
The 27 year-old Holt, who typically makes for fights that are explosive, interesting and or controversial is eager to lay it all on the line against Bradley in a fight that will take place inside the cavernous Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.
“Tim Bradley will be a real good fight and he’s a real good fighter,” says the fast talking Holt. “He’s gonna’ come at me, he’s gonna’ want to put on the pressure, he’s gonna’ wanna’ come inside. He’s just gonna’ make it a real good fight.”
Holt has been a professional since 2001, has a record of 25-2 (13KO) and is coming off a December split-decision win over Bernard Hopkins’ nephew Demetrius. Holt is of the opinion that once the bell rings, any strategy that he and Bradley have formulated could go straight out the window.
Holt is a man that fought hard to win the WBO title belt and he is enjoying the trappings of fame the title has brought his way.
“When it’s time to fight it really don’t matter about strategy,” Holt said. “Once you get in there and you lettin’ those fists fly and the leather fly, it really doesn’t matter. I expect, no matter how many rounds it go, I expect it to be a tough fight ‘til the end.”
Asked about Bradley, Holt said the press conference that was held in Montreal last month helped shed some light on his opponent’s way of thinking.
“I think Timothy Bradley got a couple things confused in there,” said a somewhat bemused Holt. “He said I have no heart and I hope he doesn’t come into the fight believing that, because if he does believe that, he’s already beaten his self.”
Even though Holt has been a pro for a few years longer than Bradley, has faced a better grade of competition and is arguably a more explosive puncher he is currently the slight betting underdog. But whatever the case, Holt says training is going well and that he’s simply going to do what he does best in the fight that will be the main event of a Showtime Championship Boxing telecast.
“I come to knock everybody out and I expect to knock everybody out," proclaims a confident Holt. “I’ve got a lot of speed, I’ve got a lot of power and I don’t back down, I lay backs down.”
March 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Timothy Bradley in a Fight for Respect
Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley is always in phenomenal physical condition and he will need to be when he meets up with Kendall Holt in Montreal, Quebec.
With his 140-pound title unification fight against WBO belt-holder Kendall Holt only 2 ½ weeks away, WBC titlist Timothy Bradley is beginning to get into a fighting mood.
Always a well-spoken and classy representative of the sport, Bradley says he’s going to make Holt pay for his trash talking ways when the two come face-to-face in Montreal’s Bell Centre on April 4th.
“Kendall Holt is known for trash talking,” says Bradley who has an undefeated record of 23-0 (11)KO. “I’m known as the nice guy, but you know, I’m not going to have him disrespect me and my craft and what I do. I’m a world champion and he needs to respect me just like I respect him. But you know, in this case, that’s not the case.”
Bradley still seemed somewhat irked, but not totally rattled by Holt, who ranted and raved at their press conference in Montreal last month.
“I don’t have nothin’ against trash talking - it’s part of the business,” explains Bradley. “It’s part of gettin’ inside each other’s head and we’ll definitely see come April 4th and you’ve gotta’ come watch. It’s going to be fireworks in the ring and all that trash talking goes out the window and we'll do our trash talking with the fists.”
Bradley, who goes by the nickname “Desert Storm” is now in the heavy phases of his preparations and is already within easy striking distance of the 140 pounds he will have to scale in the big fight against Holt.
When the two belt-holders met up last month in Montreal, Holt (left) did most of the talking.
“I’ve been in training for 11 or 12 weeks already and we’ve got another few to go,” said Bradley. “I still have a lot of time to prepare and I’m ready right now to fight twelve rounds. Sparring and preparation is going well, I’ve been running a lot and I’ve just been very focused.”
While Holt has been busy assaulting him with harsh words outside the ropes, Bradley says he is expecting a similar assault inside the ropes.
“I’m expecting a slugfest. I expect myself to be coming forward and to make the fight happen and I expect Kendall Holt to be trying to counterpunch. In the later rounds I expect a big shot, a big shot over the top where I end the fight.”
March 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Writing Quality Content
Writing Quality Content
Friday, March 13, 2009
Once a Champ, Always a Fighter
Former heavyweight champion Michael Moorer pictured shortly before he retired from the ring.
It's not always easy being the former heavyweight champ of the world. For most of them, the time spent at the top is short. Sometimes it’s a rags to riches and back to rags type of story. When they’re the king of the world, the highs are exhilarating. But when it’s all over, when the title and the money and the friends are gone - things can be bluer than blue and sadder than sad.
Michael Moorer knows all about the highs and he knows all about the lows.
"Double M" had two brief runs as the heavyweight champion of the world in 1994 and again from 1996 to 1997. His two title reigns lasted a total of only 72 weeks, but during that time he went from the highs of upsetting Evander Holyfield to the lows of being knocked out by a 45-year-old semi-retired preacher named George Foreman.
By the time Michael Moorer turned 30-years-old his time holding what was once known as "the greatest prize in all of sports" would be done.
Within a very short span of time, Moorer collected paychecks that had more zeroes than most men will see in a lifetime spent working. He would go from headlining for the high rollers at Caesars Palace and the MGM Grand to grinding out nights against no-name pugs in places where the lights don’t glitter. Places like Burlington, Iowa and Concho, Oklahoma.
There were retirements and un-retirements. There were barroom scuffles. He was charged with assaulting police officers, he had issues with alcohol and there were always rumors of money problems. He’d be knocked out in brutal fashion by David Tua in less time than it takes to blow your nose.
Freddie Roach and Michael Moorer as they appeared back when Moorer was one of the top heavyweights in the world.
His last fight would come 13 months ago, a first-round knockout win against a no-hoper, in of all places, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Michael Moorer won his last six fights, four by knockout. He fought as a pro for exactly 20 years until one day he just stopped. And then he disappeared.
So some who are a little newer to what the great fight writer Hugh McIlvanney calls "The Hardest Game" were questioning who the big man was. Who was the big man in Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym with the towel draped over his thick shoulders? Who was the man with fists that looked like ham-hocks hanging from tree limbs? Who was the man with the size 16 shoes and dark eyes that looked as though they could still stare a hole in any heavyweight?
He simply showed up, practically out of the blue, to the doorstep of one of the most famous boxing gyms in the world. It’s near the corner of Vine St. and Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood, California. He said he wanted something to do. He looks much the same as he ever did. He still has the bald head, the menacing manner and he still has the tendency to be a bit mercurial.
The cramped and stuffy gym, located above a laundromat, next to a Stop & Shop and across the street from a Social Security Administration office is likely not the place the 40-year-old Moorer thought he would find himself 12 long years after he last held a heavyweight title belt. But here he is and he seems happy to be back with his old mentor in Roach and a key part of the big events that are coming up with Roach’s protégés Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao.
The Wild Card Gym is one of the most famous boxing gyms in the world and it has become a beacon in the night to fighters from around the globe.
He didn’t want to tell the story of what brought him here, all the way to California from Florida.
He once had so much money, way back in 1997, that when he trained out here with Roach for the rematch against Holyfield, he rented a Beverly Hills estate to live in at a cost of several thousand dollars per week. The rent was a mere pittance back then - he made $8 million for the fight.
"I just decided to come out here to California," explains the soft-spoken Moorer. "I wanted to come out here and be a part of Freddie’s team to try and further my career in boxing as a trainer. As you know, I’m retired from boxing and I wanted to learn from the master, in Freddie, so to speak."
Many forget that before he won his heavyweight titles he was a murderous puncher at 175-pounds. In 1988, he would become the first man to ever hold the newly created WBO light heavyweight title and over the course of two years he made 9 title defenses. Before he fled to the land of the big men he racked up a record of 21-0,21 KOs and no light heavyweight in the world wanted to step into a ring and face him.
Hall of fame trainer Emanuel Steward, who brought Moorer along as a young pro, still calls him, "The most awesome puncher I think I have seen at 175-pounds. The man could make mountains crumble."
Before he won the title from Holyfield, the young Moorer, who had a penchant for violence and gory movies, once told a reporter, "I want to break a cheekbone, to see what it looks like pushed in."
When he was young and on top of the world, Moorer was in the company of Evander Holyfield and Don King in Las Vegas.
Steward created a monster with Moorer. The young fighter, born in the Bronx, New York but raised in Monessen, Pennsylvania lived in a room in the basement of Steward’s Detroit home.
"I taught him how to shave so as not leave razor bumps on his neck. But in the end we ended up arguing about everything," said Steward, who is known to everybody as an all around good guy. "We argued over all the little things, and in the end it just became too much for us to work together anymore."
After the painful break-up with Steward it would be Georgie Benton, Lou Duva and finally Teddy Atlas that would eventually prod a sometimes passive, sometimes nasty Moorer to win his heavyweight titles. After some of the same problems with Steward reared their head with Atlas, Moorer eventually hooked up for a short stint with Roach.
Now a decade removed from his greatest accomplishments in the ring, Moorer has no illusions about where he finds himself at this point in his life. He has no pretensions and he’s appreciative when people recognize him and ask him how he’s doing. He can be as measured with the comments about his personal life as he was in the ring with Holyfield when he became the first southpaw heavyweight champion in boxing history.
When he was the champ he once complained that people didn’t take the time to get to know him. He would eventually give up trying to make them understand his complex personality. He was hard on the outside, but seemingly fragile on the inside.
Moorer only held the titles he won from Holyfield for a short time - 28 weeks - before he met the ancient but still dangerous George Foreman in 1994 on a cool November night in Las Vegas.
Moorer faced George Foreman in his first title defense and his title reign ended in a huge upset.
Moorer laid a tattooing on Foreman with right jab after right jab and he won every round. But unexpectedly, in the 10th, Foreman connected with what HBO blow-by-blow man Jim Lampley called, "An unbelievably crimson right hand shot."
Moorer dropped to the floor as though he were cut off at the knees with a machete. As he lay there, splayed out on the canvas, an overhead camera zoomed in on Moorer’s face and it showed the blood welling up in the little space between his lips and nose. Meanwhile, Lampley screamed into his microphone from just a few feet away, "It happened! It happened!"
Michael Moorer, only 26-years-old, would be counted out by referee Joe Cortez.
All these years later, Moorer has matured and he is pragmatic about where he finds himself. After some struggles in his personal life, in which his own grandfather sued him for money, Moorer says, "I guess what’s important is that I’m here today and that’s the main thing."
He is acting in the official capacity of what he terms "Freddie’s first assistant." Moorer will be working with all of Roach’s fighters - including fellow southpaw and the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter, Manny Pacquiao - whom he escorted last weekend to a public event with the mayor of Los Angeles.
Along with Roach, Moorer is helping to work the corner of the world's best pound-for-pound fighter - Manny Pacquiao.
"I’m living out here in L.A. now," explains Moorer the understudy. "But I still have a home in Florida and that’s where my children are, where my family is. I plan to be out here for a good while, but I’ll go back and forth between here and Florida to see my family. But the long term is that I’ll be here, at the Wild Card. I’m working with all of the fighters, amateur and pro here at the gym. I’m here to be part of the team, to help Freddie and to point out things that I see that maybe the other guys don’t."
While Manny Pacquiao’s training camp for his May date versus Ricky Hatton is just getting underway, Moorer has been working with the young British sensation, Amir Khan who will fight Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera on Saturday night in Manchester, England.
Moorer is an active participant in the sessions with the fighters in the gym and whether he’s standing inside or outside the ropes, he has the instant respect from the fighters as they know that he has been there and done that.
Some, however, may find it curious that Moorer is training fighters. For it was Moorer who sometimes had to be pried from his Caesars Palace hotel room to come downstairs and train for the first fight against Holyfield. Teddy Atlas had to (on more than one occasion) confront Moorer, almost coming to blows, in order to get him motivated enough to collect his $5 million purse.
On the night they won the title from Holyfield, Teddy Atlas and Moorer were an inseparable and unbeatable tandem.
But all of that, was of course, a long, long time ago.
"That was then and this is now," says Moorer of the old days. "What I can do now, it’s good for the fighters. Because I can stand back and see things they are doing, or not doing, that they aren’t even aware of. That way we can help them correct it and if I happen to notice something a guy is doing wrong we can get him to correct it right then and there and that’s what it’s all about."
While Michael Moorer will likely never be remembered as one of the great heavyweight champions of boxing history, he will always be remembered as a fighter. In the second encounter against Holyfield, he was knocked down five times. At one point during the night, in a bout that saw him unravel slowly, as Moorer struggled to his feet he punched the canvas with his gloved fist. He cursed at himself under his breath and shook his head in disgust at why he kept going down.
But one thing you’ll notice about Michael Moorer is that he got up back then and it seems like he’s on his feet again now. He’s still here.
And like he said, that’s the main thing.
March 2009
Source: Brian in DIY