Lubin vs Gallimore, Easter Jr vs Granados Press Conference

By Chris Mealey

On Saturday, October 26th, Showtime Boxing returns with a double header at the Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania. It's a rarity to have bigger boxing events here at the Red Dot City, which is mostly known for producing fighters such as former world champion, Kermit Cintron and heavyweight contender, Travis Kauffman. That rare fight streak appears to be turning around, as Premier Boxing Champions and promotional teams have brought two higher caliber match-ups with the bouts between Robert Easter Jr. and Adrian Granados, and Erickson Lubin and Nathaniel Gallimore. These two fights headline what is safely going to be a dynamic night of boxing. Here, before the official weigh-ins, is the final press conference where the fighters speak their thoughts before meeting in the square circle.

Co-main event: Robert Easter Jr. vs. Adrian Granados

Robert Easter, Jr: "It feels good to be back. I'm training hard and looking to put on a great performance. Granados is a hell of a fighter and I'm sure he is training hard too. He is definitely coming to fight. This fight is going to be action packed and I'm bringing fireworks."

Adrian Granados: "I'm excited to be back. It's going to be a great fight, and our styles match up well and yeah, there will be fireworks. I'm here to reestablish myself at 140."

Co-main event: Nathaniel Gallimore vs. Erickson Lubin

Nathaniel Gallimore: "I've been training, so this isn't a late replacement fight. I knew this opportunity  would one day present itself to me and I know this is the right time, so stay tuned."

Erickson Lubin: "It doesn't matter who comes in the ring, because I'll be ready. My plan isn't just to take over the 154 division, but to take over boxing."

Showtime Boxing Q&A

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[Abbreviated index]

Showtime Question - (Q)

Robert Easter Jr. - (REJ) 

Adrian Granados - (AG)

Nathaniel Gallimore - (NG)

Erickson Lubin - (EL)

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Q: To Robert - Why the move to 140? Why leave 135?

REJ: It was time. Making 135 was cutting a lot of muscle and I'm getting older.

Q:  To Adrian - Coming back down to 140, you stated this is the perfect fight and the perfect weight. Why is that?

AG: I made my statement in boxing at 140 and ever since, I never had the opportunity to achieve my goals at that wieght, as I was given offers nobody could turn down at 147, against some of the best boxers in the world. I always wanted to be a champ at 140.

Q: To Robert - Will the power be there at 140?

REJ: Of course. Shout out to my strength and conditioning coach. We've been working on building a lot of strength.

Q: To Adrian - Having trained in the same camp as Easter in the past, does any of that help your prepare for this fight?

AG: I'm not going off that, because that was over 5-6 years ago. We are probably different fighters today.

Q: To Robert, same question?

REJ: Not exactly. Fighters fight other fighters differently, so I'm not going off that.

Q: To Adrian - Based off your last bout, how important is it to win this fight against Easter? 

AG: Yes, I am coming off the worst performance of my boxing career. A lot of people don't know what was going on in that camp. I definitely don't want to make excuses, but I was not 100%. It's OK if people want to write me off. I like that. My back is against the wall here and I'm gonna come out swinging 

[Gallimore - Lubin Questions]

Q: To Gallimore - What should Erickson Lubin be expecting from you on Saturday?

NG: He should be expecting everything. I'm not a one dimensional fighter. They can watch all the footage they want, but I'm going to bring a legendary performance.

Q: To Lubin - How does the sudden change of opponent effect this fight and why do you feel this is a better fight?

EL: Gallimore comes to fight. He is a harder puncher and takes more risks, but we are prepared for him, or anyone who steps in the ring. Come Saturday, it's Hammer-time.

NG: It doesn't matter what he brings to the table. I have an answer. Get your food early, because you don't want to miss this.

EL: Like I said.  I'm here to take over boxing. He's just another stepping stone and he's in the way. I'm going to crush him.

//End of Q&A//

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Tensions were building up as Lubin and Gallimore faced off, as this final press conference came to a close. The stare down was adamant and strenuous to break up, with the trash talking elevating. The boxing fans, the Showtime viewers around the globe, and the Red Dot City of Reading, Pennsylvania are in for a real thrasher this Saturday night, on top of experiencing an event that could bring even more appealing fights to town down the road.

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John DiSanto of the 11th Annual Briscoe Awards Interview Part I

John DiSanto of Philly Boxing History.com and the Briscoe Awards recently sat down with Matt Ward to discuss the 11th Annual Briscoe Awards. The Briscoe Awards is an annual award ceremony that honors the best of Philadelphia boxing from the previous year. "The Briscoe Awards are named in honor of legendary Philly middleweight Bennie Briscoe and the trophies given away – the Briscoe Statue and the Briscoe Medal – all bear the deceased icon’s likeness.  The event brings together the local boxing community, including the award winners, their families, past and present boxers, fight fans, other boxing people, and general sports fans."

Check out their first of two Bonus Round interviews on both SoundCloud and iTunes:

Bonus Round - John DiSanto of the 11th Annual Briscoe Awards Part I on SoundCloud

Bonus Round - John DiSanto of the 11th Annual Briscoe Awards Part I on iTunes

This year's award ceremony will take place at the Veteran Boxers Association-Ring 1 Clubhouse at 2733 E. Clearfield St. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tickets to this event are $20.

For more information on the Briscoe Awards, please visit the official website or contact John DiSanto at 609-377-6413 for tickets and more information on how to support this great event!

MW

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King's Promotions Presents Live Professional Boxing - Tuesday, February 13th (Bethlehem, PA)

Marshall Kauffman's King's Promotions returned to the Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania last night with an eight fight card. The highlight of the evening for many boxing fans in attendance was an appearance by former boxing adversaries turned friends, Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney. The two men, along with Reading, Pennsylvania heavyweight, Travis Kauffman, were called into the ring by announcer Alex Barbosa during the show's brief intermission.

The main event of the evening featured an eight round, welterweight bout between Maryland's Mykal Fox (16-0, 4 KOs) and the Dominican Republic's Ricardo Garcia (14-2, 9 KOs). The opening round set the tone for the battle of styles in the contest. Garcia looking to brawl with the lengthy and quick, Fox, landed several big shot on his opponent. Fox effectively moved around the ring avoiding Garcia's power shots, and scored points on clean punches that lacked power. Garcia's left eye began to swell up in the third round, and did not improve over the course of the remaining rounds. Fox took advantage of this impairment to Garcia's vision by landing several punches to the left side of his head. Garcia clearly frustrated with the swelling, went on the attack in the final seconds of the third round. The onslaught ended with the sound of the bell. In the fifth round, Garcia pinned Fox up against the ropes, and landed a series of punches, including a big right hook to the head, that caught Fox's attention. Fox being the more crafty fighter, managed to escape his opponent, and avoid a potential knockdown. In the seventh round, Fox again took advantage of Garcia's swollen left eye by hitting him with a big right hook to the head on his "blind side". This punch sent Garcia to the canvas. Despite recovering from the knockdown, the wind had clearly been taken out of Garcia's sails by this point. The judges ringside scored the bout 77-74 and 78-73 twice, for the winner by unanimous decision, Mykal Fox.

The co-feature bout of the evening featured former world champion, Kermit Cintron (39-6-3, 30 KOs), and Marquis Taylor (8-1). From the opening bell, this super welterweight fight had all the makings of what could be considered a dirty fight. Houston's Taylor looking to even the field against the veteran Cintron landed a number of rabbit punches on the former IBF World Welterweight Champion. Referee Eric Dali warned Taylor once about the rabbit punches in the first round, but Taylor continued to hit Cintron in the back of the head after the one and only warning. Taylor hit Cintron with a low blow in the second round that briefly stopped the action. By the third round, Cintron clearly frustrated by the lack of warnings for illegal blows, was wrapped up with Houston near the center of the ring. Before the referee could break the two men up, Taylor hit Cintron above the right eye with what was later determined to be an accidental headbutt. The action ended as a no contest at the 35 second mark of the third round, of a scheduled eight round contest.

Heavyweights, Colby Madison (6-0-1, 4 KOs) and Dante Selby (2-4-1) fought in a six round bout. Madison landed the one and only punch in the first round on his southpaw opponent from Philadelphia. The product of Owings Mills, Maryland looked to pick up the pace in the fight by going on the offensive at the beginning of the second round when he threw a series of wild punches that didn't find their mark. The remainder of the bout was uneventful with the two big men hanging all over one another until the closing bell rang. The judges scored the bout 60-54 and 59-55 twice, in favor of Colby Madison.

The matchmaker(s) for the featherweight battle between Malik Lofton (1-1, 1 KO) Martino Jules (3-0) should be commended. This fight was extremely close and competitive from the opening round until the bell marking the end of the fourth round rang. In the first round, both fighters exchanged big shots. Jules scored a knockdown on Lofton in the second round when he connected on a straight left to his opponent's head. Lofton rose from the canvas, and landed a straight left to Jules' face that busted open his nose. The two men continued to slug it out as blood ran down Jules' face. The third round was highlighted by hard punches and exchanges. Both men were looking for the big knockout during this round. In the fourth and final round, Lofton hit Jules with a big right hand to the face, that appeared to hurt his opponent. Unfortunately for Lofton, he was not able to capitalize on this attack. The judges scored the bout 39-38 and 38-37 twice, in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Martino Jules.

Florida's Sergio Aguilar (2-7, 2 KOs) faced the hometown fan favorite, Juan Sanchez (5-0, 2 KOs) in a four round, featherweight contest. To the delight of the crowd, Sanchez went to work early on his opponent. In the first round, he scored a knockdown with a left-right combo to Aguilar's head. He followed this knockdown up with a series of unopposed hard left hooks to Aguilar's body as the first round ended. In the second round, it appeared that Aguilar slipped on the canvas, however, referee Gary Rosato ruled it a knockdown. To quiet any doubters in the audience and reassure his opponent of his power, Sanchez sent Aguilar to the canvas with a multi-punch combo later in the second round. Aguilar pulled himself up from the canvas only to be taunted by Sanchez, who danced around the hurt fighter with his hands behind his back. The third round began with a hard exchange between the two fighters in a neutral corner. Aguilar demonstrated his resilience in this round by refusing to be knocked down again. Sanchez threw everything at Aguilar but the kitchen sink in the fourth round. His aggression paid off at the 2:55 mark of the fourth and final round when Sanchez was able to knockout Aguilar with a vicious multi-punch combo.

Asbury Park, New Jersey's Darryl Bunting (3-3-2, 1 KO) stepped into the ring against tough
super middleweight, Blake Mansfield (6-1-1, 4 KOs), hoping to keep his career record above .500. Unfortunately for the Jersey Shore fighter, Blake Mansfield had other plans for him. In the opening round, Bunting was immediately put on the defensive. A barrage of punches late in the round sent Bunting stumbling into his corner. To make matters worse, as the second round began, a cut appeared next to Bunting's right eye. Mansfield pounded Bunting with brutal hooks to the head throughout the second round. Bunting attempted to rally late in the second round, and landed a series of big hooks to Mansfield's body. Mansfield returned to the role of aggressor in the third round, when he hurt Bunting with a right upper cut to the jaw. Bunting managed to hold his own for a bulk of the fourth round, until Mansfield connected on a right hand to his jaw late in the round. This punch sent Bunting staggering, dazed into his corner. By this point, Mansfield and his corner smelt blood in the water. He viciously attacked Bunting in the opening seconds of the round with a series of different punches to the head and body. Referee Eric Dali saw enough at the 36 second mark of the fifth round of a scheduled six round fight.

New York's Michael Coffie (2-0, 1 KO) stepped into the blue corner last night with a clear size advantage over Jersey City's Nicoy Clarke (0-1). In the first round of the heavyweight contest, Coffie landed a series of big hooks and upper cuts that kept his opponent covered up. Towards the end of the round, Clarke caught the confident Coffie with an overhand left to the head that appeared to hurt the big man. As the second round kicked off, Coffie crushed Clarke with upper cuts to the head and body. This caused Clarke, who was making his pro debut, to fight extra cautious in fear of his opponent's power. By the end of the second round, blood was streaming out of Clarke's nose. Clarke attempted to pick up some momentum in the third round only to run into Coffie upper cuts that pushed the heavyweight back. As the third round progressed, Clarke tried to taunt Coffie. These taunts were punished with crushing hooks. In the fourth and final round, Clarke's toughness was proven as he absorbed vicious Coffie shots to the head and body. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Michael Coffie.

The opening bout of the evening featured a four round, light heavyweight match between Kendall Cannida (1-0) and Leroy Jones (2-2, 2 KOs). Cannida, who was making his professional debut, let his hands go in the first round. He hit Jones with several big straight left hands in the opening frame. He hurt Jones in the second round with a multi-punch combo to the head and body. In the fourth round, it was evident that Cannida was looking for the knockout. He unloaded a series of punches on Jones in the opening minute of the round, and ended the bout swinging wildly at his opponent. All three ringside judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Kendall Cannida.

MW

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King's Promotions Presents Live Professional Boxing at the Sands Bethlehem Events Center

King's Promotions returns to the Sands Bethlehem Event Center on Tuesday, February 13th. This nine fight card is co-headlined by a super lightweight bout between Mykal Fox (15-0, 4 KOs) and Ricardo Garcia (14-1, 9 KOs), as well as a welterweight contest between Kermit Cintron (39-6-3, 30 KOs) and Marquis Taylor (8-1).

Mykal Fox, a southpaw fighter, most recently captured the vacant Universal Boxing Federation (UBF) All America Welterweight Title with a unanimous decision victory over Manuel Alejandro Reyes on November 21st at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center. His opponent, Ricardo Garcia, suffered the first loss of his career on the same card in November, a majority decision defeat to Victor Vazquez.

Former world champion, Kermit Cintron, looks to get back to his winning ways tomorrow night against Houston's Marquis Taylor. Cintron is coming off of a knockout defeat to Philadelphia's Tyrone Brunson last June, a fight that was voted the 2017 Philly Fight of the Year by the Briscoe Awards. Taylor is coming off of five straight victories since losing by unanimous decision to the talented southpaw, lightweight, Ladarius Miller, in 2015.

The card also features the following bouts:

Joe Hanks (22-2, 14 KOs) vs. Nick Guivas (14-9-2, 9 KOs) - eight rounds, heavyweights

Colby Madison (5-0-1, 4 KOs) vs. Dante Selby (2-3-1) - six rounds, heavyweights

Blake Mansfield (5-1-1, 3 KOs) vs. Darryl Bunting (3-2-2, 1 KO) - six rounds, middleweights

Chaise Nelson (6-1, 3 KOs) vs. Vincent Jennings (5-4-1, ) - six rounds, featherweights

Michael Polite Coffie (1-0, 1 KO) vs. Nicoy Clarke (DEBUT) - four rounds, heavyweights

Martino Jules (2-0) vs. Malik Loften (1-0, 1 KO) - four rounds, featherweights

Juan Sanchez (4-0, 1 KO) vs. Sergio Aguilar (2-6, 2 KOs) - four rounds, featherweights

***The bout scheduled between Frank DeAlba (22-2-2, 9 KOs) and Carlos Padilla (16-6-1, 10 KOs) was cancelled because DeAlba suffered a cut in training.

Tickets for this night of live boxing can be purchased on the Sands Bethlehem Event Center website.

MW

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Travis Kauffman vs. Amir Mansour - Friday, March 17th (Reading, PA)

On Friday, March 17th, I had the opportunity to cover the Travis Kauffman vs. Amir Mansour boxing card from the Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

The card opened with a four round super featherweight bout between local fan favorite Matt Quirindongo (1-0-0) and Wilmington’s Weusi Johnson (2-3-0). Johnson was knocked down in the second round after Quirindongo landed a left hook to the head. Johnson recovered from the knock down and fought until the final bell rang. Quirindongo won his professional debut by unanimous decision with the judges scoring the bout 40-35, 40-35, and 39-36.

The second bout of the evening featured Pennsylvania super lightweights Jesus Perez (2-0-0, 1 KO) and Titos Matthew Gosalves (0-1-0). Gosalves recovered from a second round knockdown to finish the fight. All three judges scored the four round bout 39-36 in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Jesus Perez.

Reading’s Kashon Hutchinson (2-2-0, 1 KO) and Darius Ervin (4-1-0) of Los Angeles fought in a four round, super lightweight bout. Ervin won the bout via majority decision, with the judgers scoring the contest 38-38, 39-37, and 39-37. 

The fourth bout featured Erik Spring (9-1-2, 1 KO) of Reading and Jeremiah Wiggins (10-6-1, 5 KOs) of Newport News, Virginia. Wiggins was deducted a point in the fourth round after spitting out his mouthpiece multiple times. The six round, junior middleweight bout went to the judges’ scorecards, with all three judges scoring the contest in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Erik Spring. (60-53, 60-53, and 59-54). 

Super featherweights Chris Colbert (6-0-0, 2 KOs) of Brooklyn and Wilfredo Garriga (3-5-1, 2 KOs) of Puerto Rico squared off in a six round contest. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Colbert. 

In his return to the ring, cruiserweight Steve Cunningham (29-8-1, 13 KOs) defeated Mexico’s Felipe Romero (19-12-1, 13 KOs) via unanimous decision in a six round bout. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of the U.S. Navy veteran and former IBF World Cruiserweight champion. 

In the seventh bout, Brooklyn’s Chordale Booker (6-0-0, 3 KOs) squared off against Richmond’s Moshea Aleem (4-1-1, 2 KOs) in a six round, super welterweight contest. The judges scored the bout 58-56, 59-55, and 59-55 in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Chordale Booker. 

 In the eight bout of the evening, former champion Kermit Cintron faced David Grayton in a welterweight bout. In the fifth round of a scheduled ten round bout, Grayton knocked Cintron down with right hand to the head. Cintron recovered from the knock down, only to be knocked down again seconds later from an accidental headbutt. The ringside physician determined that Cintron was unable to continue, and the decision went to the judges’ scorecards. One judge had the bout scored 49-46 in favor of Cintron, while the other two judges had the bout scored a draw, 47-47. The bout ended in a majority draw. 

The main event featured heavyweights Travis Kauffman (31-2-0, 23 KOs) and Amir Mansour (23-2-1, 16 KOs). In the second round, Mansour, the 44 year old, was hurt by Kauffman. Mansour battled back throughout the middle rounds, and landed a right hook in the eighth round that rattled Kauffman. In the twelfth and final round, both fighters viciously exchanged punches.  Although both fighters appeared exhausted, they remained on their feet until the final bell. Veteran judge Steve Weisfeld scored the bout a draw, 114-114. The other two judges scored the bout 117-111 and 115-113, both in favor of Mansour. 

After the main event, there was one more four round bout between middleweights Nick Valliere (5-2-0, 2 KOs) of Forked River, New Jersey and Nicholas Hernandez (6-2-0, 1 KO) of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Hernandez recovered from a second round knockdown to win the contest by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 38-37.

Following the conclusion of this evening's card, Austin Trout, who was providing commentary for the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) broadcast on Bounce TV, spoke to members of the media. Trout answered questions about the evening's PBC card, opponents, and Gennady Golovkin (GGG) vs. Daniel Jacobs from Madison Square Garden.

Below are links to the Bonus Round interview with Austin "No Doubt" Trout:

Austin Trout Speaks to Members of the Media Following Kauffman vs. Mansour on SoundCloud

Austin Trout Speaks to Members of the Media Following Kauffman vs. Mansour on iTunes

MW