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International Boxing News (Arizona, US)
Arizona Boxing News & Notes With Don Smith
Barrera & Vargas: Food City Grocery and Tecate Beer have joined forces to bring Former boxing champs Marco " Baby Faced Assassin" Barrera and Fernando"El Feroz" Vargas to the Food City Store located at 9020 W. Thomas Road in Phoenix on June 7, 2013 fro a meet and greet event commencing at 6 p.m. and concluding at 9 p.m. Both fighters will be signing autographs and admission and parking is free.
Super Bantamweight Barrera ranks #43 on ESPN's 50 Greatest Boxers of all time. The "Assassin" never backed down from anyone and his star studded list of legendary foes include Juan Marquez, Johnny Tapia, Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales. The 39 year old Mexican pugilist, winner of several world titles in 3 different weight classes, fought last year and told Boxing Scene .Com in March of this year, he will continue his illustrious ring career. So far,his professional resume includes 67 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw with 44 knockouts. . It is a career that every young fighter can only dream of having. Kudos to Antonio.
Vargas last fought in 2007 and despite rumors of a planned comeback, most astute ring observers think the former "Aztec Warrior" will never enter the ring again as a serious pugilist. 6 years is a long time to be away from such a competitive and physical sport. Vargas is a two time world champion, who won a bronze medal as an amateur in the 1991 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata. The colorful light middleweight compiled a ring record of 26 wins-5 lossesincluding 22 wins via knockout. If you go, arrive early and good luck. Please don't challenge either guy after chugging a few glasses or bottles of Tecate.
Free Speech: Arizona Boxing Coach Juan Martin Valera received some flak over his direct OP-ED remarks,distributed recently through social media venues, reflecting his view of the current status of Arizona Boxing and the over use of the term "prospect" in describing the state's new crop of young Turks. In his piece, Juan challenged the alleged "prospects" to stop fighting tomato cans (my interpretation) and take on ring worthy opponents with comparable records and skills. I defend his right of free speech and anyone who wants to silence his voice is wrong headed. Open dialogue is always healthy.
Boxing Jolts: 123 lb Phoenix amateur Edgar Brito has recovered from his hand injury that caused him to take a respite from boxing. Brito called and reported his recent comeback fight in Tucson ended in victory!.......California heavyweight amateur Sione Taya, from Tonga, fought two or three times in Phoenix in preparing for a potential professional career and then seemed to vanish into thin air. I talked to him twice and he seemed excited to accept the pro challenge,but, I suspect there are issues with his management. Too bad; the big fellow can punch......Someone mailed a picture to me depicting a boxing trophy that their teenager had allegedly won at the 2012 Arizona Golden Gloves Tournament last year (in
Phoenix) to illustrate a painful error that irked the parents of a winning participant. The winner's name plate was blank.There was no name attached to the complaint, so my response to the victim is please contact USA Boxing Arizona and share your unfortunate experience. According to the letter, the parents asked Arizona Golden Glove officials to fix the problem, but it still remains, Good Luck....Locals Mario Esparza and Luis Oliveras are inked for fights in Arizona and California. Oliveras (3-0) , signed with Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent, is scheduled for 4 rounds on June 14 in Santa Ynez at the Intimate Chumash Casino. Opponent to be determined.... Esparza (Fan Base Promotions) has been patiently waiting for his professional debut and he will get that chance on July 20 at the Celebrity Theatre on the Iron Boy 8 Card. In the meantime, the two fighters are sparring each other in preparation of their respective bouts. Luis is a few pounds heavier but Mario is fiesty....Cruiserweight Eddie Martinez Jr. has recovered from a back injury that altered his boxing plans, therefore manager/ trainer Tom Garcia is hoping to squeeze his protege onto the Iron Boy 8 card. Nothing official,yet! Tickets for the show are on sale at the Celebrity Box Office or through Ticket Master...... Siam Fight Productions presents Jr. Muay Thai Grand Prix Finale on Saturday, June 8 at the Tempe Center For The Arts. For ticket info call 480-350-2829. Event is available on GFL Live.