Sports
Related: About this forumBoxing (9-1-12)
Sept. 1
At Verona, N.Y. (HBO): Gennady Golovkin vs. Grzegorz Proksa, 12 rounds, for Golovkin's WBA "regular" middleweight title; Sergiy Dzinziruk vs. Jonathan Gonzalez, 12 rounds, junior middleweights; Bryan Abraham vs. Jorge Maysonet Jr., 6 or 8 rounds, junior welterweights; Tony Luis vs. Andres Ledesma, 6 rounds, junior welterweights; Cleven Ishe vs. Taureano Johnson, 8 rounds, super middleweights; Richard Starnino vs. Shawn Miller, 6 rounds, light heavyweights; Borngood Washington vs. Ryon McKenzie, 6 rounds, light heavyweights; Rayshawn Myers vs. Bryan Clookey, 4 rounds, cruiserweights
Professional boxing returns to the Turning Stone Casino in upstate New York on Saturday. The Oneida people who run the casino were able to reach an agreement with Albany on taxes, which opened the way for more of the high-quality cards that take place about a half-hours drive from the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
My younger son and I will be there at ringside, in the second row. The last card we saw there featured Shannon Briggs, and was televised on ESPN. Saturdays co-feature and main event will be on HBOs Boxing After Dark (BAD), and are definitely worth watching. Each of the fighters in the co-feature have the potential to be top contenders, and the pair in the main event are looking at earning a shot at the world title.
My son and I are going to be scouting the fellows in the first bout. D is likely to turn pro later in the year, if we can find a good opponent for him to make his debut in. He can make cruiserweight easily; however, some of the smaller heavyweights these days tend to be overweight cruiserweights, who are both slower and in less-than-good shape. D can fight strong and fast at 212 lbs -- small by todays standards, but the same size as Sonny Liston or Muhammad Ali. He works hard in the gym, and puts in the miles of roadwork necessary to be able to fight at a very fast pace, round after round. Add to that his explosive punching power, and his love of delivering numerous very hard body shots, and I think we might have upstate New Yorks next local drawing card.
Light heavyweight Shawn Miller, from the Albany area, is an exciting fighter, too. Weve watched him a few times. His father, Bob, is widely recognized as the best cut man in the business today. When Showtime features cards from Canada, Bob is virtually always in one of the two corners. He promoted a young Mike Tysons first string of fights. ( In the 1970s, he co-managed an undefeated fighter who eventually became ranked in two weight classes; I trained/managed my brother who, in his second pro fight, put the first loss on Clydes record. Though Clyde pissed and moaned about the decision -- 4 rounds to 0 on all three judges cards -- Bob is a class act, and said my brother clearly won.) Also, Shawns older brother Shannon was a good journeyman heavyweight.
Enjoy the fights!

Kingofalldems
(39,397 posts)H2O Man
(76,154 posts)they certainly seem to be. They have developed a strong amateur program over the past few decades, and it is translating well in the professional ranks. I think it's great that a growing number of them have been coming to the US for fights.
H2O Man
(76,154 posts)D is bring his trunks, robe, etc, just in case there is a need for a last-minute sub.