Yanez; Ali and Russell turned pro..now Javier Molina

[NYboxing]

February 20 at American Airlines Center (Source Dallas Observer).

[rmz]

Do you know what weight class he is fighting in?

[NYboxing]

Yanez plans to fights at 112 pounds, and signed with Mendelson Entertainment that covers his first 15 pro fights. (source Dallas Morning News). He also dubbed himself, "The Latin Legend", and below is a link to his website - enjoy!

http://www.thelatinlegend.com/

[rmz]

Yanez plans to fights at 112 pounds, and signed with Mendelson Entertainment that covers his first 15 pro fights. (source Dallas Morning News). He also dubbed himself, "The Latin Legend", and below is a link to his website - enjoy!

http://www.thelatinlegend.com/

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed watching Yanez as an amateur, hopefully he puts the right effort into his pro career and goes far.

[NYboxing]

Gary Russell Jr. will make his debut on the untelevised portion of Friday's Showtimes' "Shobox against Antonio Reyes (3-2).

Sadam Ali will make his debut on Saturday's untelevised undercard of Berto-Collazo.

[rmz]

So it appears Sadam will be making his debut against Ricky Thompson. I think Sadam will make a decent pro, I just think his chin is a little questionable, I've seen him get dropped several times in the amateurs including at the Olympics. Best of luck to all these guys, I'll be following closely.

[Gary Digital Williams]

Actually, Russell's bout will open the televised portion of the Shobox card tonight.

[Kolya]

Damn, Gary looked really good. Heck of a right hook.

[rmz]

Gary had a pretty exciting pro debut. But I think he might have been a little too cocky, he'll probably have to tone that down.

I never get why fighters insist on putting their lead hand down at their waist? Is there any benefit? Maybe you lure the guy into throwing a punch because your chin is open and counter, but wait until you get in with a puncher who will blow your head off if you leave your chin exposed. Gary had his lead hand down at his knee at times.

Credit to Reyes for getting up in the second round after the first knockdown, most guys would have quit.

And for goodness sakes, would someone please get these boxers to pull down their trunks! Russell had his trunks at his chest, his body was completely covered, what a joke.

[DCAmateurBoxing]

Gary had a pretty exciting pro debut. But I think he might have been a little too cocky, he'll probably have to tone that down.

That won't happen. He's just confident and excited to show everyone what he already knew - he can fight. This is a lot of peoples first exposure to him.

I never get why fighters insist on putting their lead hand down at their waist? Is there any benefit? Maybe you lure the guy into throwing a punch because your chin is open and counter, but wait until you get in with a puncher who will blow your head off if you leave your chin exposed. Gary had his lead hand down at his knee at times.

I agree with you, but I think the logic is that it lures opponents in, but I would rather our boxers keep their damn hands up too.

Credit to Reyes for getting up in the second round after the first knockdown, most guys would have quit.

I don't think he was in the right mind to make that decision. His dad should have quit for him, especially since he'd been stopped in his last two. Most "fighters" are going to tell you that they are ok when asked - even if they can barely get the words out. They don't know any other answer. It's like your wife asking you "Do I look fat in this dress?"

And for goodness sakes, would someone please get these boxers to pull down their trunks! Russell had his trunks at his chest, his body was completely covered, what a joke.

He tried to several times. If you go back and look at the fight, he even came out trying to pull them down and Smoker said "Don't worry about your trunks.[ Leave 'em alone]"

I can also say that Lil G will need to jab a lot more. I think it will set up that great cross and hook for him. Overall, he did what he needed to do - gave the fans some excitement - didn't rush or look sloppy - and has a lot of people waiting to see him again.

I saw Mosquera in his corner too. Not sure where Herb Martin was.

Hopefully, Sadam can keep the streak going too. It was funny when they mentioned the stat of Olympians debut in the pros. . .91-0 now. So, maybe it's not a matter of if he wins, but just how.

[Kolya]

I don't think he was in the right mind to make that decision. His dad should have quit for him, especially since he'd been stopped in his last two. Most "fighters" are going to tell you that they are ok when asked - even if they can barely get the words out. They don't know any other answer. It's like your wife asking you "Do I look fat in this dress?"

Hahahahahahahhahahahaha.

[Dennis]

Gary only had one hand down. Collazo had both hands around his waist just tempting Berto to do something. Berto, fast hands and all, could not take advantage of Collazo when he had his hands down. That was a very close bout. BTW - having your hands down is a bad idea, all you have to do is ask Nate Campbell.

[rmz]

Anyone happen to know where I might be able to find some film of Sadam's pro debut?

[rmz]

Does anyone know how Luis looked in his pro debut? It appears he won a MD.

[DCAmateurBoxing]

Does anyone know how Luis looked in his pro debut? It appears he won a MD.

I just caught the last round on Fox Southwest. He didn't look good. I think he wasn't matched up with the typical debut opponent and he seemed to be over anxious. He just has a lot to work on IMO.

I like Yanez, but that's what I saw. From the commentators, it sounds like the 4th round was the same as the first three. One commentator had it 3-1 for Yanez, so they thought he lost a round.

[ringsidemike]

I was there.. for fight reports you can check out:
http://www.northtexasboxing.com/ &
http://www.northtexasfisticuffs.com/

The fight was changed from the announced 6 rounder, to 4 rounds, I do not know why.
Yanez came in at 115.5 lbs, eating a sandwich and drinking bottled water at the weighin before getting on the scale. His opponent came in heavy and had to re-weighin later to make 115.75 lbs. I am not sure why Yanez is fighting so heavy, other than to accomodate the level of opponent they were seeking..

Yanez looked still very amateurish. Neither guy threw jabs, and Yanez was swinging very wide.
He showboated some and there was animosity between the camps.

Valdez wasn't a bumm, his two losses are very respectable, coming to Sammy DiPace, and Qaid Muhammed, even scoring a KD vs Qaid.

The southpaw vs. orthodox stances had an effect as they never got into much of a flow. Yanez actually looked to be the more seasoned fighter, handling the fouls and awkward tieups better than his opponent. Valdez was able to land straight counter shots but Yanez did most of the work and controlled the action.

Yanez won either 4-0 or 3-1, but a 2-2 draw would have been a very extreme undeserved decision, IMO.

"PrimeTime" Deion Sanders was at ringside along with a few boxing notables from the Dallas scene. Paulie Ayala did the color commentating for FoxSportsSW.

Crowd was quite small, maybe 1500 or so in American Airlines Center looked bad. I had heard 900 presold tix. Scalpers were having a rough time, I talked to a few. Crowd did boo quite a bit at the conclusion of the bout. Not sure if it was because of Yanez performance, the fact that the fight was over so quickly, or what. Yanez and his team blamed Valdez during the press conference for "not coming to fight" and "wanting to just survive the distance versus an Olympian" to explain the lacluster performance.

Only 5 bouts on the card, so wasn't exactly a great all-around show. Yanez' gymmate Hector Beltran looked good in an 8 round shutout. He had a game opponent and the knockdown came with a punch landing on his off-balanced opponent. Lara-Valdez was fight of the night, as both traded toe to toe for an exciting contest. Both seemed out of shape and atleast one weightclass too heavy, but the result was entertaining for the crowd. Lara is well-seasoned with some pop, could make some noise in the state if he trains consistently and fights on a regular basis.

[region 8]

how did sadam ali look in his pro debut

[rmz]

Thanks for recaps DC and Ringsidemike.

[NYboxing]

Goossen inks Olympian Molina!

Promoter Dan Goossen has inked 2008 United States Olympian junior welterweight Javier Molina to an exclusive promotional contract with his company, Goossen Tutor Promotions, that begins with Molina’s professional debut on March 27th at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE. The 19-year-old Molina joins Olympic teammate Shawn Estrada on the Goossen Tutor roster, which also includes 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward. Headlining the March 27 card is former WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter against Eddie Chambers. (source f----news)