Nutmeg State Fighters

[CONN CHRIS]

Off to the fights - see you there folks.

[CONN CHRIS]

Good card and well worth the cost and effort to get there.

The Tarver - Mariqi fight was better than expected and ended with a great round 12. I had 115-113 Tarver.

Kevin Johnson needs a lot of pollishing but he has a great jab; reminded me of a lesser Holmes at times. His opponent Ron Guerrero (19-14-3) really earned some respect; A plodding slugger but tough as nails and he worked hard the whole fight. I would pay to see him fight any time.

Dawson looked good but his opponent was no great shakes, I look forward to him getting some better competition.

Both Bey brothers won but Cortez doesn't look all that good in my opinion. Brother Mickey looked better but he was fighting a 1-1 opponent whose robe said "Boxer" on the back.

I'll let the others who write better say more - fun night for the Connecticut crew.

[Thunder]

Yes, a good time was had by all . . . . except for the fact that were a couple of undisputed loudmouths near us . . . which ultimately didn't have a huge effect on me as Chris and I squatted in front row seats through much of the undercard and into the start of the Dawson fight.
(No air time for us though, I've already checked)

Guy behind us was classic, 50ish guy who was sterotypical trailer park trash to the T . . . on the way out he and his wife must have been staggering in opposite directions . .that's the only thing I could think of, they were pushing against each other and that's what kept them upright!

Good fights, good times!

(Dawson beats Tarver)

[Romultiltus]

I agree guys. This was a good night of fights at the Connecticut Convention Center.

We all got there early, expecting long un-organized lines in outside the lobby of the Convention Center (like last time) just to get through the metal-detectors, but outside of the little electronic billboard out front, you would not have know there was a fight card scheduled. Also not present were the familiar signs reading "Firearms Are Not Allowed," but I'm sure that this was due to the black-tie Red Cross Fundraising Banquet being held upstairs.

While Chris and Will squatted in the $500.00 seats for a few undercard bouts, I got the chance to hear from our drunk buddy in the row behind us babble on and on. He kept mentioning that he ran into big George Foreman in the Las Vegas Hilton gift shop and badgered him about taking a dive against Ali in Zaire. Needless to say, George was not happy. Also, I'm sure that this guy now has the record for consecutively yelling "Sit Down!!!" which he did throughout the entire Tarver/Muriqui fight.

As for the fights, all were pretty entertaining. Both Bey brothers won against handpicked "opponents" - including the guy with "Boxer" on the back of his robe.

After getting soundly beaten in her first bout, local Hartford native Adelita Irizzary stopped warm-body (TBD) opponent Tiffany Lucas in 35 seconds.

Norwalk, CT native Shakha Moore entered his bout against Jason Bouvouoso riding a bad 0-5-1 streak. We saw his last loss also in the CT Convention Center against "Pito" Cardona. Anyways, he's back on the winning track after Bouvouoso took a shot to the body in Round 3, turned away from Moore in the corner, said something to the ref and proceeded to puke over the ropes. Moore wisely did not pounce on him and just waited for the ref to call the fight. Impressive TKO3 by vomit.

I agree that HW Kevin Johnson has a great left jab, but that will only take him so far. When bulled into the ropes by rugged opponent Ron Guerrero, he just covered up and did nothing. It appeared his entire fight plan was to allow Guerrero advance on him, take a step back and then pepper him with left jab combos.

"Bad" Chad Dawson was impressive against Jesus Ruiz who was ranked #15 by the WBC and was a good soft first defense opponent. There was good action throughout the fight on both sides until Chad hurt him badly with good kidney/liver shots. After that his offense stopped and it was just a matter of time before Chad finished him off.

As for Tarver / Muriqui, the first thing I have to say is that who knew there were so many Albanians in Connecticut. As with most European fighters with cult-like following, they all travelled to Hartford with the red Albanian national flags. This was a really good fight which Tarver should have won easily, but either due to age or declining skills, Tarver let Muriqi hang around. Muriqi pressed most of the action and had a good body attack. Tarver fought very well in spurts and seemed to be on the edge of knocking Muriqi out several times, but couldn't finish the job. Muriqi definitely had his moments - and the Albanians went wild. Round 12 was a great finish with both guys throwing punches the entire 3 minutes - and I think could be a candidate for Round-Of-The-Year. I would like to see them fight again but it will never happen.

As for a possible Tarver/Dawson fight, I'm on the Dawson bandwagon - not just because I'm a New Haven homer.

[Thunder]

Originally Posted by Romultiltus

Norwalk, CT native Shakha Moore entered his bout against Jason Bouvouoso riding a bad 0-5-1 streak. We saw his last loss also in the CT Convention Center against "Pito" Cardona. Anyways, he's back on the winning track after Bouvouoso took a shot to the body in Round 3, turned away from Moore in the corner, said something to the ref and proceeded to puke over the ropes. Moore wisely did not pounce on him and just waited for the ref to call the fight. Impressive TKO3 by vomit.

I heard from my media buds Monday that the reason the guy puked was that he inhaled his mouthpiece on that body shot. It seemed like a pretty ouragous claim to me, but I guess it's possible if it's too small. I guess he sucked wind on that shot, the mouthpiece nearly went down his throat, it touched off the gag reflex and voila, technicolor yawn.

[Thunder]

Huge number of cards coming up in CT, but I think I'm going to be 0/4 attending . . no real interest in the first two and though I'll be in southeast CT July 7, I'll be occupied (but scrambling to find somewhere with HBO as that's the same night as Vladdy KO4 Brewster).


HBO Boxing After Dark
Saturday, June 16 2007
Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut
Lovemore Ndou vs. Paul Malignaggi (IBF Junior Welterweight Championship)

ESPN2 Wednesday Night Fights
Wednesday, June 20 2007
Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut
Peter Manfredo, Jr. vs. David Banks (super middleweights)

Saturday, July 7 2007
Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Conneticut
Vic Darchinyan vs. Nonito Donaire (IBF Flyweight Championship)

Saturday, July 7 2007
Harbour Yard Arena, Bridgeport, CT
Travis Simms vs. Joachim Alcine (WBA Light Middleweight Championship)

[mh2365]

All good cards ... I wish KY put on as good of shows at CT did

[Thunder]

In the late 90s, the casino had many outstanding cards, then it fizzled a bit. But live boxing is enjoying a resurgence here.

From 95-98, Shane Moseley fought here four times and he wasn't alone.

95: Toney, Nunn, Harding, Camacho sr, and two outings for MA Barrera.

96: Mosley, Ivan Robinson, Micky Ward, Michael Grant, Tracy Harris Patterson, Robbie Peden.

97: The peak with 19 cards in the state. Toney, Harding, Zahir Raheem, Zab Judah and Buster Douglas all at least two bouts in CT during the year. Patterson, Pernel Whitaker, Fernado Vargus, Chris Byrd, Mosely, Vasily Jirov, Mike McCallum (v. Toney) and Raul Marquez also made stops here. Roy Jones avenged his DQ loss to Mentel Griffin with KO1 in CT, too.

98: RJJ, Mosely, Marquez and Judah were back and even PBF was here. Heavys: Lennox Lewis-Mavrovic, Lou Savares-Buster Douglas, Corrie Sanders-Bobby Czyz (ok a reach). An up and coming Joe Mesi and an aged JC Superstar, were here, too.

There have been some good ones since (like Gatti-Ward I in '02), but for a few years there, things were pretty spectacular.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by Thunder

95: Toney, Nunn, Harding, Camacho sr, and two outings for MA Barrera.

I saw Nunn-Scully; very entertaining bout even though Scully was a bit out gunned.

[Thunder]

Nice, it may have been on TV . . .If it's the fight I think it was, then I saw it on the tube.
"Ice Man" Scully obviously fought here a lot, but I'm not sure how much impact he would have had on my list!

[CONN CHRIS]

It was at Foxwoods - Scully was a tough cookie, fun to watch.

[Romultiltus]

Just found this posted on boxrec.com

Hebron's own Tony Grano back in action. Also looks like Mike-Mike is on the card facing the always dangerous "TBD"


Connecticut Expo Center, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Date: Friday, 29th June, 2007 Promoter: Final ForumHeavyweight

HW - Tony Grano v Jed Phipps 8

SBW - Mike Oliver v (TBD)

JWW - Julio Cardenas v (TBD)

LW - Chika Nakamura v (TBD)

HW - Peter Currin v (TBD)

LHW - Derrick Whitley v (TBD)

[Thunder]

Wow, that came out of nowhere!! I am in!!!

We can probably get great seats a bit cheaper than last week, too.

[Thunder]

Promoter's website at finalforumboxing.com lists tix at $100, $60, $30. Of course, how you get them is still a mystery to me. But if you want the press release preview and how to get tickets from a fight that took place over a year ago, they can take care of you!

More clowns.

[Romultiltus]

Originally Posted by Thunder

Wow, that came out of nowhere!! I am in!!!

We can probably get great seats a bit cheaper than last week, too.

Actually, at the Convention Center fights the other night, Grano walked by Chris and I (don't remember where you were at the time) and Chris asked him when his next fight was. Grano did say that it was June 29 at the Expo Center but didn't say much else. The only other thing Chris asked was if he still lived in Hebron. He said that he now lives in Queens.

I'm just surprised to see so many "TBD" opponents listed this close to the date of the card.

[Thunder]

Actually, after my post, I sorta remembered that conversation, I guess I just forgot it was so close.

My pick is Mike-Mike W10 TBD

[Romultiltus]

Tickets for the 07-07-07 card at the Harbour Yard Arena in Bridgeport went on sale this morning:

According to the website the tickets are:

35.00
50.00
100.00
200.00
350.00

Awfully steep. I'll need to run down there to see the seating charts. The website shows all configurations for upcoming events except for the boxing.

As for me, if I go, I'd probably prefer tickets in elevated seats far away as opposed to the ridiculously expensive floor seats where you can't see anything when everyone stands up.

Oh, did I mention that it's a Don King sponsored event?

[Romultiltus]

Here's the fancy poster for the upcoming card at the Hartford Expo Center

[Thunder]

Originally Posted by Romultiltus

Tickets for the 07-07-07 card at the Harbour Yard Arena in Bridgeport went on sale this morning:

A few posts back, I had this:
Saturday, July 7 2007
Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Conneticut
Vic Darchinyan vs. Nonito Donaire (IBF Flyweight Championship)

Saturday, July 7 2007
Harbour Yard Arena, Bridgeport, CT
Travis Simms vs. Joachim Alcine (WBA Light Middleweight Championship)


But both bouts are in Bridgeport. I can't make it.

[Thunder]

Originally Posted by Romultiltus

Here's the fancy poster for the upcoming card at the Hartford Expo Center

Gotta love it . . The poster says go to finalforumboxing for more info . .

. .when you go there, there's a pic of the same poster, saying go to finalforumboxing for more info!!