Tag: Alberto Palmetta

Rashidi Ellis thrilled that his career is back on track

Rashidi Ellis plans to take full advantage of his new opportunity with Premier Boxing Champions.

Rashidi Ellis thought he’d be a world champion by now.

The one time amateur star from a fighting family has elite boxing ability and speed but, even at 29 years old, he hasn’t had opportunities to show what he can do against the top welterweights.

That can be attributed in part to a contract dispute with former promoter Golden Boy, which has kept the brother of Ronald and Rashida Ellis out of the ring for 20 months.

However, now he has a fresh start. He left Golden Boy and in April and joined forces with Premier Boxing Champions, which is loaded with well-known potential opponents at 147 pounds.

Ellis (23-0, 14 KOs) makes his debut for PBC against Argentine Alberto Palmetta on the Mark Magsayo-Rey Vargas card July 9 in San Antonio (Showtime).

“I feel like a kid going to recess. I’ve very excited,” Ellis told Boxing Junkie.

The easygoing fighter from Lynn, Massachusetts, doesn’t dwell in the past because he has business at hand. However, he admitted that his layoff was difficult.

He could only watch as matchups he coveted – including one against unbeaten Golden Boy star Vergil Ortiz – never materialized for reasons that depend on whom you talk to. And he couldn’t leave Golden Boy until his contract expired.

So he did the only thing he could do: wait.

“It was very difficult, very frustrating,” he said. “I just had to stay focused and stay in the gym, get ready for the next one. I was always in the gym. I wouldn’t say it was a waste of time. Time did pass. It sucks. But I gotta look forward.

“This is definitely a fresh start. I finalley get to showcase my talent, to show everyone what they’ve been missing.”

Of course, if things go well against the Palmetta (17-1, 12 KOs), he’d love to jump into a fight with the winner of the anticipated showdown between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford for the undisputed championship.

Ellis is realistic, though. He’ll have to earn his stripes against a few PBC fighters – Jaron Ennis? Eimantas Stanionis? Keith Thurman? Cody Crowley? – before he finally gets a shot at a major championship.

“Hopefully I’ll get that next but I know it don’t work like that,” he said. “Two, three fights after [July 9], next year. You could say that.”

And he has a simple message for those who might wonder whether he can really fight on even terms with the champions and contenders mentioned above. He said confidently: “Just wait and see.”

[lawrence-related id=27558,31228,31221]

Rashidi Ellis thrilled that his career is back on track

Rashidi Ellis plans to take full advantage of his new opportunity with Premier Boxing Champions.

Rashidi Ellis thought he’d be a world champion by now.

The one time amateur star from a fighting family has elite boxing ability and speed but, even at 29 years old, he hasn’t had opportunities to show what he can do against the top welterweights.

That can be attributed in part to a contract dispute with former promoter Golden Boy, which has kept the brother of Ronald and Rashida Ellis out of the ring for 20 months.

However, now he has a fresh start. He left Golden Boy and in April and joined forces with Premier Boxing Champions, which is loaded with well-known potential opponents at 147 pounds.

Ellis (23-0, 14 KOs) makes his debut for PBC against Argentine Alberto Palmetta on the Mark Magsayo-Rey Vargas card July 9 in San Antonio (Showtime).

“I feel like a kid going to recess. I’ve very excited,” Ellis told Boxing Junkie.

The easygoing fighter from Lynn, Massachusetts, doesn’t dwell in the past because he has business at hand. However, he admitted that his layoff was difficult.

He could only watch as matchups he coveted – including one against unbeaten Golden Boy star Vergil Ortiz – never materialized for reasons that depend on whom you talk to. And he couldn’t leave Golden Boy until his contract expired.

So he did the only thing he could do: wait.

“It was very difficult, very frustrating,” he said. “I just had to stay focused and stay in the gym, get ready for the next one. I was always in the gym. I wouldn’t say it was a waste of time. Time did pass. It sucks. But I gotta look forward.

“This is definitely a fresh start. I finalley get to showcase my talent, to show everyone what they’ve been missing.”

Of course, if things go well against the Palmetta (17-1, 12 KOs), he’d love to jump into a fight with the winner of the anticipated showdown between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford for the undisputed championship.

Ellis is realistic, though. He’ll have to earn his stripes against a few PBC fighters – Jaron Ennis? Eimantas Stanionis? Keith Thurman? Cody Crowley? – before he finally gets a shot at a major championship.

“Hopefully I’ll get that next but I know it don’t work like that,” he said. “Two, three fights after [July 9], next year. You could say that.”

And he has a simple message for those who might wonder whether he can really fight on even terms with the champions and contenders mentioned above. He said confidently: “Just wait and see.”

[lawrence-related id=27558,31228,31221]

Alberto Palmetta stops Erik Vega with wild flurry in final round

Alberto Palmetta ended a close fight with a wild flurry in the 10th and final round Friday night in Sloan, Iowa.

Alberto Palmetta evidently didn’t feel it was wise leave his fate in the hands of the judges.

Palmetta and Erik Vega were engaged in a competitive welterweight fight when, in the 10th and final round, Palmetta scored a dramatic technical knockout Friday night in Sloan, Iowa on Showtime.

Palmetta, a 2016 Olympian from Argentina, got off to a quick start and dictated the pace most of the fight. He was the more accurate puncher and seemed to slip many of his Mexican opponent’s best shots.

Vega (16-1, 9 knockouts) came on in the middle rounds, as he stood his ground more than he had been and got busier. The fight was close going into the final rounds.

In the end, Palmetta (13-1, 9 KOs) didn’t know it but he didn’t need a knockout in the 10th to win the fight. He was leading 87-84 on two cards and 86-85 on the third; all he had to do was win the round.

Erik Vega (right) couldn’t withstand an onslaught of punches from Alberto Palmetta in the final round. Greg Mandel / Showtime

However, perhaps the fate of countryman Marcos Escudero in the co-feature entered his mind or that of trainer Charles Mooney, who also worked Escudero’s corner. Escudero seemed to outwork opponent Joe George but lost a split decision.

So when Palmetta stunned Vega to some degree with a short right early in the final round, he followed with unrelenting barrage of largely unanswered punches that forced referee Mark Nelson to stop the fight.

The official time was 1:03 of the round.

With the victory, Palmetta, 29, took a significant step toward becoming a contender. The 24-year-old Vega, a significant prospect going into the fight, will have to work on deficiencies.

In the co-feature, a 10-round light heavyweight bout, Escudero (10-1, 9 KOs) came out firing at the opening bell and never stopped throwing, outlanding George (10-0, 6 KOs) roughly 2-1 in punches. The Argentine routinely forced George against the ropes, where the winner was content to cover up and take punches.

George had his best moments when he had space to work in the middle of the ring but he didn’t have the opportunity often, as Escudero controlled distance for most of the fight. In other words, he imposed his will on George.

That’s why Boxing Junkie scored it 97-93 – seven rounds to three – in Escudero’s favor. The official scores: Two judges scored it for George (97-94 and 97-93), one had it for Escudero (96-94).

Marcos Escudero (right) seemed to do enough to beat Joe George but the judges saw it differently. Greg Mandel / Showtime

Escudero definitely was busier than George. Perhaps the two judges who scored it for the winner gave the loser little credit for the punches he threw when George was against the ropes because they believed he landed mostly on his gloves and arms.

And maybe they thought George landed the bigger shots. He seemed to stun Escudero with a right hand in the ninth round, arguably the biggest punch in the fight, but he couldn’t follow up as Escudero held on until he recovered. When he did, he went back to outworking George.

And, in a scheduled eight-round middleweight fight, Amilcar Vidal Jr. (10-0, 9 KOs) stopped Zach Prieto (9-1, 7 KOs) with one second remaining in the opening round.

Neither fighter had dominated the first few minutes when, in the final seconds, Vidal landed a left hook-upper cut that put Prieto down and hurt him. The product of Las Crucez, New Mexico was able to get up but went down again under a barrage of hard shots, prompting the referee to stop the fight.

Videal, from Uruguay, was making his U.S. debut.