Tag: Joe Goossen

Fox Sports, PBC personalities thank coronavirus warriors

Fox Sports and Premier Boxing Champions put together a video featuring their biggest personalities to thank the coronavirus warriors.

Our health care workers and first responders have emerged as heroes in the ongoing fight against the coronavirus.

And that fact isn’t lost on those in the boxing world.

Fox Sports and Premier Boxing Champions took the time to put together a video (see below) featuring many of their biggest stars and personalities to thank those risking their lives.

Here are those who took part:

PBC Fighters

Manny Pacquiao, Errol Spence, Deontay Wilder, Leo Santa Cruz, Andy Ruiz Jr, Shawn Porter, Mikey Garcia, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, Abner Mares, Erislandy Lara, Julian Williams, Tony Harrison, Anthony Dirrell, Andre Dirrell, Chris Eubank Jr, Andre Berto and Adam Kownacki.

PBC on FOX Personalities

Brian Kenny, Chris Myers, Joe Goossen, Kate Abdo, Jimmy Lennon Jr, Marcos Villegas, Heidi Androl, Jordan Plant, Steve Cunningham and Ray Flores.

Chris Arreola, 39 years young, finds new life as his career winds down

Longtime heavyweight contender Chris Arreola feels re-energized at 39 under new trainer Joe Goossen.

Long time heavyweight contender Chris Arreola said before his fight with Adam Kownacki in August that he might retire if he lost. Well, he came up on the wrong end of a unanimous decision. And there isn’t a chance that he’s walking away now.

What changed his mind? His performance.

Arreola, 39, threw 1,125 punches in the fight (to Kownacki’s 1,047), according to CompuBox. That’s a record for a heavyweight. More important, in spite of the result, he felt he gave a strong showing against one of the hottest big men in the world.

“It wasn’t disappointing because I felt like I put in a great performance,” Arreola said on The PBC Podcast. “I felt like I did my job that day. I did exactly what I came in there to do and what I said I was going to do. … I put in the work. The proof was in the pudding. It showed in the ring.

Retirement?

“Honestly,” he said, “I do feel like it’s out the window. I feel like my performance not only … brought me to a different position as a boxer but I also feel it was a blueprint to beat Kownacki (who lost in his next fight to Robert Helenius).

“I felt like I beat Kownacki that day. And I don’t think he recovered like I would’ve after a win.”

Perhaps even more impressive, Arreola delivered the record-setting number of punches even though he had a handicap: He said he injured his left hand in Round 4.

“Every time I threw with my left hand, I babied it,” he said. “I hurt it at the end of the fourth round. I fought around seven rounds with a messed up left hand. I messed up the ligaments and tendons in my left hand.”

Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs) has always been known as a solid, spirited boxer but not a disciplined one even though he has fought for a major heavyweight title three times, losing each time. That apparently has changed late in the game.

He has been working with a new trainer, Joe Goossen, who has helped him see the value of consistently hard work.

“In all honesty, no disrespect to my old trainer Henry Ramirez because we had a great run, but working with Joe is just night and day,” he said. “… Even when I was resting Joe was constantly in my ear, telling me how to do something, how to work, how to just be the best professional I could be in the ring and outside the ring and while I was training.

“… I feel my career was reinvigorated. I feel like I was just in a different zone.”

Arreola, a good amateur with a solid fundamental foundation and plenty of punching power, thinks about what could’ve been had he developed a better work ethic earlier in his career but he doesn’t dwell on it, saying more than once, “I should’ve, I could’ve, but I didn’t.”

Instead, he’s looking forward.

“I feel there’s still time to change a little bit of my future,” he said. “I’m not saying I will be a world champion [although] I still want to be world champion. I’m saying … people could look at me differently how I end my career instead of the middle part of my career.”

Showtime Boxing Classics: Tony Weeks, Joe Goossen discuss Corrales-Castillo I

Two of those with the best view of the classic first fight between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo recently discussed it.

Two of those with the best view of the classic first fight between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo recently spoke with Brian Campbell of the “Morning Kombat” show.

Referee Tony Weeks worked the 2000s’ Fight of the Decade and Joe Goossen was in Corrales’ corner.

The epic 10th round saw Corrales go down twice only to get up each time and ultimately stop Castillo on May 7, 2005 in Las Vegas.

Showtime is replaying that fight and the Corrales-Castillo rematch as part of its “Showtime Boxing Classics” series at 10 p.m. ET / PT tonight (Friday).

“Never did I dream the fight would elevate to the level that it did,” Weeks said.

The veteran ref added: “Fifteen years later, I still think about this fight every day. What an honor to be a part of history. The two fighters put in all the work, and I just did what I was trained to do. …

“It really hit me when I went home and I’m getting all these phone calls for interviews, or people congratulating me on a great job. It was like, ‘What happened?’ When I had the chance to really sit down and look at it and see it, it was like, ‘Wow! What a fight.’”

Goossen said: “When [Corrales] got the point taken away from him on the second knockdown [for spitting out his mouthpiece], he was arguing with Tony Weeks. In my mind, that was a good thing because that showed presence of mind that he didn’t like the fact that he was getting a point taken away from him. …

“Now, I will tell you there were some people very close to Diego that were sitting a couple feet from me that were yelling at me to stop the fight. That I heard. And I responded with a quick ‘no’ because they deserved my response. … I knew what I was looking at. They may have thought differently. From their viewpoint, it may have looked a lot worse than I thought it looked.”

Castillo stopped Corrales in four rounds five months later. Less than two years after that, Corrales was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Campbell and partner Luke Thomas will host a live episode of “Morning Kombat” on the “Morning Kombat YouTube Channel” during the “Showtime Boxing Classics” telecast tonight. They will react to the fights in real time and take questions from fans.

Joe Goossen didn’t think twice about training Kubrat Pulev

Joe Goosen will train heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev for the latter’s title shot against Anthony Joshua, the trainer announced…

Joe Goossen isn’t the deliberating type. When you make him an offer, expect a response in three to five business days. One if he’s really sold on it.

In case you haven’t heard, Goossen is really sold on Kubrat Pulev. The veteran trainer is set to begin working with the Bulagrian heavyweight contender, who is looking to upset British kingpin Anthony Joshua on June 20 in London.

Goossen made the announcement while he was working the Fox broadcast of Robert Helenius’ shocking win over Adam Kownacki last Saturday night in Brooklyn. He said he’ll leave for Bulgaria this week to start training Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs), a decision one would imagine would have required some reflection. Leaving the sunny climes of Southern California, where Goossen is from, for the rust belt of Eastern Europe at this time of the year, after all, is generally a pretty big ask.

Of course, the chance to train one of the principals in a massive heavyweight title fight is a powerful incentive. Less than 24 hours after receiving the offer, Goossen was bugging Pulev’s handlers for YouTube links.

“I just found out about [the Pulev offer] yesterday (Friday) and I’ve been watching film,” Goossen told Boxing Junkie as he was leaving Barclays Center on Saturday.

And the verdict?

“I really like his style,” he said. “He fights like a middleweight.”

Goossen, who hails from one of the most storied boxing families in the business, has some history working with middleweights, most notably Michael Nunn. He has famously worked with the Ruelas brothers, Gabriel and Rafael, and the late Diego Corrales.

As for as heavyweights go, Goossen has helped mold the likes of Lance Whitaker, Dominick Guinn, Malik Scott and Lionel Butler. Most recently, he trained Chris Arreola for his fight against Kownacki last year. The point is he’s been around the block and seen a few things. He has experience. Pulev’s Bulgarian handler Ivaylo Gotzev – Pulev is also co-promoted by Top Rank – apparently wants some of that vast know-how to rub off on his client.

“I got a call from his promoter Ivalo out of the blue,” Goossen said. “I’ve known Ivaylo for 25 years, and he thought of me, and I’m glad he did, and I was more than happy to take the job.”

Of course, Goossen has yet to actually work with Pulev. So far, everything’s been based on the eye test. After a lifetime in the sport, Goossen, 66, has a pretty reliable set of eyes.

“I think we’re going to make a good fit,” Goossen said. “His style is good, and I think he’s going to make a good fit for me. That’s about it.”

One hopes it will be as good a fit as one of those natty denim jackets Goossen likes to wear.

Follow Sean Nam on Twitter @seanpasbon

Kubrat Pulev will have Joe Goossen in corner for Anthony Joshua fight

Kubrat Pulev will work with trainer Joe Goossen for his fight with heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua.

Kubrat Pulev is adding some experience to his corner in hopes of an upset of heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Veteran trainer Joe Goossen will begin working with Pulev this week in Bulgaria.

“I’ll be in the ring with Kubrat Pulev,’’ Goossen said Saturday while working as a ringside commentator for the telecast of Robert Helenius’ fourth-round stoppage of Adam Kownacki in Brooklyn. “I’m his new trainer. I’m going to take off for Bulgaria next week and then to London for the press conference.’’

Goossen will be in the underdog’s corner for Pulev’s mandatory shot at Joshua on June 20 at Tottenham in north London.

For Goossen, it’s a chance to train his first heavyweight champion. Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) has won eight straight since Wladmir Klitschko stopped him in five rounds in November, 2014 in Germany. Goossen’s resume includes several champions, but all in the lower weight classes. He worked with Diego Corrales, Michael Nunn, Gabe Ruelas and Rafael Ruelas.

At heavyweight, Goossen, 66, has been in the corner for Lance Whitaker, Dominick Guinn, Malik Scott, Lionel Butler and Chris Arreola. He was in Arreola’s corner for his loss to Kownacki by unanimous decision on August 3 in Brooklyn.

Adam Kownacki collecting admirers in the business

Trainers Joe Goossen and Ronnie Shields are big fans of fast-rising heavyweight Adam Kownacki, who fights Robert Helenius on Saturday.

Adam Kownacki is accumulating fans worldwide as a result of his aggressive, heavy-handed style and ongoing success.

Among those fans are respected trainers Joe Goossen and Ronnie Shields, both of whom expressed their admiration for the Polish-born heavyweight on the most-recent The PBC Podcast. Goossen has had several up-close looks at Kownacki, in the opposite corner as trainer of Chris Arreola and as a Fox TV analyst. Shields has watched from afar.

Kownacki (20-0, 15 KOs) faces Robert Helenius (29-3, 18 KOs) in a title eliminator Saturday at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, Kownacki’s hometown, on Fox.

“I love this guy,” Shields said on the podcast. “He’s one of the most exciting heavyweights in the division right now. He brings it, man. Just looking from the outside looking in, he’s a very exciting guy and he can fight.

“So I look forward to seeing his fights all the time. He’s one of those guys you just want to keep looking at over and over because you know he’s going to bring it.”

Goossen feels the same way about Kownacki, who is 6-foot-3 and weighed in at a typically thick 265½ on Friday.

“Listen,” Goossen said and then chuckled. “He’s an unusual character in this game. He’s a real force in the ring. … When you see him up close and personal, he’s a very, very sturdy looking guy and I’m using the loosest of terms. Just his wrists, his calves, his thighs. Just everything about him is extra big, extra thick.

“Not only that but he’s very, very active in the ring. In other words, he throws an inordinate number of punches for a heavyweight. … And he takes a great punch. He’s very hard to dissuade from enforcing his will upon you and he normally succeeds at doing just that.”

Of course, Goossen said, Kownacki isn’t a perfect fighter.

For example, Kownacki landed an impressive 369 punches (of 1,047 thrown) but also took 298 (of a heavyweight record (1,125) in his 12-round, unanimous-decision victory over Arreola in August. In other words, Kownacki can be hit.

That’s something he should work on, Goossen said.

“He’s hard to hurt, I tell you that,” Goossen said. “But … defensively, yes, he makes some mistakes that could cost him dearly against extremely powerful punchers.”

And Goossen feels Kownacki was surprised by the resistance he met from Arreola, so much so that he learned a valuable lesson.

“Kownacki said something very interesting to me in his last fight, which was against Arreloa, in the ring after the fight. … He said, ‘I needed this fight,’” Goossen said. “… I think we kind of caught him off guard. I think he may have let his guard down in training just a bit. Being a professional he probably worked very hard but he might say to himself, ‘I can work harder,’ like every fighter. … I think that fight really woke him up.”

Still, Goossen believes Kownacki has been ready for a title shot for some time.

“A world title shot for him could’ve come several times just in the past year or so,” he said. “It’s not that he wasn’t ready to fight somebody for a world title. It’s just a matter of getting that business opportunity. I think that’s going to be coming up once the air clears soon with [titleholders Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua].

“With a big win Saturday night, I think he puts himself very close to getting an opportunity to fight for a world title. … I think it’ll eventually happen for Kownacki. And when it does, he’s got a great chance of becoming a world champion.”