Tag: Steve Spark

Gilberto Ramirez vs. Sullivan Barrera: date, time, how to watch, background

Gilberto Ramirez vs. Sullivan Barrera: date, time, how to watch, background.

UNBEATEN 175-POUND CONTENDER gilberto RAMIREZ RETURNS TO THE RING AGAINST VETERAN SULLIVAN BARRERA fRIDAY NIGHT ON dazn.

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GILBERTO RAMIREZ (41-0, 27 KOs)
VS. SULLIVAN BARRERA (22-3, 14 KOs)

Gilberto Ramirez faces veteran Sullivan Barrera on Friday. Rachel Denny Clow / Caller-Times
  • Date: Friday, July 9
  • Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
  • Where: Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles
  • TV/Stream: DAZN
  • Cost: DAZN is $19.99 per month or $99.99 annually
  • Division: Light heavyweight (175 pounds)
  • Weights (from Friday): Ramirez 174.6, Barrera 174.6
  • At stake: No titles
  • Pound-for-pound ranking: None
  • Odds: NA
  • Also on the card: Joseph Diaz Jr. vs. Javier Fortuna, lightweights; Tenkai Tsunami vs. Seniesa Estrada, junior flyweights (for Tsunami’s WBO title); Hector Tanajara Jr. vs. William Zepeda, lightweights
  • Prediction: Ramirez KO 10
  • Background: Ramirez continues to chase Floyd Mayweather’s 50-0 record and a title shot at light heavyweight against a solid veteran from Cuba. The former 168-pound titleholder will be fighting at 175 pounds for the third time, having stopped Tommy Karpency in April 2019 and Alfonso Lopez this past December. The Mexican’s most-recent fight of this magnitude might’ve been his majority-decision victory over Jesse Hart in December 2018, which was the final defense of his super middleweight title. Ramirez is ranked in the Top 5 in two of the four major sanctioning bodies. Barrera, 39, is a longtime contender with some notable victories, including a decision over Joe Smith Jr. in 2017. However, he has lost most of his biggest fights. He’s 1-2 in his last three outings, a 12th-round knockout in a fight he was losing badly to Dmitry Bivol in 2018 and unanimous decision to Hart in June 2019. The resident of Miami will have been out of the ring for more than two years. The card also features an important fight between Joseph Diaz Jr. (31-1-1, 15 KOs) and Javier Fortuna (36-2-1, 25 KOs). Diaz, who lost his 130-pound title on the scales in his last fight, made a bold decision when he agreed to replace Ryan Garcia as the opponent of the talented Fortuna at 135. Fortuna is unbeaten since he lost a split decision to Robert Easter Jr. in 2018 and one of the leading lightweights. The winner will be in prime position for a shot at a 135-pound title.

[lawrence-related id=21783]

Gilberto Ramirez vs. Sullivan Barrera: date, time, how to watch, background

Gilberto Ramirez vs. Sullivan Barrera: date, time, how to watch, background.

UNBEATEN 175-POUND CONTENDER gilberto RAMIREZ RETURNS TO THE RING AGAINST VETERAN SULLIVAN BARRERA fRIDAY NIGHT ON dazn.

***

GILBERTO RAMIREZ (41-0, 27 KOs)
VS. SULLIVAN BARRERA (22-3, 14 KOs)

Gilberto Ramirez faces veteran Sullivan Barrera on Friday. Rachel Denny Clow / Caller-Times
  • Date: Friday, July 9
  • Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
  • Where: Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles
  • TV/Stream: DAZN
  • Cost: DAZN is $19.99 per month or $99.99 annually
  • Division: Light heavyweight (175 pounds)
  • Weights (from Friday): Ramirez 174.6, Barrera 174.6
  • At stake: No titles
  • Pound-for-pound ranking: None
  • Odds: NA
  • Also on the card: Joseph Diaz Jr. vs. Javier Fortuna, lightweights; Tenkai Tsunami vs. Seniesa Estrada, junior flyweights (for Tsunami’s WBO title); Hector Tanajara Jr. vs. William Zepeda, lightweights
  • Prediction: Ramirez KO 10
  • Background: Ramirez continues to chase Floyd Mayweather’s 50-0 record and a title shot at light heavyweight against a solid veteran from Cuba. The former 168-pound titleholder will be fighting at 175 pounds for the third time, having stopped Tommy Karpency in April 2019 and Alfonso Lopez this past December. The Mexican’s most-recent fight of this magnitude might’ve been his majority-decision victory over Jesse Hart in December 2018, which was the final defense of his super middleweight title. Ramirez is ranked in the Top 5 in two of the four major sanctioning bodies. Barrera, 39, is a longtime contender with some notable victories, including a decision over Joe Smith Jr. in 2017. However, he has lost most of his biggest fights. He’s 1-2 in his last three outings, a 12th-round knockout in a fight he was losing badly to Dmitry Bivol in 2018 and unanimous decision to Hart in June 2019. The resident of Miami will have been out of the ring for more than two years. The card also features an important fight between Joseph Diaz Jr. (31-1-1, 15 KOs) and Javier Fortuna (36-2-1, 25 KOs). Diaz, who lost his 130-pound title on the scales in his last fight, made a bold decision when he agreed to replace Ryan Garcia as the opponent of the talented Fortuna at 135. Fortuna is unbeaten since he lost a split decision to Robert Easter Jr. in 2018 and one of the leading lightweights. The winner will be in prime position for a shot at a 135-pound title.

[lawrence-related id=21783]

Tim Tszyu stops Steve Spark with body shot in Round 3

Tim Tszyu stopped Steve Spark with a body shot in Round 3 Wednesday in Australia.

On to bigger and better things.

Tim Tszyu put late replacement Steve Spark down twice with body blows, the second of which ended the 154-pound fight at 2:22 of Round 3 Wednesday in Newcastle, Australia.

Spark’s mission was virtually impossible, as he normally fights at 140 pounds and took the fight only a week beforehand after Michael Zerafa pulled out.

And that’s how it played out.

Spark (12-2, 11 KOs) had some good moments in the first round, which left Tszyu (19-0, 15 KOs) with a puffy right cheek. However, Australia’s top fighter soon found a groove and began to hurt his overmatched opponent.

He hurt Spark with a variety of shots near the end of Round 2 and then picked up where he left off in Round 3, when the body blows put Tszyu’s countryman down two times.

Referee Brad Vocale didn’t bother to count after the second knockdown, as it was clear that a severely injured Spark couldn’t continue.

“I had fun in there, that’s the main thing,” Tszyu said. “For myself, I have one objective: take whoever out that’s in front of me. But this is my ring and this is my division. I’m here to stay.”

The son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu evidentially has no interest in fighting Zerafa, who pulled out of the fight over COVID-19 concerns.

He now is targeting the best in the division, including the winner of the July 17 Jermall Charlo-Brian Castano fight for the undisputed 154-pound championship at some point.

In the meantime, he has a list of well-known prospective opponents who he’d like to meet.

“There’s Liam Smith, [Magomed] Kurbanov and Danny Garcia — they’re the three boys I’m going for,” Tszyu said. “If you’re watching boys, I’m coming for you.”