Tag: Tony Harrison

Ali Salaam, father/trainer of Tony Harrison, dies from coronvirus

Ali Salaam, the father/trainer of Tony Harrison and a fixture in the Detroit boxing scene for many years, has died from the coronavirus.

Tony Harrison has lost his father and trainer to the coronavirus.

Ali Salaam, a fixture in the Detroit boxing scene for many years, died Monday. He was 59. Harrison confirmed the passing of his father on Instagram.

“You was in a tough fight and you went the distance,” Harrison wrote. “The decision just didn’t go our way, but we was together every step of the way. What more could I ask!!!! My right hand forever. Get some rest, pops. It ain’t goodbye. Just see you later!!”

The family has deep roots in boxing. Salaam’s father, the late Henry Hank (born Joseph Harrison and later Jusuf Salaam), was a middleweight and light heavyweight contender from 1953 to 1972. Salaam fought professionally from 1984 to 1989, compiling a record of 11-7 (5 KOs) mostly as a welterweight.

Salaam then became a trainer. He helped guide his talented son to a 154-pound championship, which he won by upsetting Jermell Charlo in December 2018. Charlo regained the title when he stopped Harrison in 11 rounds this past December.

Salaam also ran the SuperBad Boxing Gym with Harrison. The gym serves youth in the area.

Another son of Salaam, Lloyd, played professional basketball in Europe.

Julian Williams’ trainer: ‘He should be ready to go by August or September’

Stephen Edwards, the trainer of Julian Williams, believes his charge will be ready for a tune-up fight as soon as late summer.

It’s not if Julian Williams will fight Jeison Rosario again, it’s when.

Williams recently decided not to exercise his contractual right to an immediate rematch with Rosario, the Dominican contender who stopped him in five rounds in a significant upset on Jan. 18. However, Stephen Edwards, the trainer of Williams, says they have every intention of fighting Rosario again. Just not next. They need time to heal and regroup.

“Julian just had surgery [to repair damaged skin around] both of his eyes last week,” Edwards told BoxingScene.com. “He can’t even spar until May or June. We wouldn’t be ready for a rematch in a reasonable period of time.”

In the fight, Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KOs) opened up a large gash over Williams’ left eye, which immediately changed the tenor of the fight.

“It’s counterproductive to rush into a rematch without getting his eye fixed and his eye was a big reason he lost in the first place,” Edward said. “But Team Rosario has expressed to me personally that they are honorable and will give us the rematch very soon. Just not next because we won’t be ready.”

Sampson Lewkowicz, the promoter of Rosario, told Boxing Junkie that Rosario “100%” plans to give Williams a rematch whenever he is ready.

Edwards believes Williams (27-2-1, 16 KOs) should be ready for a tune-up fight by late summer.

“He should be ready to go by August or September,” he said.

Edwards does not know who the opponent will be yet. In the meantime, the trainers says Williams won’t be peddling any excuses.

“What I’ve learned is it’s no use talking about what went wrong publicly,” Edwards said. “It always sounds like an excuse and, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. The result is what matters.

“Julian just has to redeem himself. Jeison Rosario fought a great fight, and he got the win.”

 

Follow Sean Nam on Twitter @seanpasbon

Julian Williams won’t ask for immediate rematch with Jeison Rosario

Multiple outlets have reported that Julian Williams is not interested in pursuing an immediate rematch against Jeison Rosario.

The future appears to be wide open for Jeison Rosario.

Former junior middleweight titleholder Julian Williams is forgoing his contractual right to an immediate rematch against Rosario, the Dominican contender who scored a shocking stoppage of Williams on Jan. 18 in the latter’s inaugural title defense in his hometown of Philadelphia, multiple outlets have reported.

The reason? Williams (27-2-1, 16 KOs) needs to recover from surgery on the cut he suffered over his left eye in the Rosario fight. Provided Rosario is still a titleholder, Williams has every intention of pursuing a rematch later in the year, according to BoxingScene.com. The feeling apparently is mutual.

“When Williams wants the rematch, Rosario will give it to him, 100%,” Sampson Lewkowicz, Rosario’s promoter, told Boxing Junkie. “For now, Williams has a medical problem.”

That leaves Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KOs), who turns 25 in April, with a few options in a division teeming with intriguing possibilities. He could face his mandatory in Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev (17-0, 13 KOs). Or, more compellingly, he could head straight into a unification against fellow titleholder Jermell Charlo (33-1, 17 KOs), who revenged his disputed loss to Tony Harrison (28-3, 21 KOs) last December. Both Charlo and Rosario are aligned with Premier Boxing Champions, so that would be a relatively easy matchup to make.

Rosario’s upset of Williams was just another eye-opening outcome in the ultra competitive 154-pound division. Last year, Williams upset multiple-belt titleholder Jarrett Hurd (24-1, 16 KOs) in impressive fashion. All in all, the division has produced some of the most interesting story lines of any weight class.

As for Williams, he is staring down at yet another attempt at a comeback. He was knocked out by current middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo (Jermell’s twin brother) in 2016 before making a statement against Hurd last year. Williams’ trainer Stephen Edwards has set the bar high for his charge the second time around. Shortly after the upset loss to Rosario, Edwards was adamant about getting revenge.

“[Williams] cannot go out on his career losing to that kid, I’m sorry,” Edwards said on the TalkBox Boxing Podcast. “[The loss to] Jermall Charlo, I can accept that a little bit. You know, that guy may go to the Hall of Fame, and we can say we fought him when Julian was a little young at the time and that he caught Julian with a great shot.

“This fight (against Rosario), I can’t stomach that. I’m serious. I just can’t.”

 

Follow Sean Nam on Twitter @seanpasbon

Jermell Charlo-Tony Harrison rematch peaks at 2.233 million viewers: report

The exciting Jermell Charlo-Tony Harrison rematch Saturday was the second most-watched boxing match of the year, according to a report.

So much for the notion that boxing fans are too busy during the holidays to enjoy a good fight.

The entertaining rematch between Tony Harrison and Jermell Charlo on Fox Saturday had an average audience of 2.223 million, according to a report on BoxingScene.com. The website’s source was Nielsen Media Research.

The Premier Boxing Champions card peaked at 2.233 million during the main event, in which Charlo scored an 11th-round knockout to avenge an earlier loss to Harrison.

Those figures make Harrison-Charlo the second most-viewed boxing match of the year, according to BoxingScene. Only the Keith Thurman-Josesito Lopez (which peaked at 2.765 million viewers) had better numbers.

The telecast was Fox’s last of the year. The network’s 10 boxing shows averaged 1.403 million viewers, which is 12% higher than last year’s average.

Also, PBC on Fox averaged 103% more viewers than Top Rank Boxing on ESPN, which averaged 692,000.

Good, bad, worse: Fighting spirit on one card, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the other

Good, bad worse: Celebrating fighting spirit on one card, bemoaning Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s actions on another

GOOD

Jermell Charlo and Tony Harrison gave us a spirited main event Saturday night, going back and forth in a competitive tussle until Charlo landed a big left hook that led to a dramatic 11th-round knockout.

In the process, Charlo regained from this bitter rival the junior middleweight belt Harrison took from him a year ago. Great stuff.

That wasn’t my favorite part of the Fox card, though. Fans love when a fighter hired as “opponent” refuses to cooperate because of innate, unexplainable fighting spirit that isn’t necessarily commensurate with his ability. And I’m a fan.

I’m referring specifically to heavyweight Iago Kiladze and lightweight Rene Tellez Giron, who were “opponents” on the Charlo-Harrison II undercard at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

Kiladze was supposed to be just another step in Efe Ajagba’s ascent to stardom. The 33-year-old Los Angeles-based Georgian had been stopped in three of his previous four fights and hadn’t had his hand raised in victory since he beat a relatively unknown Cuban in 2017.

Iago Kiladze (right) proved against Efe Ajagba that you can’t always keep a good man down. Stephanie Trapp / TGB Promotions

In other words, Kiladze doesn’t have championship pedigree. He has pride, though. And presumably dreams, as ever fighter does. We saw it on Saturday.

Ajagba, a 6-foot-6 Adonis from Nigeria, put Kiladze down in the second round and had people thinking, “Well, this isn’t going to last long.” Kiladze got up. Ajagba hurt Kiladze the following round, leaving him on shaky legs that seemed about to collapse. Kiladze didn’t give up. Instead, he stunned everyone watching by landing a hard right counter that put Ajagba on his butt.

Kiladze went down hard again in Round 5 and, this time, he seemed to be finished. Nope. He got up and continued to fight his heart out. The underdog’s corner threw in the towel shortly thereafter, which was fortunate: He never would have done so.

Giron was hired  as a stepping stone in the career of undefeated U.S. Olympian Karlos Balderas but Giron, just another in a long line of anonymous, but unusually tough Mexicans who happens to have an impressive left hook, turned their matchup into a firefight and emerged victorious.

Undefeated? Giron didn’t care. An Olympian. Meant nothing to him. Hot prospect? Maybe that could be him instead. He had a job to do and he did it with infectious passion.

Who doesn’t love a stirring battle between gifted rivals like Charlo and Harrison? I’ll always admire that kind of ability. There’s something just as special about no-names – like Kiladze and Giron – who believe in themselves even if no one else does and fight like they want to be the best in the world.

Thank you to the featured fighters, thank you to the no-names.

BAD AND WORSE

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. had surgery to repair his broken nose after his fight with Daniel Jacobs on Friday in Phoenix. Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing USA

I don’t begrudge Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. using his name to make a good living in boxing. I’d probably do the same thing.

The problem with Chavez is that he has abused the privilege, as we saw before, during and after what was supposed to be a super middleweight fight against Daniel Jacobs on Friday in Phoenix. Consider his actions:

  • Junior refused to submit a sample for a random drug test administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency on Oct. 24, which resulted in a temporary suspension by officials in Nevada. The fight was moved from Las Vegas to Phoenix as a result.
  • He missed weight by 4.7 pounds, which required the parties to renegotiate the contract. He ended up losing $1 million in the process but walked away with as much. Jacobs, making his debut as a full-fledged 168-pounder, had to face the equivalent of a cruiserweight at fight time.
  • He quit after the fifth round of the fight with a broken nose and cut above his left eye, claiming he couldn’t breathe. That sparked a near riot as angry fans threw everything they could get their hands toward the ring.
  • And he blamed head butts and elbows for his injuries when replays seemed to show that punches caused the damage.

Chavez might’ve been excused if all this added up to a one-time indiscretion. Many fighters run into problems – including broken noses that make it difficult to fight – at some time or another. However, with him, it has been one misstep after another most of his career.

He has failed other tests for banned substances. He has missed weight more than once. And he has skipped training sessions, a clear indication that he hasn’t taken the sport seriously. Trainer Freddie Roach, with whom he worked on Saturday and for his fight against Sergio Martinez in 2012, said Chavez missed a month’s worth of workouts leading into the latter event.

Chavez, only 33, probably will fight again because he still has a name that can earn him the kind of paychecks many more-serious fighters can only dream. A lot of people wish he wouldn’t, though. He has worn out his welcome.

And that’s a shame. Junior had some ability. Had he done things the right way, he probably would’ve been considered a less-gifted, but worthy successor to his great father. Instead, he’ll be remembered as someone who behaved more like entitled brat than a professional boxer.

Jermell Charlo stops Tony Harrison to regain title in Round 11

Jermell Charlo ended a close fight by stopping Tony Harrison in Round 11 to regain the 154-pound title Harrison took from him a year ago.

One can’t let his guard down against a fighter like Jermell Charlo, not even for a split second. Tony Harrison did so and lost his title as a result.

Harrison, defending the junior middleweight belt he took from Charlo by a controversial decision almost exactly a year ago, said afterward that he was coasting past his rival in the rematch Saturday in Ontario, California. And some will agree with him. One judge and I had him winning 95-94 after 10 rounds.

Then one punch rendered all else irrelevant. Charlo landed a left hook midway through Round 11 that sent Harrison reeling and then down. And he was hurt badly. He got up but then absorbed a series of hard punches that put him down again and prompted Charlo, assuming he had won, to leap onto the ropes in celebration.

Harrison got up again but one more barrage of punches with his back against the ropes convinced referee Jack Reiss to end the fight. The official time was 2:28.

Just like that, Charlo turned a close fight into a convincing victory to regain the title he lost to a man he really can’t stand.

“I got my belt back,” a jubilant Charlo said in the ring immediately afterward. “… [And] I didn’t leave it up to the judges.”

The fight didn’t play out as many expected. Harrison, the boxer, walked down Charlo much of the fight. And Charlo, who was assertive at times, wasn’t quite as aggressive as some people thought he needed to be to win the fight.

The new champ was very aggressive in Round 2, coming out at the bell like a wild man. Harrison, a clever defensive fighter, was able to withstand the pressure until a left hook from Charlo put him on his behind.

The rest of the fight was give and take, as a number of rounds could’ve gone either way. One could argue that Harrison controlled the action with his jab and enough power punches – including many to the body – to win the majority of the rounds.

Plus, many of Charlo’s punches, as ill-intended as they were, landed on Harrison’s gloves and shouldn’t have been considered scoring blows.

At the same time, Charlo was busier than Harrison at a number of junctures and was able to get enough punches – some of them hard, eye-catching shots – through Harrison’s guard.

Two judges had Charlo winning by the same score after 10 rounds – 96-93, or six rounds to four. The third judge gave Harrison six rounds. Those scores or anything in between were reasonable given the competitiveness of the fight.

And none of it mattered midway through Round 11. The left hook changed everything. Harrison was able to get up from both knockdowns that round but never fully recovered, which became obvious to Reiss in the end.

Some people will argue that the stoppage was premature because Harrison wasn’t taking heavy blows at that moment. However, Harrison, who initially protested vociferously, gave Reiss the benefit of the doubt when he was interviewed.

“Jack is a championship referee,” said Harrison, who clearly was devastated after the fight. “I ain’t gonna question whatever he saw. I started to get a little lax and got caught. … [Charlo] earned it. I hate it. But he earned it.

“… I’d like to do it one more time,” he added, seemingly almost in tears. “I felt like I let us down. I felt like I let me down. Damn.”

Charlo was gracious afterward, or as gracious as he could be given the nasty pre-fight trash talk that resulted the controversial decision in the first fight and the fact Harrison had to postpone the rematch because of a nagging ankle injury.

Still, Charlo followed tradition by walking over to Harrison’s corner to congratulate him on a good fight.

“I’m a gentleman at the end of the day,” Charlo said. “I have a family to feed, so does he. May the best man win. I showed good sportsmanship. But at the end of the day, I don’t that dude – period.”

Charlo-Harrison III? The winner was asked whether he’d be willing to fight Harrison again and initially indicated that is open to the idea but then said, “I’m off to bigger and better things,” which doesn’t bode well for Harrison.

Charlo was also asked about Julian Williams, who holds two 154-pound titles.

He responded, including brother Jermall in his answer: “We’re history making twins. I’m down for whatever makes history.”

Efe Ajagba survives knockdown to stop game Iago Kiladze in Round 5

Efe Ajagba survived a knockdown to stop a game Iago Kiladze on the Tony Harrison-Jermell Charlo card Saturday in Ontario, California.

Another fight, another knockout. With a twist.

Efe Ajagba did what he was expected to do against journeyman Iago Kiladze on the Tony Harrison-Jermell Charlo card Saturday in Ontario, California. He won by stoppage. However, he had to overcome a knockdown and a determined opponent to do it.

Ajagba, the 6-foot-6 Adonis from Nigeria, put Kiladze down in the second round in what seemed to be the beginning of the end for the Georgian. Maybe it was. But it took a while.

Ajagba (12-0, 10 KOs) hurt Kiladze again in Round 3, leaving him on shaky legs. However, as Ajagba attempted to finish the job, Kiladze put him down with a straight counter right. Ajagba didn’t seem to be hurt but Kiladze certainly got everyone’s attention.

Kiladze (26-5-1, 16 KOs) went down one more time with a right about midway through Round 5. Again, Kiladze, clearly dazed but refusing to quit, managed to get up and continue. At that moment, Ajagba had to be thinking, “What do I need to do to get rid of this guy.”

In fact, that last knockdown did the job. Moments later, with Ajagba all over Kiladze, the underdog’s corner stopped the fight.

The right hand that put Ajagba down played no role in the fight but probably underscores the fact that Ajagba, a late starter, still has plenty of room to grow. His trainer, Ronnie Shields, told him very simply after that round, “Keep your hands up.”

It’s all part of the learning process for one of the top heavyweight prospects.

In another preliminary bout, one prospect went down while another might’ve emerged.

Carlos Balderas, a 2016 U.S. Olympian, was supposed to continue his ascent in the featherweight division against Rene Giron. The Mexican had other ideas.

Giron, coming off a decision loss to Michel Rivera in June, fought like a 126-pound version of Joe Frazier, putting the favorite down twice with hard left hooks. The second shot ended the action-packed fight in the sixth round of a scheduled eight-rounder.

The fight arguably should’ve ended after the first knockdown, which occurred in the final seconds of Round 3. Balderas, hurt badly, beat the count but couldn’t follow referee Ray Corona’s instruction to walk toward him. Instead, he stumbled backward.

Still, Corona allowed the fight continue. And seconds later the bell sounded to end the round and give Balderas (9-1, 8 KOs) more life.

In Round 4, things got brutal in a different way. Giron (14-1, 8 KOs) landed what appeared to be an accidental low blow that Corona allowed to pass without stepping in. Balderas then took matters into his own hands, purposely punching Giron below the belt. He got a warning and the fight continued.

In the end, however, none of that mattered. Balderas had recovered from the first left hook when another one hurt him and put him down in Round 6. He got up at around the count of nine, which wasn’t good enough for Corona, who stopped the fight.

Also, middleweight contender Hugo Centeno Jr. (27-3-1, 14 KOs) fought to a split decision draw with Juan Macias Montiel (21-4-2, 21 KOs).

And featherweight contender Jhack Tepora (23-1, 17 KOs) was stopped by veteran Oscar Escandon (26-5, 18 KOs) with a single body shot 1 minute, 30 seconds into their fight. Tepora had been unbeaten and Escandon, 35, had lost his previous three fights.

Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Liborio Solis canceled because of Solis visa issues

The Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Liborio Solis bantamweight bout is no longer a go after Solis was not able to get a valid visa.

Guillermo Rigondeaux will have to wait for another day to make his bantamweight debut.

According to multiple media outlets, the Cuban southpaw’s scheduled fight against Venezuelan Liborio Solis on the Tony Harrison-Jermell Charlo II card this Saturday in Ontario, Calif. was scrapped because Solis couldn’t get a visa in time for the fight.

Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs) is coming off an unexpected slugfest against Julio Ceja at the junior featherweight limit in June, in which the Cuban won by eighth-round technical knockout. Rigondeaux hasn’t campaigned at 118 pounds since his amateur days.

Rigondeaux was a two-time Olympic champion and has won two junior featherweight titles as a professional.

Premier Boxing Champions has had bad luck with bantamweight bouts. Last month, the Luis Nery-Emmanuel Rodriguez bantamweight fight was nixed after Nery failed to make weight.

Julian Williams to fight winner of Tony Harrison-Jermell Charlo II?

Julian Williams has signed a contract to fight the winner of Harrison-Charlo II, according to his trainer Stephen Edwards.

The 154-pound division is the gift that keeps giving.

Stephen Edwards, the manager and trainer of junior middleweight titleholder Julian Williams, said on the Showtime boxing podcast that should his fighter defeat Jeison Rosario on Jan. 18 in Philadelphia, he is expected to face the winner of the Dec. 21 rematch between Tony Harrison and Jermell Charlo.

Williams holds two of the four major 154-pound titles, Harrison one.

“We’ve already signed a unification match to fight the winner of Jermell and Tony,” Edwards said.

Williams (27-1-1, 16 knockouts) is expected to beat Rosario (19-1-1, 13 KOs), a Miami-based Dominican who enters the fight as a heavy underdog.

After the title-unification bout, Edwards said that a rematch with 160-pound titleholder Jermall Charlo would be appealing. Charlo blitzed Williams with a vicious fifth-round knockout in 2016.

Most of the top 154-pounders are aligned with Premier Boxing Champions, including former titleholders in Erislandy Lara and Jarrett Hurd.

 

Julian Williams to make hometown defense against Jeison Rosario on Jan. 18

Julian William, who owns two of junior middleweight belts, will take on Jeison Rosario at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia on Jan. 11.

Julian Williams will make the first defense of his two junior welterweight titles at home.

Williams is scheduled to face Jeison Rosario on Jan. 18 at Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, it was announced Wednesday in a release. The fight will be televised on Fox.

Williams had been slated to fight in December in a rematch against Jarrett Hurd, whom he dominated in a thrilling fight to win two of the four major belts in the division. But Hurd, for reasons that remain unknown, decided to pull out. (Hurd has hinted that he might move up to middleweight.)

“This is going to be great having a homecoming fight back in Philadelphia,” said Williams (27-1-1, 16 knockouts). “I haven’t fought in Philadelphia since 2011, so I can’t wait to get back in the ring in front of all my people.”

Rosario (19-1-1, 13 KOs) is a notch or two below Hurd, but Williams isn’t looking past the Dominican challenger, who is 7-0-1 since his knockout loss to Nathaniel Gallimore in 2017.

Julian Williams (right) won his titles by upsetting Jarrett Hurd in May. AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana

“Rosario is a good fighter and I’m very familiar with him,” Williams said. “I know he packs a solid punch and that he’s been on a tear ever since his lone loss to Nathaniel Gallimore. So he’ll be a stiff test for me. But I’m prepared to win. Most of all, I’m just excited to defend my titles … as a unified champion in front of my hometown crowd.”

Some had written Williams off after a brutal knockout loss to Jermall Charlo in 2016. But Williams kept his head down the next couple of years, putting together four consecutive victories, before getting another opportunity to challenge for the title against Hurd in May.

The junior middleweight division boasts some of the best talent and matchups in the sport. On Dec. 21, another intriguing 154-pound title rematch will take place between titleholder Tony Harrison and Jermell Charlo. The winner of that fight sets up a potential clash with the winner of Williams-Rosario.