Don King at the podium

Don King and Travis Simms

Curtis Stevens’ Ringwalk Entourage

Curtis “Showtime” Stevens

Andre and Anthony Dirrell

The Shannon Briggs/Hasim Rahman Comparison

Posted on | June 21, 2007 | 1 Comment

The Shannon Briggs/Hasim Rahman Comparison

By Matt Yanofsky

Hasim “The Rock” Rahman and Shannon” The Cannon” Briggs have dispelled one common myth: that size doesn’t matter. In the “super heavyweight” era, Briggs and Rahman have been super disappointments. Neither fighter has been able to translate their physical attributes into the types of careers they were expected to have.

The asthma riddled Bed Stuy, Brooklyn-born Briggs was a highly touted amateur. He began his pro career at 25-0, before getting shocked by Darroll Wilson. Briggs was, however, able to recover and earn a very highly controversial majority decision over linear Heavyweight Champion George Foreman. Briggs’ reign was derailed only 4 months after winning the belt, losing it after getting dropped 5 times en-route to a 5th round TKO against Lennox Lewis.

Briggs returned 9 months later to defeat journeymen Marcus Rhode and Warren Williams before suffering another embarrassing setback. Briggs lost a split decision to the 9-9 Sedrick Fields. Many thought this was the end of the line for the former champion. He once again came back scoring 4 first- round TKO’s {albeit over limited opposition}.

Briggs once again hit a road block when he took on Jameel Mccline. Briggs, who weighed 230 lbs just over one year earlier and 251 lbs only 4 ½ months prior, came in a shockingly heavy 268 lbs. Briggs was dominated and nearly shut out by the unimpressive Mccline.

Briggs attempted one final comeback. “The Cannon” had 11 consecutive knockouts over more journeyman-like fighters as well as a 43 year old Ray Mercer. Briggs also had weight fluctuations between 250 and 273 lbs. Shannon also signed with promoter Don King, enabling him a title shot at WBO king Serguei Lyakhovich. After 11 1/2 boring rounds with Lyakhovich ahead on the score cards, the exhausted Briggs scored two knockdowns in the final 30 seconds of the fight. The second knockdown put Lyakhovich out of the ring and referee Robert Ferrara stopped the fight at 2:59 of round 12. Luck finally went Shannon’s way, and did it ever! If Lyakhovich would have made it back in the ring, he would have retained his title via a draw even after the two last second knockdowns.

Shannon’s first defense was scheduled for March against mandatory challenger Sultan Ibragimov but a case of Walking Pneumonia forced him to pull. After much trash talking from both sides, the fight was rescheduled for June 2nd in Atlantic City. Briggs, who claimed he was under his prior fighting weight of 268 lbs over a month before the fight said he was going to score an easy knockout of Ibragimov. Unfortunately, both were far from the truth. Briggs came into the contest at a career high tying 273 lbs and lost a wide unanimous decision where he tired out and was not able to handle the volume punching Ibragimov. Briggs claimed this will be his last fight.

Hasim Rahman, a survivor of Baltimore’s worst ghetto, began his career 29-0 before getting stopped by the heavy-handed David Tua in the 10th round of an exciting contest. Rahman earned a few victories before facing Oleg Maskaev. Rahman was a heavy favorite over the then unheralded Maskaev and viewed the HBO televised fight as an “easy pay day”. For 7 rounds, Rahman was correct and dominated the fight. During the 8th round, Rahman (in Briggs-like fashion) ran out of gas. Maskaev scored one of the most shocking knockouts in boxing history where he landed a right hand and knocked Rahman out of the ring.

Rahman returned 4 months later and reeled off three straight victories including one over future heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders. This earned Rahman a shot at the same man who defeated Briggs for his title, Lennox Lewis. The 15-1 underdog was overmatched during the first four rounds and Lewis appeared en-route to retaining his WBC and IBF Heavyweight belts. In the 5th, Lewis started moving slowly and opened the gates for Rahman. The Rock backed Lewis up with about 5 jabs before catching him on the ropes with an enormous right hand which knocked out and dethroned the champion. Rahman ironically knocked out Lewis the same round Lewis had knocked out Briggs.

A rematch was mandated in the contract and was fought 7 months later. The rematch was similar to the first fight through the first four rounds. Unfortunately, Lewis did not let his lead slip away and scored a huge 4th round knockout to take the belts back from Rahman.

Hasim returned unsuccessfully against aging former Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield. Rahman was unfortunately a victim of Holyfield’s legendary head butts and developed a baseball sized welt on his head forcing the stoppage. Rahman gained 34 lbs and fought to a draw during a return match with David Tua on March 29th, 2003 before losing an embarrassing decision to clinching master John Ruiz. Rahman’s career appeared to be finished.

He decided to make one final comeback and defeated former Cruiserweight king Al Cole. A revived and slimmed down Rahman followed up with a few knockouts including one in a WBA/WBC eliminator bout with Kali Meehan. The victory over Meehan enabled him a shot at champion Vitali Klitschko. Rahman ended up fighting for an interim title against good friend Monte Barrett, due to the injury woes of Klitchko. Rahman won an uninspired but understandable decision victory. Rahman was eventually elevated to the full champion as Klitchko elected to retire.

He began his title journey by fighting to a draw with the legendary James Toney. Rahman’s next fight was against his mandatory challenger as well as a man he had unfinished business with, Oleg Maskaev.

Rahman came into the rematch looking for redemption. The fight was very close heading into the final round where victory on either side appeared to be down to the final stanza. Rahman, confident in his lead, attempted to keep away from Maskaev, but Maskaev caught and dropped him. Rahman once again was spaghetti legged against Maskaev and could not survive. Maskaev landed a flurry which forced veteran referee Jay Nady to stop the contest and crown Maskaev the new WBC King. Rahman did not formally announce his retirement but did appear to be finished for good.

To the surprise of everyone, Rahman elected to fight again. On June 14th 2007, Rahman came into the ring against feather fisted/frequent knockout victim Taurus Sykes weighing 26 lbs heavier then his prior fight. Rahman scored an 8th round knockdown and won a much closer than expected unanimous decision while eating many right hands from the lowly Sykes.

As documented, Hasim Rahman and Shannon Briggs have some incredible similarities. To their credit, both overcame many critics and difficult childhoods to become two-time heavyweight champions. Unfortunately, both men were unable to have a successful title defense or capitalize on their major victories {Rahman’s over Lewis and Briggs’ over Foreman} and suffered from uninspired fights and chronic weight fluctuations. Both men may be remembered more so for what they could have amounted to instead of what they actually accomplished.

GINA CARANO TO HELP TELECAST BARONI VS. SHAMROCK

Posted on | June 21, 2007 | 1 Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ELITEXC STAR GINA CARANO TO JOIN TELECAST TEAM
FOR SPECTACULAR “SHAMROCK VS. BARONI’’ EVENT

The Popular Fighter To Provide Commentary for Internet Portion
Of Friday, June 22 Undercard Fights Streamed Live on ProElite.com

LOS ANGELES (June 18, 2007) — Gina Carano, who is perhaps the MMA’s most talented and recognizable women’s fighter, will take a swing at broadcasting as she steps behind the camera to join the ProElite.com internet telecast team for the Friday, June 22 blockbuster event live on SHOWTIME® PPV from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
The personable, popular, charming and charismatic EliteXC star will work alongside Todd Keneley and ”$kala,’’ aka Jared Shaw, who will call the action of a terrific undercard streamed live on ProElite.com, a respected, rapidly growing Internet destination for the MMA community.
The undercard features many of today’s top up-and-coming fighters. As many as five bouts will be streamed live at ProElite.com starting at 4:40 p.m. PT/7:40 p.m. ET.
“Gina’s passionate, she’s articulate and she clearly knows the sport,’’ Kelly Perdew, President of ProElite.com, a division of ProElite Inc., said. “She is going to be an exciting announcer. EliteXC always has exciting fights, the best fights out there, and Gina will do a great job as part of the announce team.
“Anybody that has met Gina knows she is great, funny and bright. She will do an excellent job as an announcer for the EliteXC undercard.’’
In the eagerly-awaited PPV main event, Frank Shamrock will battle Phil “The New York Bad Ass” Baroni for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight title.
In a second world title fight on a Strikeforce-EliteXC cage fight card that will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME® PPV (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT), Joey “Dream Smasher” Villasenor will collide with an opponent to be announced for the vacant EliteXC middleweight title.
Other scheduled PPV fights include: EliteXC’s Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett vs. Victor “Joe Boxer” Valenzuela, lightweights; Strikeforce’s Cung Le vs. Tony “The Freak” Fryklund, middleweights; and Carter “The Beast” Williams vs. Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello, heavyweights.
A fan and media favorite, Carano has been in heavy demand in and out of the ring and her career has skyrocketed since her thrilling victory over Julie Kedzie in EliteXC’s history-making debut, “ Destiny,’’ on Feb. 10, 2007, on SHOWTIME.
The crowd-pleasing Carano mostly dominated the hard-trying Kedzie in the first women’s MMA fight televised by a premium television network, which fans and critics described as one of the most exciting bouts of an action-packed evening.
Carano also recently served as a mentor for ‘Fight Girls,’ a reality show on The Oxygen Network featuring 10 female Muay Thai fighters living in a Las Vegas house. The girls fight each other, with the winners heading to Thailand to face Thai women fighters. The show is a spin-off of a special that Oxygen aired last summer starring Carano, a former World Muay Thai champion.
“If I can’t be in the cage, watching and announcing from the best seat in the house is the next best thing,” the classy Carano said. “I am really looking forward to being on the other side of the cage and performing in a whole new aspect of the sport. This is definitely very exciting.
“It’s an honor for EliteXC to ask me to add my perspective to what will be a really memorable event. But is also will be a definite adventure for me, with the definite emphasis on adventure.’’
Said Keneley, who did the play by play for the Feb. 10 event: “I am really looking forward to working with Gina. I have had the pleasure of watching her compete. I definitely feel she will bring a lot to the team with her first-hand perspective.
“I just hope I don’t say the wrong thing and she slaps an arm-bar on me.’’
Offered $kala, who worked the Feb. 10 cage fight card as color commentator: “I’ve got the luckiest position in the world. I am living out every man’s fantasy. Not only will I be calling the action from front row center for some of the greatest MMA fighters in the world, I’ll be side by side with the world’s greatest women’s MMA fighter, who also just happens to be a 10.’’
“Gina, Todd and I are really excited to be able continue to bring fans these ground-breaking installments of live streamed MMA fights available only at ProElite.com.’’
Born in Dallas County, Texas, Carano is the daughter of former professional football quarterback Glenn Carano.
In high school, the younger Carano played basketball, volleyball and softball. She became interested in Muay Thai Boxing after entering the University of Nevada. She currently is 18 units shy of obtaining a psychology degree.
“I have not given up on going back to school, but, right now, I am having so much fun,” Carano said. “We will just have to wait and see what happens.’’
About ProElite, Inc. (www.proeliteinc.com)
ProElite, Inc. is an entertainment and media company dedicated to producing world-class sporting events and empowering the participation of athletes and enthusiasts. ProElite, Inc. fosters the growth of the core principles of competition – Pride, Spirit, Honor and Sportsmanship. ProElite, Inc. owns the following brands and companies: EliteXCTM (mixed martial arts live event production), ProElite.com (online community that provides content and tools for martial arts enthusiasts), and LifeLogger (top-rated internet blogging site and mobile application developer).

Posted on | June 21, 2007 | No Comments

DOMINIC LAVIN INTERVIEWS RAJASAK SOR VORAPIN

Rajasak Sor Vorapin is a living legend in Muay Thai circles, he’s had countless fights and won endless titles, now retired from competition he works training fighters. I’ve had the privelage of training with several of the current top Thai trainers and Rajasak shines as the most technically and physically competent of them all. I caught up with him recently in Leeds, England where he is training fighters at the Bad Company Gym.

FNU Rajasak, where do you come from ?

Burriram in the North East of Thailand, the Isaan region.

FNU How old are you ?

39

FNU How old were you when you started Thai Boxing and who introduced you to it ?

About 14 years old, I saw it on the TV and decided I wanted to fight.

FNU How many fights have you had ?

I don’t Know it’s about three or four hundred. I fought from when I was quite young and then I fought in Bangkok for 10 years. I was fighting every week when I was little. When I first started I was really small so I I fought for about 2 years and had to wait a while until I was big enough to fight at the stadiums, I’d fought in Buriram, Korat, Surin and Ubon before I went to Bangkok.

FNU What titles and accolades did you win ?

I was Champion of Rachadamnoen Stadium at 115 lbs (about 52 kilo), 122 lbs and at 126 lbs 3 times and Sportswriters fighter of the year twice, although I can’t remember how many fights and titles I won.

FNU Did you ever fight at Lumphini ?

I fought the Champions at Lumphini at 126 lbs and upwards because I’d fought everyone at small weights and had to find people who were bigger.

FNU When did you win your titles?

The last title I won was at Lumphini around nine years ago about 1998.

FNU Who’s the best person you fought ?

I fought many people over a long period of time, some were better than others it depended how hard they had trained and how ready they were for a fight but every fight was different.

FNU Which gym did you fight for ?

I fought for Sor Vorapin, Jitti Damriram was my trainer. There are two gyms that are part of Sor Vorapin, one that has a lot of foreigners and one where the fighters go. When I finished fighting I followed Jitti to the gym he set up and now I work there as a trainer. Jitti’s from Burriram the same as me, we fought together from the age of about 14 or 15 years old. I remember the first time I fought at Rajadamnoen I got 1000 baht ($20 US approx), but . When I first started I was really small so I I fought for about 2 years and had to wait a while until I was big enough to fight at the stadiums, I’d fought in Buriram, Korat, Surin and Ubon before I went to Bangkok where I fought for Sor Vorapin.

FNU Who do you think the best fighters are at the moment ?

I don’t think the fighters you see at the moment are as good as they used to be, they seem to go at about 80 %, they don’t really go at 100% and it’s hard to say who’s best because there are different people at different weights with different styles but there’s Sonchai Sor Kansing , Sombat Sor Kansing, Anuwrat Kaewsamrit , Bukaow’s good but because he’s so big it’s hard for him to find other Thai’s to fight but Kreangkit Sor Vorapin’s good and can beat him, then there’s Chumpon and Sakmongkol.

FNU What do you think of the foreigners in Thai boxing ?

I think if they want to fight Thai people they have to train hard and concentrate on what they’re doing, it depends on the individual, Thai’s are brought up with it and the foreigners have to work hard to beat them, it’s hard for them to be able to train the way the Thais do. The foreigners aren’t in the top of the ranks yet, they’re good enough to fight but are only just getting in the rankings at the moment. If you look at Anuwrat at the moment he’s too good for foreigners to fight, when he went to Japan to fight they could only find a Thai who was good enough to fight him, so the Thais really have to fight each other. If you want to fight a Thai at and you’re 57kg you’ll probably only be able to fight a guy at 54 kg.

FNU What have you got out of being a Thai boxer ?

Becoming a fighter helped me support my family and give them money. I’ve got lots of support around the world and in Thailand everyone knows who I am and what my name is. I’ve also been to Hong Kong, China, Switzerland and France.

FNU What would you do if you weren’t Thai boxing ?

I don’t know.

FNU What advice would you give to up coming fighters?

When you get money don’t spend it all, keep your money for the future and do the best when you fight.

FNU Is there anyone you want to say hello to ?

Yes my family, when I get back to Thailand I’m going straight away to see them there are five people in my family and I’ve got two children one boy one girl. I’m looking forward to seeing them when I get home.

If you would like to train with Rajasak visit www.jittigym.com for more information.

Copyright Dominic Lavin

WHERE DOES A FIGHTER FIND THE TIME?

Posted on | June 21, 2007 | No Comments

Full-Time Fighter?

By: Tristan Yunker

A lot of people ask me, “Tristan, isn’t it difficult to be so good at fighting while still maintaining a full-time job?” (Oddly enough, most people around me are that well spoken.) But the answer, quite simply, is… “Yes, it is unbelievably hard.” Yet somehow I manage to prevail, all the while balancing training, matchmaking for Legends of Fighting, working as a computer consultant, and occasionally, if I’m lucky, I get to squeeze in a fight or two. As glamorous a lifestyle as it may be, being a professional fighter isn’t as effortless as I make it look.

I’ve been fighting professionally for approximately a year and a half now, maintaining a full-time job the entire duration. Now, I’m sure I’m not the first, and I’m even more sure that I won’t be the last, but fighting is a way of life that requires sacrifice. And unfortunately, most of that sacrifice (at least towards the beginning of one’s career) occurs in the monetary form.

Now I’m not saying I’m in it for the money, because that definitely is not the case. But this kind of dilemma certainly produces a “Catch 22” scenario… in order to train I need to make money, in order to make money I need to work, but the more I work the more it takes away from my training. See the problem? Most casual fans of the sport don’t understand the added expenses that go along with proper training and nutrition. So I have decided take it upon my shoulders to enlighten the uninformed population.

To the average observer Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is nothing more than a glorified street fight. But to those involved, MMA is a careful and meticulous science, incorporating a combination of proper training, coaching, diet and nutrition, and natural athletic ability. Only the last of which doesn’t involve some form of financial expenditure.

Here’s a simple breakdown of an average fighter’s expenses:

Gym dues: $100 per month.
Management fees: 20% of fight purse.
Supplemental nutrition: $75 per week.
Completely dominating your opponent: Priceless.

Sorry, I had to throw that last part in there just for kicks, but you get the idea. Beginning with initial preparations, to weight cutting (which we’ll discuss in my next piece), all the way to the fight itself, fighting isn’t just a stress on the body, it’s a strain on the mind and personal life as well.

-Tristan Yunker