MIDDLEWEIGHT MELEE: The Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, FL will serve as the site for a Showtime World Championship Boxing middleweight doubleheader. The 12 round non-title main event bout will feature a rematch between Edison Miranda (30-2, 26 KO’s) and undefeated IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (26-0, 21 KO’s). In the co-feature undefeated IBF #4 ranked contender Giovanni Lorenzo (26-0, 18 KO’s) challenges IBF #13 ranked contender and former world champion Raul Marquez (40-3-1, 29 KO’s) in a 12 round IBF Mandatory Eliminator bout. IBF champion Abraham is mandated to fight the winner of Lorenzo-Marquez in his next bout. SHOWTIME’s June 21broadcast will begin at 9pm ET / PT. Tickets, priced at $202, $152, $102, and $52 are now on sale and may be purchased at the Hard Rock Live Box Office or TicketMaster.com
GIOVANNI LORENZO: Lorenzo began camp on January 6 in Yonkers, NY. He says his biggest obstacle in camp has been the “104-degree gym temperatures” in the gym thanks to New York’s recent heat wave. He has sparred approximately 60 rounds for the bout, but will not reveal who his sparring partners are out of superstition. In a recent interview with www.boxingconfidential.com , Lorenzo said his trainer “Pastor Ralph” doesn’t believe in a lot of sparring because fighters develop a “sparring mentality and that has a negative effect”.
Pastor Ralph Farrait is an ordained minister who runs a church in the south Bronx called Corner Stone. He has worked in the past with Saoul Mamby, Aaron Davis, Andrey Tsurkan, and Darling Jimenez. Pastor Ralph says that while watching fighters train at Gleason’s Gym he noticed that many of the fighters who sparred a lot began to mimic the styles of those they were working against in training. Not only would they pick up the bad habits of the other fighters, but they would become predictable as well. Limiting those sparring sessions lessens the likelihood of that happening. Lorenzo agrees and believes that less sparring has made him a more dangerous puncher as is evidenced by his recent knockout ratio.
Somehow I don’t think this is what is meant by the term road work:
A few weeks ago as he and his trainer were returning from his physical conditioning work in Long Island, NY, they became embroiled in a huge traffic jam on the Grand Central Parkway. Traffic stopped moving and Lorenzo, like a race horse at the starting gate, was eager to get home and finish his road work. Frustrated by the bumper-to-bumper congestion, he jumped out of the car and started towards the parkway. Pastor Ralph screamed at him to get back in the car because they were still 6 -7 miles from the Whitestone Bridge. Lorenzo insisted that he would finish his road work alongside the parkway and meet him at the foot of the bridge, before darting in between cars towards the shoulder of the road. Eventually Pastor Ralph arrived at the entrance to the bridge and found Lorenzo sitting on the side of the road, exhausted. Not satisfied with just making it to the bridge Lorenzo forced himself to run it in record time because he was intent on “beating you there Pastor Ralph.”
RAUL MARQUEZ: “After I beat Bronco McKart I took off a week and then went right back to the gym to stay in shape. I’ve been in camp for about eight weeks” . . . Marquez alternates between sprints and long distance running. Some days he’ll run ¼ or ½ mile sprints, other days he’ll run for 45 consecutive minutes. The purpose is to “change it up so we don’t get bored” . . . The former champ spars twice per week. He mainly works the pads and pounds the heavy bag. “The hardest sparring I go in one session would be eight or nine rounds. It’s a tough workout with the heat and humidity here in Houston and fresh sparring partners coming in every couple of rounds.” Marquez works with four different sparring partners. Two are super middleweights, one is a light heavyweight, and the last is a tall, lanky heavyweight. Two of the sparring partners are top-five national amateurs . . . “It’s been a good camp,” says Marquez. “I can’t complain. No injuries. My weight’s good. The McKart fight helped me. Last year I fought twice and stopped both guys early. The 10 rounds of work against McKart helped me with my confidence . . .
Next Week: Final Thoughts and Some Industry Predictions
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