David Wright, the Mets' slugging third baseman

Page 6 Richard Johnson New York Post September 30 2008

David Wright, the Mets' slugging third baseman, preferred talking politics to baseball after his choke-prone team blew a last chance at the playoffs Sunday. That night, Wright, a Republican who has dined with President Bush at the White House, was chatting with Kelly Hocklass, an African-American woman, at Duke's Sports Bar on East 19th Street. A spy said, "[Wright] professed his love for [John] McCain and 'hot hockey mom' [Sarah Palin] and then told [Hocklass], 'I'm a white boy from Virginia. Who do you think I'm voting for?' " Wright also told her, "You are being fooled by [Barack] Obama because of the color of your skin." But Hocklass told us the two were just joking around. "We were just having a conversation," she said. "I wear an Obama pin and said to him, 'Don't tell me you're a McCain supporter.' We started joking about being Democrat versus Republican.

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US Olympic Alternate Danny O’Connor; Now a true professional boxer

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.– With his successful pro debut now behind him, 2008 U.S. Olympic first alternate Danny O’Connor is hoping to stay busy as well as further adjust to fighting longer rounds with smaller gloves and no headgear.

In front of a large crowd of his enthusiastic fans and escorted into the ring by a Irish bagpipe player, O’Connor turned in an impressive performance against on September 17 in Manchester (NH), using a devastating body attack en route to stopping Jose Guerrido at 1:55 of the second round, when Guerrido’s trainer – former two-time world champion Aaron Davis – threw in the towel.

“It turned out to be like me and my coaches envisioned it,” O’Connor reflected. “All of the hard training paid off. I felt good in the ring. I was a little too anxious going for the early knockout and didn’t show all of the ability I have. I’m a big body puncher. I love banging the body because it slows down the opponent and leaves open holes for my shots. That’s what happened.

“I did feel a lot of pressure fighting in front of so many of my fans and family, as well as Leon (Margules, Seminole Warriors Boxing executive director) coming up from Florida to watch me fight for the first time. But I’ve always fought well under pressure and I settled right down. It’s going to take a little while to get used to fighting with smaller gloves, but I liked fighting without head gear, and didn’t really get into the longer rounds. Punching felt different with 8-ounce gloves, but it’s something I’ll quickly adapt to. I did feel naked fighting without a shirt. I like fighting as a professional better than as an amateur.”

The 23-year-old O’Connor, fighting out of Framingham (MA), won this year’s US Future Stars National Championship, in which he was named Most Outstanding Boxer, as well as the National Golden Gloves Tournament, both in the 141-pound light welterweight division. Danny’s most notable victory as an amateur was a dominating victory, 23-3, against eventual 2008 Olympic Gold medalist Felix Diaz, of the Dominican Republic, on May 29 in a USA-Dominican Republic dual meet in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“I really couldn’t have asked for a better result,” O’Connor’s co-manager (with Rob Valle) and head trainer David Keefe remarked. “He wasn’t hurt at all and threw some great body shots, which will serve him well as he moved up. I’m also very happy with the promotional pick we made with Leon and Seminole Warriors Boxing.”

Among the celebrities watching O’Connor’s pro debut were legendary boxers Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns, who won the same National Golden Gloves light welterweight title in 1977 as Danny did this year, Hall of Fame trainer Angelo Dundee, and members of he pop group “Boys Like Girls.” Keefe’s brother John for the is a drummer for gold-record selling “Boys Like Girls” and the band has supported Danny.

For more information about Danny O’Connor go to www.dannyoconnorboxing.com.

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©®™ 2007, 2008 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Studios, for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

Reality TV show winner Otis Griffin fighting for legitimacy in Germany; IBF middleweight Abraham-Marquez title fight....

Reality TV show winner Otis Griffin fighting for legitimacy in Germany; IBF middleweight Abraham-Marquez title fight headlines Saturday’s PPV in U.S. & Canada

HOBOKEN, N.J.– Former NABO champion Otis “Triple OG” Griffin has traveled halfway around the world, from his California home to Germany for Saturday’s (October 4) fight against Enad Licina, in order to prove that “The Next Great Champ” winner is much more than a reality television fighter.

Nothing has come easy for Alabama-native Griffin (19-3-2, 7 KOs), who battles Licina (14-1, 8 KOs) for the vacant IBF Intercontinental cruiserweight title in the 12-round co-feature on a special pay-per-view card, headlined by unbeaten International Boxing Federation middleweight champion “King” Arthur Abraham defending his belt against former world champion Raul “El Diamente” Marquez, live from Bamberg, Germany.

Abraham-Marquez is promoted by Wilfried Sauerland, presented by Sauerland Event and its Managing Director, Christian Meyer, in association with Seminole Warriors Boxing. The broadcast is being distributed in the United States and Canada by Integrated Sports for live viewing at 3 PM/ET – 12 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, TVN, DirecTV, DISH Network, Viewer’s Choice Canada, and Bell ExpressVue, for a suggested retail price of only $24.95. A replay will be shown that same night starting at 9 PM/ET. Al Bernstein and Nick Charles will call the action.

Griffin, fighting out of Sacramento, lost his pro debut to Jimmy Mince by four-round split decision in the preliminary round of the 2004 Oscar De La Hoya-sponsored reality television series on Fox, “The Next Great Champ.” When one of the fighters suddenly quit the show, Griffin was brought back and he took full advantage of his second chance, defeating Mohamad Elmahmoud (DEC4), Mince (DEC4 in semifinals) in a rematch and David Pareja (DEC6) in the championship final. The winner was supposed to fight in a sanctioned WBO title fight, but it never materialized and Griffin eventually built-up his pro record to 16-1-2, setting the stage in 2007 for an NABO light heavyweight championship bout against unbeaten Mike Nevitt (14-0), who Otis stopped in the seventh round.

Yugoslavian cruiserweight Licina (14-1, 8 KOs), rated No. 13 by the European Boxing Union and European Boxing Association, now fights out of Germany, where he’ll take on Griffin in Saturday’s co-feature.

Abraham (27-0, 22 KOs), rated No. 2 by The Ring and ESPN, captured the IBF middleweight title early three years ago by way of a fifth-round knockout of Kingsley Ikeke (23-1). Seven successful title defenses have followed against Edison Miranda, Shannon Taylor, Kofi Jantuah, Sebastian Demers, Khoren Gevor, Wayne Elcock and Elvin Ayala.

The 1992 U.S. Olympian Marquez (41-3-1, 29 KOs), rated No. 2 by the IBF as well as No. 8 by The Ring and ESPN, earned his title shot against Abraham by defeating previously undefeated No. 1 contender Giovanni Lorenzo (26-0) in their June 21st IBF title eliminator.

For more information about the Abraham-Marguez PPV go to www.integratedsportsnet.com or www.warriorsboxing.com

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©®™ 2007, 2008 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Studios, for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved