FORMER OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNER AND TWO-TIME WORLD CHAMPION MELDRICK TAYLOR TO JOIN CHAMPIONS OF TOMORROW PROMOTIONAL TEAM 1st card on June 20th at the Deck in Essington, PA

Former Olympic Gold Medal winner and two-time world champion Meldrick Taylor has been added to the Champions of Tomorrow Promotional team.

The inaugural event will take place on Thursday night June 20^th at the Deck in Essington, PA.

Taylor, who captured Olympic Gold in 1984, went on to win the IBF Jr. Welterweight championship with a 12^th round stoppage over Buddy McGirt on September 3, 1988.  Taylor defended the title twice before engaging his memorable fight with Julio Cesar Chavez.  Taylor went on to win WBA Welterweight title with a 12 round unanimous decision over Aaron Davis.  He defended that belt two times and challenged for the world championship on three more occasions.

Taylor joins Marty and Damon Feldman as part of the promotional team.

“It’s great to get back in boxing”, said Taylor

“I hope to help these young fighters realize their dreams to become world champions and with my experience I hope to be able to provide that insight.  Plus it’s great to work with Damon and his father.  We go back a long time.  In fact Damon fought on one of my undercards”

Scheduled to appear on the card will be:

In six round bouts: Welterweight Tim Witherspoon Jr. (9-3-1, 2 KO’s) of Philadelphia; Middleweight Isiah Seldon (7-0, 3 KO’s) of Atlantic City, NJ and Lightweight Joey Tiberi (9-1, 5 KO’s) of Newark, DE

In four round bouts: Super Bantamweight Alex Barbosa (4-1-1, 1 KO) of Philadelphia; Pro debuting Lightweight Omar Mangual of Philadelphia; Pro debuting Heavyweight Corey Morley of Philadelphia; Welterweight Terrell James (1-0) of Philadelphia and Lightweight John Dipolito (0-4) of Philadelphia

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 All photos other than those specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Impress Photo-Studios♔ and KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Blog-Online Publication all rights reserved.

McGirt & Cooney supporting Team SCCOA in 'Battle of the Badges 5' NY vs. Mass, May 18 at Foxwoods Resort Casino

 The Suffolk County (New York) Correctional Officers (SCCOA) Boxing Team has the support of two-time world champion James "Buddy" McGirt and former world heavyweight title challenger "Gentleman" Gerry Cooney in the fifth annual Battle of the Badges (BOB5), featuring amateur boxing matches against the Massachusetts Correctional Officer Boxing Team (MCO), on Saturday night, May 18, in Fox Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

"BOB5" is presented by National Public Safety Athletic League ("NPSAL") in association with MCO, SCCOA, and Foxwoods Resort Casino.  Defending champion NY leads in this amateur boxing series, 3-1. 

Proceeds from the May 18^th charitable event will benefit Work Vessels For Veterans and NPSAL. More than a dozen matches are scheduled between amateur boxers representing Team MCO and Team SCCOA.

Team SCCOA recently worked out at McGirt's new gym, "McGirt's Training Facility," in Nutley, New Jersey.  McGirt and Cooney worked with the SCCOA boxers.  McGirt (73-6-1, 48 KOs) was a professional boxer from 1982 to 1997, capturing world titles in the welterweight and light welterweight divisions.  Cooney (28-3, 24 KOs) fought as a professional between 1977 and 1990, earning a world heavyweight title shot against Larry Holmes.  McGirt, Cooney and former New York Islanders Benoit Houge will be special guests of Team SCOAA at the May 18^th event.

Team SCOAA is trained by Keith Youngs, a former world kick-boxing champion, who has been training pro and amateur boxers for the past 17 years.  One of the SCOAA boxers to watch is heavyweight Alex Mylet, who is making his amateur boxing debut on the May 18^th show.  Boxing flows in his blood.  His grandfather once fought world heavyweight champion Primo Carnera.

  

Gerry Cooney (R) holding the mitts for Will Faller   

Danielle Brouard (0-1) is scheduled to face Mass. boxer Ashleigh Moore (3-1) in a 125-pound open match.  Brouard has been a Suffolk County Correctional Officer since 2004 and she is one of only two female to achieve a position on the Sheriff's Emergency Response Team (SERT), a corrections equivalent to SWAT.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 All photos other than those specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Impress Photo-Studios♔ and KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Blog-Online Publication all rights reserved.

This past Thursday, The state of the art McGirt Training facility had its grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony.

 
The facility will be a gym and will also house the offices of GH3 Promotions and Greg Cohen Promotions is already a hit In the community and political leaders joined members of the boxing community at the Grand Opening.

The main trainer will be former world champion James “Buddy” McGirt, who will train not only professionals but some of the best amateurs in the country.

The McGirt Training Facility is an extension of the Elite Heat Boxing Gym that is located in Newark.

Said Buddy McGirt, “This is great.  I want to thank Vito Mielnicki of GH3 Promotions and Greg Cohen for the opportunity for me to come home.  There is a lot of great talent here and I not only look forward to working with the professionals but the many great youngsters that have a lot of potential to become professionals in the years to come”

“There was an overflow of talent and kids at the our Elite Heat Gym”, said Vito Mielnicki

“There is a lot of top notch professional and amateur talent in this area and it’s great to add Buddy with our Elite Heat trainers Wali Moses and Robert Griffin”

“We are trying to make this gym a farm system to GH3 and Greg Cohen Promotions.  We are taking a grass roots approach to boxing where we can mold young men and woman and keep them off the streets but teach them discipline through boxing and to have a world champion like Buddy McGirt and has since gone on to become one of the top trainers in the sport gives us a lot of credibility and a guy commands the respect of any aspiring boxer”

Also in attendance was the honorable mayor Alphonse Petracco.

The Facility will also house the Ediroc Store which will sell state of the art boxing equipment.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.

MATTHEW MACKLIN vs. SERGIO "MARAVILLA" MARTINEZ on Saturday, March 17 - St. Patrick's Day at The Theater at Madison Square Garden

The card which will be aired live on HBO's "World Championship Boxing is entitled, "THE REAL Middleweight Championship - Get Your Irish Up", features Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez (48-2-2, 27KO's) defending his middleweight crown against Ireland's Matthew "Mack the Knife" Macklin (28-3, 19KO's). The card is promoted by DiBella Entertainment and will be shown live on HBO beginning 10PM ET/7PM PT.

MATTHEW MACKLIN: I've had a great camp, sparring has been terrific and most of the hard work has been done at this point. The next few weeks now are just about fine tuning and peaking for fight night. It's been great working with Buddy again. He's a very knowledgeable boxing guy so it's great to soak that up. I'm ready for war and whatever happens in that ring. No matter if it goes one round or twelve, I don't believe Martinez is going to be able to cope with the intensity and burning desire that I will bring into that ring with me at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick's Day.

BUDDY MCGIRT: Matthew is in great shape for this fight. I've worked with him for the Yori Boy Campas fight a few years back so I've been aware for a long time just how good he is. We're not going to shout or boast about doing this or that. Matthew's just going to go in there and let his fists do the talking. I must say though that I am very confident that he is going to shock an awful lot of people in this fight.

LAR CORBETT: It's been a great experience to spend a few days with Matthew and see his preparations up close and personal. Myself and Eoin are very grateful to Brian Peters (Macklin co-promoter) and Martin Donnelly (Macklin Sponsor) for the opportunity to come over. Matthew is training like a demon for this fight and the level of effort and dedication he puts into his boxing has to be seen to be believed. Matthew has always been a great supporter of Tipperary Hurling over the years, through thick and thin, so we felt it was only fair that we return that support. There is huge interest in this fight back in Tipperary. I know there are loads of people traveling over to New York for the fight but for the people not traveling over, they will be glued to the television and the whole country of Ireland is behind him.

EOIN KELLY: I've known Matthew since we played hurling together as kids and it's great to see him living his dream now on the big stage. The hype in the US for the fight is phenomenal. There are big billboards in Times Square and huge media interest in the fight, but Matthew seems to take it all in stride. We came over to show our support to him because it's an absolutely massive night, not just for Matthew but for all of Ireland to have someone competing at that level, fighting a guy considered to be up there with the likes of Mayweather and Pacquiao on St. Patrick's Day at Madison Square Garden.

On hand to show their support for Macklin were Irish Hurling stars Eion Kelly (right of Macklin in the Photo) and Lar Corbett (left of Macklin in the photo), who had made the trip over from Ireland earlier this week and have been touring the city with Macklin to rally together the heavy Irish community throughout the New York area to come out and support Macklin on March 17.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.

Who DAT? Six Questions with Buddy McGirt-trained DAT NGUYEN - ShoBox: The New Generation TOMORROW/Saturday at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT

SIX QUESTIONS WITH DAT NGUYEN'

World-renowned trainer Buddy McGirt did a double take the moment he first laid eyes on Dat “Be Dat” Nguyen during a sparring session with Arturo Gatti before Gatti’s second fight with Micky Ward in late 2002.

“I saw this guy who could really hit and said he should be knocking everyone out,” McGirt said. “He was in there doing his thing and I liked him. Someone said they were looking for a fighter so I gave them Dat’s number. And that’s how we met.”

NY Post Journalist George Willis and Buddy McGirt

For the past five years, McGirt has trained Nguyen of Vietnam, who will headline on a special edition of ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME® this Saturday LIVE at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Nguyen (17-1, 6 KOs), a U.S. resident now living in Vero Beach, Fla., will face promising Luis Orlando “Orlandito” Del Valle (12-0,10 KOs), of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, in a 10-round featherweight fight at Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The card co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment and Gary Shaw Productions will include an 10-rounder that pits 2008 Puerto Rican Olympian, power-punching Jonathan Gonzalez (13-0, 13 KOs), of Rio Piedras, against Colombian Richard Gutierrez (26-6-1, 16 KOs), of Miami, in a junior middleweight match.

A former kickboxer who was born in Bien Hoa about 45 minutes north of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Nguyen graduated from high school in 2001 and received a full scholarship to Northern Michigan University, home of the U.S. Olympic Center. He spent three years there studying computer information systems.

The 28-year-old Nguyen has won his last six starts, all by decision, including an eight-round decision over Andres Ledesma in his last fight on Oct. 10, 2009.

Although it’s been 20 months since he’s fought, McGirt doesn’t believe in ring rust when you’re young. “That’s a load of crap,” he said. “As long as you take care of yourself it doesn’t matter how long it’s been.”

Nguyen answered six questions.

Question: There will be a lot of Puerto Rican fans in the crowd on Saturday rooting for your opponent. Are you concerned about that and do you hear the crowd when you’re in the ring?

Nguyen: “I hope that there will be a few Vietnamese fans there. I’m sure their will. But it doesn’t matter. I’m always in for putting on a good show for whoever is there. It all depends. Usually when I fight I don’t hear anything. If I concentrate and pay attention and try to hear them, I can sometimes hear them. When I’m focused then I can’t hear them.”

Question: What has training with Buddy McGirt meant to you these past five years?

Nguyen: “Buddy has trained multiple world champions. With Buddy, he’s very calm and when he’s calm I’m relaxed. He just has so much experience. I do whatever Buddy says to do. Buddy doesn’t really take the credit for all the champions he’s produced. He’s very humble and doesn’t talk about a lot of his other fighters. I’m just happy to be part of his stable of fighters.”

Question: What do you think about the featherweight division right now and are you ready to call anyone out?

Nguyen: “(Laughing) No. Not quite yet. There’s a lot of talent in this division and I’m happy to be part of it. There’s (Yuriorkis) Gamboa and Chris John and all the other champions. (Juan Manuel) Lopez just lost but he has so much heart. Those are some of the guys I would like to fight because they are so well known and well respected.”

Question: You opened your own gym called Miracle Boxing Academy in Vero Beach. Would you like to stay in the fight game after your boxing career is over?

Nguyen: “I love this art and I’ve been doing it so long it just felt like the right thing to do. It’s made me a better fighter. I’m doing homework every day when I’m training other people. It’s been a real blessing for me. It’s something I did to give myself the best opportunity to succeed as a fighter right now.”

Question: Not many boxers get full college scholarships for boxing, but you did. How did that come about?

Nguyen: “Yes, I received a full scholarship to Northern Michigan University where the U.S. Olympic Center is. I fought in the U.S. Nationals and the coaches like Al Mitchell recognized that I had some talent. I even beat Andre Dirrell in the 1999 National Junior Olympics. I left after three years to turn professional and am still a few credits short of getting my degree. It gave me a lot of confidence and opened up my eyes to a lot of different things.”

Question: You are a self-described “computer nerd” and even operate your own website. What do you plan on doing with your computer education?

Nguyen: “I’ve always worked on computers and I fix people’s computers. I do everything on my website (www.miracleboxing.com). If I didn’t get the boxing scholarship and wasn’t so focused on making the Olympics then I would probably be a computer engineer right now. If I do something I go the whole nine yards so it’s something I’ve kind of put on backburner for now.”

EL Boxing Empress See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

Chambers Gets an Old School Philly Education by Steve Kim of maxboxing.com‏

This 4th of July contest isn't the first title eliminator for Chambers on German soil. His bout versus Povetkin in January of 2008 was for the IBF version. In a bout that he controlled early, he inexplicably stopped fighting and was overtaken down the stretch by Povetkin.

“In the fight with Povetkin, Povetkin's eye was swollen, everything like this and Buddy McGirt is my dear friend and Buddy was trying to do the best he could. Buddy was brought in late in that. Nobody mentioned the eye. Certain buttons have to be pushed in an athlete," said Murray.

Chambers promises to not repeat the same mistake. He knows that Dimitrenko enjoys the home canvas advantage this weekend.

"It taught me one thing," Chambers says of lone professional defeat, "no matter how much you have something under control, especially in boxing, it's not to say you can't lose control. And for me, I've seen it. So when you get control, assume control, do not give up anything. Just because it seems like it's getting easy don't back down, don't pull off the gas. First of all, I'm NOT fighting at home, I'm not necessarily going to get a fair decision. I'm not going to say it's going to be a bad decision or anything like that, but you never know with the decisions.
“But first of all, I gotta win and win impressively anyway, just to get a draw. So that fight in itself really taught me what I really have to do and the pressure I gotta put on these guys."

Chambers, despite not being the biggest heavyweight out there, has a solid set of tools: fast hands, elusiveness and the ability to relax. But he can frustrate you at times with the way he fights. In his victory over Peter, he showed an alarming lack of urgency that made what could've been a decisive outcome into a fight he had to eke out. Chambers says that part of the reason he couldn't let his hands go as often as he wanted is because he jammed his right wrist.

But he conceded," I wasn't 100-percent happy, honestly, I felt I could've done more. I rocked him a few times, I really did some serious damage to him mentally, physically throughout the whole fight and I think I had complete control but in doing so I don't think I finished the fight the way I needed to. Maybe I could've finished it before it was supposed to be done - meaning stopping him early. I had all those opportunities, all these things could've been done but I didn't follow up and in that part I was a little disappointed. But with the victory, I was satisfied."

Perhaps one thing that also held him back was the fact that Chambers weighed in closer to 220-pounds than he did to 210.

"I'm not going to say all of that was it, the fact is, me being big or small, I can fight with anybody," he says. "But I think if I would've been smaller, lighter, I would've been able to get off more combinations, sharper shots."

Expect a much slimmer, trimmer Chambers this time around.

“I see something now at 209-pounds," says Murray, who gets excited at the mere thought of it. "I remember Holyfield at his best, 6'1, 212. When Ali was really jumping around, he was 210, 211. He slowed down as he got older and heavier." To Murray, a smaller Chambers is a better Chambers. “I've seen him heavy and I've seen him light. I like what I see lighter. In other words, if you go back to the great heavyweight fighters, champions: Jack Johnson, 6'1, 190-something pounds, maybe at 200. Joe Louis, 190-something pounds. Rocky Marciano, 195-pounds, Most of the great fighters were smaller guys. It goes back to football; your last line of defense is what? Defensive backs, they're stopping jokers and they weigh 190-195 pounds, they're not big guys."

Even in an era where world-class heavyweights look more like defensive ends than free safeties, Murray believes that less is more.

“What I'm saying is, speed is the thing that will get you through everything. Speed and talent and being able to break the defense and do all the things you can possibly do. The lighter Eddie is, the sharper he is."

Win this fight, and he gets a shot at Wladimir Klitschko.

“I gotta tell ya', we all know that Eddie's shown the ability to go out there and be a mesmerizing heavyweight. One that's fast, accurate, can take a shot, can give better than the other guy," said his promoter, Dan Goossen. "But what we've seen with that, is a lack of consistency throughout the fight. For some reason I believe that Rob Murray Sr. has got in his head and I don't know if you've seen this in some of the other interviews he's done, but he's never been so verbally aggressive in what he's going to do in a fight since we've been involved with him and I actually believe what he's saying now. That he believes and if he does, then I think we're in for a great performance and one that might shock a lot of people because I think Eddie Chambers has finally realized how good he is.
“But what he's gotta do is achieve that success."

BERRY BERRY GOOD

Those of you that know me at all know that I'm pretty set in my ways. I take pride in being pretty old-fashioned. Well, some of you may want to sit down - I turned in my beloved old Nextel flip-phone for a Blackberry. Yup, I went from 1999 to about 2005.

First Kim Jong-Ill gets nuclear weapons, now I get a Blackberry. Don't let us Koreans have too many gadgets, we can get crazy. I'm actually taking pictures and videos with my new thing-a-ma-jig and sending them to people. I even put up my own screen saver. I still can't believe it. And get this, you can even browse the internet on this thing. Seriously, when did they come up with that?!? It's amazing. What will they think of next?

I mean, now I'm even thinking of replacing my abacus for a calculator (I’m thinking of going with a Texas-Instruments model) and perhaps even replacing my Vic20 computer. Is this Apple company reputable? You know, progress ain't such a bad thing.

Now, here's the kicker, I even got my own Twitter account (stevemaxboxing) and you won’t believe this, I actually tweeted (that's what the kids call it, right?) from my new thing-a-ma-berry. On this new fangled contraption I plan on giving out whatever boxing scoops and flurries that came up throughout the day.

As for my Walkman, sorry folks, that stays. I have waaaaay too many cassette tapes of Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, Public Enemy, RUN-DMC and Billy Ocean that I still listen to while working out.

FRIDAY FLURRIES

OK, so who got the better end of the Trevor Ariza-Ron Artest swap? I think Artest will give the Lakers a lot of toughness and grit, but he has a tendency to kill ball movement at times.....So that means the Lakers will re-sign Lamar Odom and Shan-Wow Brown, right?.....Seriously, with all the questions about who really fathered Michael Jackson's kids, doesn't it give the song 'Billie Jean' a whole new meaning?...Is there a better one-man wrecking crew than the Padres’ Adrian Gonzalez?....The newest fighter training at the Wild Card Boxing Club is heavyweight Brian 'Fresh' Minto.....Get this folks, I'm also using a Jawbone earpiece....I still can't believe I'm on Twitter. The world may come to an end. Have a great 4th, everyone....

See you at the Fights.
Thanks for your time.

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Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

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

IBF junior welterweight champion 'Paulie 'The Magic Man' Malignaggi training in Sicily for his May 24 rematch against Lovemore N'dou in England

N’dou strictly business for champ Malignaggi



Paul Malignaggi talks about up and coming fight with Lovemore N'Dou May 24th in England
Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience The Video Channel http://www.youtube.com/ELEmpress1

SIRACUSA, Sicily– IBF junior welterweight champion Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi has shifted training camp from Vero Beach (Florida) to Sicily in preparation for his May 24 rematch with Lovemore N’dou on the Ricky Hatton-Juan Lazcano card in Manchester, England.



Malignaggi (24-1, 5 KOs) captured the IBF title last June by defeating champion N’dou (46-9-1, 31 KOs) by unanimous 12-round decision.



Paulie successfully defended his belt this past January with a 12-round decision against No. 1 contender Herman Ngoudjo (16-1).



Fighting an opponent he thoroughly outclassed (120-106, 120-106, 118-108) less than a year ago, flooring him in the process, has all the makings of a potential trap fight for Malignaggi, especially with a potential mega-deal on the table to fight Ricky Hatton this fall in New York City, pending wins May 24 by both fighters.



“I’m just working on getting the job done May 24th,” Malignaggi explained. “I’m focused on doing my job on this card, not looking any deeper than I have to. I’m training in Sicily to get acclimated to the time change (like England, 6 hours difference from the East Coast of the U.S.). I have connections here and everything was set-up for me, including my sparring partners. I trained two weeks in Vero Beach with Buddy (McGirt, head trainer) and he’ll catch up with us in Sicily.



“N’dou is a pressure fighter who fights at a high pace. I just have to stay consistent and fight like I did our first fight. I’ll force him into making adjustments. He has to try and get to me, come to me, not stay on the outside. He’s been the same fighter for a long time and I don’t expect anything much different this fight.”



Malignaggi was born in Brooklyn but his Italian immigrant parents moved back to Siracuse, Sicily when Paulie was only a few months old. Six years later, the family decided to move back to the United States, but Paulie’s professional soccer playing father, Nello, stayed only a few weeks before returning to live in Siracuse.

McGirt predicts Malignaggi will be ready for N’dou once again. “N’dou brought in Boza Edwards to train him and I know they’ll be concentrating more on a body attack,” Buddy said. “They’ll judge Paulie off of his last fight (against Ngoudjo) and try to do a couple of things differently. Once things don’t go his way, hopefully, N’dou will go back to fighting the way he always does.

Buddy McGirt


“Paulie won’t be looking ahead to Hatton. He never mentioned Hatton’s name in the two weeks he trained here (Vero Beach). Paulie learned a tough lesson against Ngoudjo, looking ahead to talks about fighting Hatton. There’s no Hatton fight unless he wins this fight. Paulie will be ready.”

Hatton


CONTACT:Bob Trieger Full Court Press

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

James McGirt, Jr.; regroups after 1st loss, moving back to middleweight

VERO BEACH, Florida– There’s nothing more devastating in boxing that than a hot prospect’s first pro loss, especially for someone such as James McGirt, Jr. (18-1, 9 KOs), whose last name alone makes opponents perform better. McGirt suffered his first set-back April 11 when another son of a former world champion, Carlos “Baby Sugar” DeLeon, Jr. (20-2-2, 12 KOs), stopped James in the seventh round of their ShoBox co-feature.

Photo courtesy of Emily Harney


DeLeon was floored by McGirt at the end of the sixth round, but he got to his feet just before the bell sounded. “When I dropped him, instead of listening to my father (head trainer “Buddy” McGirt), I got careless,” James explained. “I had him but dropped my right hand and got caught. My legs were a little wobbly, but I was more embarrassed than anything having been knocked down for the first time in my career. I thought that I could deal with it but got hit with an uppercut. I tried to wait it out, hoping he’d gotten tired punching, but I wasn’t punching back and the ref stopped the fight.

Buddy Mc Girt



“The hardest thing in the world is to take your first loss. I still know that I’m going to be a world champion someday. This is part of the learning experience. No excuses. I should have listened and boxed. It’s a hard pill to shallow. I want a rematch, but I know it won’t happen right away. I won’t be able to sleep at night unless I fight him one more time.”

McGirt’s father, 2-time world champion “Buddy,” suffered his first pro loss in his 30th fight, as the No. 1 contender in the world, to Frankie Warren by 10-round decision. “I warned James last year that he was dropping his right hand too much,” Buddy noted. “You can’t take anything for granted. Once he knocked the other guy down, James thought that he had him, but he got caught by that left hook. It’s a great learning experience. I was talking to Roy Jones. He said at least it happened now or he would have kept doing it and now he’ll listen. James can’t have a flamboyant, relaxed attitude like he did in basketball. On the court he could be nonchalant, flashy, but you can’t do that in the ring. They’re always trying to beat Buddy McGirt’s son and Buddy McGirt. In a way I’m glad it happened. It’s going to be a good learning experience for James. I told him he should thank DeLeon for the wake-up call because he got lazy.

“Sure, it’s a hard pill to swallow. I saw the punch hit him and I can still visualize it like a picture in my mind. That night, James became a man, and not just in the ring. Taking nothing away from DeLeon, James had the fight and should have won. Now he has to put it behind him and move forward. After a first loss, you either become a better fighter, or get out of the game. James’ eyes were opened. You can’t do what he did in basketball, not in this business, and now he understands. What he does from here on will determine what he is in boxing.”

McGirt may have been more comfortable making weight and fighting as a super middleweight, but the plan is for him to slowly move back to the middleweight division. “His opponents at super middleweight are too big,” McGirt’s manager Dennis Witherow explained. “I talked with Buddy after the fight and we agree that James needs to fight as a middleweight. They weighed-in the same weight but, in the fight, the difference in their weight made a big difference. He’ll fight at 162-163 in his next fight, hopefully in July. We’re going forward, not looking backwards. The loss is part of the learning process, a bump in the road. He got caught and that’s just part of the game.”

Buddy added, “The last two days (prior to the fight) James just shadow-boxed. He didn’t run or train, ate right before the weigh in, and came in at 166. He won’t have a problem making 163. We saw how small James (166-167 lbs. in the fight) was in comparison to DeLeon (between 180-185 lbs) and even (Jason) Naugler. James will be fighting as a middleweight.”

-JM-

CONTACT:
Bob Trieger
Full Court Press
©®™ 2007, 2008 All photos by "El Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Studios, for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience all rights reserved