Photos: Juanma-Salido on 3/10, Calderon, Rocky, More

GUAYNABO, PUERTO RICO- After a non stop action in 2011, PR Best Boxing Promotions (PRBBP) presents its agenda for this 2012 when multiple events will be made from Puerto Rico to the World.

Also, world contenders as Jonathan “Polvo” Oquendo (22-2, 15 KOs), Jose “Chelo” Gonzalez (18-0, 13 KOs), WBO ranked #2 and #5 in the 122 and 135 divisions, respectively, superflyweight WBO #4 ranked Juan Mercedes (26-3, 17 KOs), former WB supermiddleweight champion Manuel Alejandro Siaca (24-7, 20 KOs) and junior middleweight contender Jorge “Destroyer” Melendez (21-2-1, 20 KOs), will have their chances.

PRBBP prospects as amateur world champion McWilliams Arroyo (9-1, 8 KOs) and David Quijano (13-2-1, 9 KOs) will headline the first “San Juan Boxing Nights”. Unbeatens McJoe Arroyo (9-0, 5 KOs) and Luis Joel Gonzalez (9-0-1, 5 KOs) in the first “A Puño Limpio”. Also, in action soon Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (7-0, 6 KOs), Camilo Perez (6-0, 4 KOs),  Rafael Gonzalez (6-0, 6 KOs), Kenneth Diaz (3-0, 3 KOs), Carlos Negron (13-1, 9 KOs), Victor Bisbal (19-1, 13 KOs) and Osenohan Vazquez (4-1, 2 KOs).

PRBBP will present a DIRECTV event on April 28 in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and two Pay Per View shows on August 25 and October 20 in venues to be announced.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=48391

Manager and trainer Olrando Pinero is confident that his boxer, super bantamweight Jonathan Oquendo (22-2, 15KOs), will get the winner of Nonito Donaire-Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., taking place on February 4th in San Antonio, Texas. Donaire and Vazquez will battle for the vacant WBO title. Oquendo, the WBO Latino champion, is the mandatory challenger after winning an eliminator last October with a second round knockout of Jose Luis Araiza. Oquendo has been unbeaten with eight wins since losing to Juan Manuel Lopez in 2008.

“Oquendo will be active on the card where Juanma will fight for the world title [against Orlando Salido] on March 10 or 31. Vazquez and Nonito Donaire will fight on February 4 for the WBO super bantamweight crown. And I am confident that Jonathan, the WBO’s official challenger, will be next. The winner between Vazquez and Donaire will then fight Oquendo. He has the quality to be world champion,” Pinero said.

By Rey Colon

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=48326

Exciting 22 year old Weng “Capt. Barbell” Haya, fresh from a gallant showing against WBO featherweight champion Orlando “Siri” Salido of Mexico last December 17 battles equally tough Jose “The Bomber” Ocampo for the WBO Asia Pacific junior lightweight title at the Hoops Dome in Lapu Lapu City on February 4.

Haya who is ranked No. 9 in the Philippines has a record of 15-4 with 8 knockouts while Ocampo who is ranked No. 5 is also 22 years old and sports a record of 14-5-1 with 9 knockouts.

In his fight against Salido who had earlier won the world title with a stunning 8th round TKO over Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez on April 16, 2011 exploded with seconds remaining in the third round and caught Salido with a picture-perfect left hand counter that sent the world champion crashing to the canvas.

With Salido still groggy at the start of round four Haya nailed Salido with a solid left straight to drop the champion for the second time in the scheduled ten round bout but the Mexican was saved by the bell.

Promoter Sammy Gello-ani said a low blow by Salido in round six hurt Haya and as the champion began to use his experience and ring smarts Haya appeared to get frustrated. Salido hurt Haya with a punch that sent him reeling against the ropes. The 31 year old champion went after the young and comparatively inexperienced Filipino and dropped him after which the referee stepped in and called a halt at 0:35 seconds of the 8th round although Gello-ani thought .the stoppage was premature.

Ocampo himself is coming off similar unlucky circumstances when he lost by a 5th round technical decision to southpaw Rey Labao on August 6, 2011.

In an action-packed bout Labao was proclaimed the winner after the ring physician instructed vreferee Sammy Bernabe to call a halt because Ocampo was bleeding badly from a cut over his right eye which Bernabe claimed was caused by an accidental head-butt.

However, repeated slo-motion replays by AKTV IBC 13 which telecast the fight showed it was a perfect left straight that opened up the cut.

At the time of the stoppage judges Salven Lagumbay (48-47) and Eppie Almeda (49-46) had Labao ahead while the third judge Romy Yulo had it even at 48-48.

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

http://philboxing.com/news/story-64847.html

According to WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido (37-11-2, 25KOs), his proposed rematch with Juan Manuel Lopez (31-1, 28KOs) will probably take place on March 10th in Puerto Rico. Salido had one of the biggest upset wins in 2011, when he stopped Lopez in eight rounds to capture the WBO crown. He followed up his victory with two stoppage wins, Kenichi Yamaguchi in July and Weng Haya in December. Lopez returned from the loss to stop Mike Oliver in two rounds.

By Miguel Rivera

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=48079

JORGE “Travieso” Arce says he is surprised because, despite having captured a fifth world title in a fifth weight divisions, there are still voices who question his achievements. The WBO bantamweight champion argues that “the criticism makes ​​me stronger” and insists that he plans to “find a sixth championship.” Last Saturday in Mazatlan, Arce won the WBO bantamweight belt by defeating Indonesian Angky Angkotta on points. The belt was vacated by Filipino Nonito Donaire.

Arce confirmed plans to defend his title in early 2012, and then he wants to move up to featherweight for a shot at the WBO title. He wants the winner of the rematch between champion Orlando Salido and Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez.

“I want to fight the winner between Orlando Salido, the WBO featherweight champion, and Juanma Lopez,” he said. “Nothing is easy, but nothing is impossible. If Manny Pacquiao, who was a flyweight, like myself, went up to welterweight and junior middleweight, and beat much bigger opponents at the higher weight, then why couldn’t I do it?.”

By Jose Luis Camarillo, notifight.com

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=46721

Enfocado en cobrar su venganza en suelo boricua.

Juan Manuel “Juanma” López ya está trabajando con miras a enfrentar al mexicano Orlando Salido en un combate que, con toda seguridad, se celebrará en Puerto Rico.

Salido le propinó a López su primera derrota profesional el pasado 16 de abril en Bayamón y, a su vez, le arrebató el título peso pluma de la Organización Mundial de Boxeo.

Según López, el promotor Bob Arum aprovechará su viaje a Nueva York, donde Miguel Cotto y Antonio Margarito se enfrentan este sábado, para negociar la fecha final del combate.

“Estamos esperando que la gente de Showtime se reúna esta semana con Arum en Nueva York para darnos la fecha oficial, pero ya en febrero o marzo yo estoy peleando con Salido en una revancha segura en Puerto Rico” dijo López.

Incluso, el boxeador boricua reveló que Arum también conversará con HBO sobre la posibilidad de que sea esa compañía la que transmita la pelea.

“Ya Arum nos informó que se está reuniendo con Showtime, porque son los interesados. Bueno, Showtime y HBO están interesados y están viendo quién es el mejor postor, pero, aparentemente, va a ser Showtime, porque ya dieron la primera pelea y quieren la revancha”, sostuvo López, quien mencionó la fecha del 25 de febrero como una de las señaladas para la pelea en la Isla.

Luego de caer contra Salido, López (31-1, 28 KO) volvió al cuadrilátero el 10 de octubre y noqueó en el segundo asalto al estadounidense Mike Oliver para agenciarse del título Latino, peso pluma, de la OMB.

“Ya empezamos a correr y empecé a hacer un poquito de pesas. La semana que viene empezamos el entrenamiento de lleno; empezamos a rebajar y a organizar bien, porque vamos a ir fuera de Puerto Rico. Vamos a estar cuatro semanas en Puerto Rico, cuatro semanas fuera, y luego regresamos dos semanas antes”, explicó López.

Esteban Pagán Rivera y Rosalina Marrero-Rodríguez

http://www.primerahora.com/juanmalopezesperaporfechapararevanchaconsalido-587411.html

NEW YORK — Nonito Donaire is probably a few wins away from a potential showdown with Yuriorkis Gamboa becoming a realistic possibility.

And as Juan Manuel Lopez’s upset loss to Orlando Salido reminded us earlier this year, that’s entirely too far down the line to start getting all that excited about a Donaire-Gamboa bout. But count Donaire among those that hope the intriguing matchup materializes.

“The Filipino Flash” has watched Gamboa’s development closely and is eager to test himself against an unbeaten boxer Donaire considers special, yet flawed.

“He’s an amazing fighter,” Donaire said. “He has speed, power. I’ll be excited if I get the opportunity, because he’s a good fighter. I see a lot of flaws, but sometimes you see flaws and you can’t react to it. It’s different in that ring.

“But I’ve seen some flaws in him, something I can take advantage of. It’s ‘The Cyclone’ versus the ‘The Flash.’ We’ll see who’s faster, but I think ‘The Flash’ can take cyclones all day.”

Even if the Cuban-born Gamboa (21-0, 16 KOs), a Miami resident, and Donaire (26-1, 18 KOs), a native Filipino who resides in San Leandro, Calif., continue winning, getting them in the same weight class could become an obstacle.

Donaire intends to move up from 118 to 122 pounds if he wins against Argentina’s Omar Narvaez (35-0-2, 19 KOs) on Saturday night in New York, but Gamboa said after defeating Daniel Ponce De Leon (41-4, 34 KOs) on Sept. 10 in Atlantic City that he’s moving up from featherweight to at least 130 pounds in his next fight. Gamboa didn’t rule out an immediate move to lightweight, either, which would separate him and Donaire by three weight classes.

The 28-year-old Donaire doesn’t think, however, that an eventual move to lightweight will be problematic.

“I’m definitely growing,” said Donaire, who stands 5-foot-7, an inch taller than Gamboa. “[In late August] I was at 147 and I wasn’t fat. If given the opportunity to put some weight on, it’ll be easy for me to do it.”

By Keith Idec
http://www.boxingscene.com/donaire-confident-he-expose-gamboas-flaws–45139