Zahir Raheem

Zahir Raheem dominated the first six rounds and avoided trouble in the last four to earn a unanimous 10-round decision over Bayan Jargal, capturing the World Boxing Organization’s North American Boxing Organization junior welterweight title.

TACOMA – Zahir Raheem was tired. But it was the good kind of tired — a satisfied kind of tired. After 10 rounds, the final four of which he fought with basically one hand, the 37-year- old Raheem still had enough energy to raise a title belt in front of a sold-out crowd at the Emerald Queen Casino show room on Friday night.

Raheem dominated the first six rounds and avoided trouble in the last four to earn a unanimous 10-round decision over Bayan Jargal, capturing the World Boxing Organization’s North American Boxing Organization junior welterweight title.

Judges Tim Wood and Marlon Perry scored the fight 99-91 while Alan Krebs scored it 97-93 in favor of Raheem.

“I felt good,” Raheem said of going 10 rounds. “It was fun. I felt strong. I was a little exhausted in that seventh and eighth and ninth round. But it was good overall.”

Since returning to the ring under Brian Halquist Productions a year ago, Raheem (35-3, 21 knockouts) had fought a total of eight rounds in his three fights, knocking out opponents early. Before that, he had taken two years off from professional fighting with the exception of a few exhibition bouts. His last fight that went 10 rounds came in May of 2007 in a unanimous decision win over Cristobal Cruz.

“I thought his conditioning was good,” said trainer Rob Bell. “Considering he hasn’t gone 10 rounds in years, to go 10 rounds against that guy was big. The guy was young and he just kept coming.”

Jargal, 31, had only been knocked out once in 24 career fights and wasn’t going to go down easily.

Raheem, who does much of his damage as a counterpuncher, didn’t get many opportunities early since Jargal (17-5-3, 11 knockouts) didn’t throw many punches. Both fighters got busier in rounds three through five and Raheem started landing shots. He buckled Jargal in the third with a short inside right to the jaw and followed with a nice combination.

“He was a little awkward,” Raheem said. “It was hard to get my timing down.”

Raheem landed decent scoring shots in the fourth round and early in the fifth round. But Jargal kept coming.

“I was like, ‘Damn, what is wrong with you?’ ” Raheem joked.

Late in the fifth round, a right to the top of Jargal’s head proved more damaging to Raheem. It left the hand aching, the pain growing with each punch. It basically became useless for power punches late in the fight.

“It was effective early and I had to stop using it,” Raheem said.

For the final three rounds, it was just survival and scoring if possible for Raheem. He used left jabs followed by short left hooks.

“Hey, Bruce Lee fought with his eyes closed,” Raheem said. “Sometimes, I train with one eye open. Sometimes I train with one hand. You never know what’s going to happen in the ring and you can’t quit.”

Jargal was able to land some decent punches in the ninth and 10th rounds with Raheem looking to avoid any big punches that could put him down.

“He never really hurt me,” Raheem said. “If he would have, I would have been out of there.”

http://seattletimes.com/html/othersports/2022643937_raheem11xml.html

Trainer: Freddie Roach
Amateur Career

“I had a little over 150 amateur fights. I had around 130 wins and 20 losses.” [1]
2005 Oil Producing Countries Cup, Nizhnevartovsk, Russia, 151 pounds: in the quarterfinals lost a 35-21 decision against Artur Khachatrian of Armenia.
2000 Eurocadet Junior Championship, Patra, Greece, 105 pounds Gold Medalist: in the finals he beat Denis Litvinenko of Ukraine.
Titles Held

WBO Junior Welterweight Title (2013)
WBO Intercontinental Light Welterweight Title (2012)
WBC Asian Boxing Council Light Welterweight Title (2011)
WBO Intercontinental Light Welterweight Title (2009)

WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12 KO’s) thinks Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) needs to let Amir Khan cry and suffer a while before facing him again. Instead, Bradley thinks Peterson should fight him next before facing Khan in a rematch.

Peterson and Bradley fought two years ago in December 2009 with Bradley beating Peterson by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 118-110, 119-108 and 120-107.

Bradley told RingTV “I think he [Peterson] needs to leave Amir alone for a while and let him whine a little bit and let him feel it, because you know Amir don’t give nobody a rematch. I think that Lamont Peterson should come and see Tim Bradley, man and get some revenge.”

hat sounds like a good idea, because Khan will still want to fight Peterson again whether he loses to Bradley or not. Peterson could get two title fights under his belt instead of just one. If he loses to Khan, then a Bradley fight will likely not happen. It might be a better option to take a payday fight against Bradley, if Peterson believes he can truly beat him this time. As soundly as Bradley defeated Peterson two years ago, I’m not so certain that Peterson would do any better in a rematch. Bradley really his number in that fight and hurt him on a couple of occasions.

Bradley is right about Khan not giving rematches to guys that he head. He doesn’t do it. Khan didn’t even do it when he was destroyed in one round by Breidis Prescott in 2008. Peterson is obviously a different story for Khan, because he can’t punch like Prescott, and is thus a less dangerous option.

Bradley signed with Top Rank recently and fought for the first time for them last month, stopping 40-year-old Joel Casamayor in the 8th round. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is grooming Bradley for a big money in house fight against WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in the near future.

 

By William Mackay

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2011/12/timothy-bradley-peterson-needs-to-let-khan-whine-and-suffer-and-fight-me-instead/

WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley is the only boxer to defeat Lamont Peterson in the ring, by decision, two years ago. On Saturday night in Washington, DC, Peterson challenges Bradley’s main rival, WBA/IBF 140-pound champion Amir Khan. Although Peterson has had some good performances since losing to Bradley, Khan is the overwhelming favorite to win. Even Bradley himself is picking Khan to win and gives the British the edge with his faster hands. Bradley picks Khan by decision, but says a knockout win will erase any doubts about Khan’s status as an elite fighter.

“His movement and quickness and jab will give him problems,” Bradley told The Desert Sun. “Peterson will come and make it a hell of a fight and he has a chance for an upset, but Khan is polished. Peterson will have a good chance, but I favor Khan because he’s quicker and he throws his combinations and he gets in and out. That’s what I did when I fought Peterson. I’d be surprised if he stopped Peterson. If he stops him, then he’s the real deal. But [Peterson is] tough and this is his second opportunity to fight on the big stage for a world title. And it is in his back yard. He will be motivated to put on a good show and fight hard.”

 

By Pawel Pronishev

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=47008

WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley is expected to return in early 2012. The undefeated champion is spending time with his family after recently making his debut under the Top Rank promotional banner.

Bradley (28-0, 12KO) stopped Joel Casamayor on November 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Bradley’s fight received major media coverage because Top Rank positioned the bout in a co-feature slot to the latest entry in the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez trilogy.

The bout was his first in nearly 10 months after separating from former promoters Gary Shaw Productions and Thompson Boxing. Bradley is ready for all of the big names and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is the main target.

“I want to fight the best fighters out there. Manny Pacquiao is number one on my list. I definitely want to fight Floyd Mayweather or Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana. It doesn’t really matter. Bring ’em on. The list goes on. All comers. Bring them on,” Bradley said.
By Chris LaBate

 

WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel, announced today the referees and judges who will work on the two world title bouts, Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley vs Joel Casamayor this Saturday, November 12, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada in a Top Rank Inc. presentation. Valcarcel reported that the referee for the WBO Welterweight Championship between the champion Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) and the WBO lighweight titlist Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KOs), the referee will be Tony Weeks and judges will be Dave Moretti, Robert Hoyle and Glenn Trowbridge, all from Nevada. WBO Supervisor for this fight will be Valcarcel himself.

 

Meanwhile, for the WBO junior welter clash between Bradley (27-0, 11 KOs), who is going to defend his title for the fourth time against former two time champion Casamayor (38-5-1, 22 KOs), the referee will be Vic Drakulich. The judges will be Levi Martinez, from New Mexico, and Adelaide Byrd and Burt Clements, both from Nevada. WBO Supervisor for this bout will be the Chairman of the Ratings Committee, Luis Perez.

 

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/pacman-marquez-ref-is-weeks-101073

This past Saturday afternoon, Santa Anita Park hosted legendary Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and two of his fighters, Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley, who took part in a media workout where all three met with members of the horse racing and boxing media and also chatted with fans and signed autographs.  WBO Junior welterweight champion Bradley will be taking on Joel Casamayor in a twelve round world title fight as part of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III undercard on November 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Bradley is focused on Casamayor, because a win will place him in line for the big fights in 2012. Bradley wants them all, Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and even junior welterweight rival Amir Khan. There has been a lot of talk about a possible fight with Pacquiao in 2012. Bradley is picking Pacquiao to defeat Marquez, and he already sees a few exposable flaws in the Filipino boxer.

“I’ll take Manny in this fight (against Marquez). Manny just has too much size on him. I think it’s going to be a great fight. I’d have to fight a perfect fight to beat (Pacquiao) but I’ve seen weaknesses that I know I could expose and would win that fight. I’ll fight Mayweather right now. I’ll fight Manny. I’ll fight Khan. I’ll fight whoever they put in my way. I don’t care who it is. Just bring them on.”

 

By Pawel Pronishev

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=45752

Following an impressive September knockout over Daniel Jimenez, NABO Junior Lightweight Champion Eloy “The Prince” Perez will return to his hometown of Salinas, California on Friday, October 28 to square off against veteran Ira Terry in the 10 round main event of TeleFutura’s “Sólo Boxeo Tecate” at the Sherwood Hall.

Perez vs. Terry headlines a night of world-class professional boxing presented by Don Chargin Productions, Golden Boy Promotions and Paco Presents, and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate. Doors open at 6:00pm, the first bell rings at 7:00pm and the TeleFutura broadcast begins at 10:30pm ET / PT.

Tickets, priced at $125, $75 and $50, are on sale now and can be purchased by calling (831) 261-0532 or (831) 905-7354, at the 2stepsahead Gym (832 South Main Street, Salinas, California) and at the Sherwood Hall on fight night.

Currently ranked third at 130 pounds by the WBO, 24-year-old Eloy “Prince” Perez (22-0-2, 6 KO’s) is closing in on his long awaited shot at a world championship, but he’s not sitting idle. Instead, he’s opting to stay busy against tough competition until he’s cleared out all opposition in his path. In 2011, Perez has shutout longtime contender Roger “Speedy” Gonzalez, and successfully defended his NABO title against Alejandro Rodriguez and Daniel Jimenez, setting the stage for his October 28 battle with Terry.

Tennessee native Ira Terry (24-6, 14 KO’s) began his professional career with a hot streak, winning 24 of his first 26 fights, and the hard-hitting 24-year-old is not a boxer who gets discouraged easily. He is doubling his efforts in the gym and is refocused knowing that if he can issue Perez his first professional loss later this month, he will have resurrected his career in the 130-pound weight class.

http://www.proboxing-fans.com/eloy-perez-to-stay-busy-fights-for-2nd-time-in-2-months-against-ira-terry-oct-28th_102011/

WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (27-0, 11 KO’s) says he still intends on fighting IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan in the future but that he’s going to have to wait for Bradley to face bigger tests. Right now, Khan is small time stuff compared to the money fight that Bradley has in front of him in 2012 against Manny Pacquiao.

In the latest boxing news, Bradley is saying he’ll fight Khan at either 140 lbs or 147 lbs in the future, but it’s a fight that will have to marinate a little bit more. It’s too soon right now and Khan still isn’t a pay per view star in the U.S. It would be premature for Khan and Bradley to fight each other right now.

Things have rapidly changed in the past two years. A couple of years ago, before Bradley’s promoters with his former promoters, he had been trying long and hard to get a fight against Khan but was largely ignored. But then later after Bradley become mired in legal problems with his promoter, then Khan and his promotional company wanted the Bradley fight. Of course, Khan was ignored because Bradley couldn’t fight anyone.

Bradley is fighting a tune-up bout against 40-year-old southpaw Joel Casamayor (38-5-1, 22 KO’s) on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 12th. This is likely a warm-up for a fight against Pacquiao for next year. Bradley recently signed up with Top Rank Promotions, the same promoters for Pacquiao, and the president of the company Bob Arum really likes to match his Top Rank fighters against each other rather than putting them in against non-Top Rank fighters.

Pacquiao has already decimated Arum’s fighters at welterweight, beating Antonio Margarito, Joshua Clottey and Miguel Cotto in the past couple of years.

By William Mackay:
http://www.boxingnews24.com/2011/10/bradley-says-hell-get-around-to-fighting-khan-eventually/

WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley recently appeared on the latest edition of ‘The Boxing Lab,’ BoxingScene.com’s official audio show. Bradley debuts under the Top Rank banner on the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez undercard on November 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He faces former champion Joel Casamayor.

Bradley on his upcoming fight versus Joel Casamayor:

“Casamayor is still strong. He may be older but power is the last thing to go. He has a reason to get up for this fight. I have everything to lose and he has everything to gain. He is a dirty fighter and knows the tricks of the trade. I am going to have a talk with the ref before the fight. if Casamayor gets dirty with me then you know I will get him back eventually. The ref better do what he is supposed to do because I am going to do what I have to do. I am going to shine on the 12th. He can bring his momma in the ring and I will get her too. It doesn’t matter.”

Bradley on when he knew it was time to change promoters:

“When I fought in Silverdome (in Pontiac, MI) it was the last draw. That fight should have been in LA, Vegas or NY. That is when I knew it was time to make a move. The Bradley brand will be built by Top Rank. I have 3 belts and no one knows who I am. I can walk down the street and people don’t know who I am. My former promoters did all that they good and I am thankful for that but Top Rank will take me to the next level.”

Bradley’s thoughts on Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming fight versus Juan Manuel Marquez:

“To be honest with you I think Marquez will hang with him early but if Manny doesn’t cramp up I think he will get him out of there. Marquez seems to have his number but it has been some years since they last fought. Manny is a different beast now.”

Bradley’s thoughts on the ending of the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight:

“No disrespect to Ortiz but he made a rookie mistake. You live and you learn. To me… apologizing….come on man. One time is good. You learn in the amateurs that one apology from a distance is fine. Floyd did sneak him but you know what, after getting headbutted in the mouth who wouldn’t do that?

Bradley on Ortiz’s reaction to the first punch that ultimately led to him being knockout out:

I don’t get this part. If you get hit by a hook like Floyd hit him with wouldn’t your first instinct be to put your hands up or duck? if I went up to you and popped you in the mouth wouldn’t you put your hands up? Just like in a street fight your natural instinct would be to protect yourself. If he would have put his hands up he would have never got knocked out. He would have just got staggered (by the first punch) but instead he just looked over at the ref. He made a rookie mistake. He is young and strong but like Floyd said he had experience. If it was me I wouldn’t even have apologized. He had just gotten Floyd flustered. Isn’t that what he wanted?

Bradley on his preference in facing Pacquiao or Mayweather:

I would prefer to fight Pacquiao than Mayweather. Stylistically he fits to my game. His speed and quickness I can match up with. Mayweather is more of a defensive fighter. I think a fight with Pacquiao would be more exciting.

By Ryan Burton
http://www.boxingscene.com/bradley-talks-casamayor-pacquiao-mayweather-more–45070

San Francisco’s Karim Mayfield (15-0-1, 9 KOs) can finally put something around his waist after flooring Patrick Lopez (20-5, 12 KOs) three times en route to capturing the NABO interim junior welterweight title by unanimous decision in Tunica, Miss., last night.

“I didn’t care about the scores when they were reading them out loud,” Mayfield said. “I just wanted to hear, ‘And the new!’ with my name right after. I’m just happy I did.”

After his older brother LaRon taught him how to box in the Fillmore projects by wrapping five pairs of socks around his fists as a kid, Mayfield took up the regulated version of the sport under the tutelage of trainer Ben Bautista.

As an amateur, Mayfield was a quick study, winning the San Francisco Golden Gloves and making the Olympic Trials at 165 pounds. Soon enough, the pros came calling, and after five years, the 30-year-old known as “The Hard Hitta” in Bay Area boxing circles can bring some hardware home.

BoxingScene.com caught up with Mayfield, who is celebrating his victory in the South before returning to San Francisco later this week.

ON GETTING CAUGHT UP IN THE MOMENT:

“It was just like any fight. When you get there, you think it’s gonna be overwhelming, but it was just like being in any other fight. I’ve had a lot of pressure on me before. One time I had to beat the promoter’s son at the 75th Anniversary of the San Francisco Golden Gloves. Ben [Bautista] said, ‘I’m gonna call you Rise from now on because you rise to the occasion.’ This was no different.”

ON HIS OPPONENT, PATRICK LOPEZ:

“He came out and he was fast. Having about 280 amateur fights, you can tell he was precise. He had some nice technique. I think my orthodox style was throwing him off early, but for the most part, he was definitely a good opponent and a learning experience. That was definitely a step up for me. I think the difference between him and beating Steve Forbes was Lopez’s will. He was so determined.”

ON TRAINER BEN BAUTISTA’S GAMEPLAN:

“What Ben and I planned, we executed. We knew Lopez has been working to negate what I’ve been doing, which is use my straight right hand and turning him. I had to set him up. I attacked him at times and then showed like I was trying to elude him in order to get him to chase me. We wanted him to walk into punches, and that’s how we did that.”

ON SCORING THE THREE KNOCKDOWNS:

“To be honest, I actually don’t remember when I knocked him down. I just fight. I kind of kept missing with the overhand right. He kept ducking under it. I was trying to set him up with an uppercut but he was waiting for that. I could tell he was really hungry to win that title, so I had to back him up.

“I knocked him down with a straight one-two. He got up and shook it off. Two punches later, the same one-two knocked him down again. I tried to do it again, but he wasn’t falling for it. The other knockdown was from a double right hand, I think. I started using my jab down the line when I felt like I had the fight.”

ON WORKING WITH VICTOR CONTE TO MAKE THE 140-POUND LIMIT FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A PRO:

“I re-hydrated well. I didn’t want to get too big. I stayed around 149-150 [pounds] the day of the fight. I want to thank Victor Conte and the SNAC team, especially the girls at the office like Veronica Conte and Gina Morton for having my back, and ‘Little V’ during my hypoxic (high-altitude simulator) training.

“I felt good out there. Lopez brought the fight to me every second of the three minutes in each round, and just being at 140, never having fought professionally at this weight and fighting this caliber of opponent, I obviously had to be official as far as my nutrition and conditioning. It would’ve been different if Lopez was a boxer, because you can feel your way around a style like that, but if someone comes at you with a title at stake, you need to be in shape.”

ON STAYING AT JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT OR MOVING UP BACK UP TO 147 POUNDS:

“I feel good at 140, so I’m going to stay. A lot of people lose their power and feel weight drained. I went 10 rounds and dropped the guy three times. There are a couple things I want to work on, but fights are fights.”

ON THE SUPPORT HE’S RECEIVED AT HOME AND FROM HIS TEAM:

“There was definitely a lot of support from people in ‘The City’ saying a lot of positive things, and as much as I inspire them, they motivate me too. We call the Bay Area, ‘The Yay.’ I feel like it’s a family.

“For this camp my managerial team was really behind me and kept everything stress-free, like my publicist, Mario Serrano. My brother, LaRon Mayfield, and my cousin, Marlon Sullivan of Spanatix, they’ve all had my back. We did it together, and we’re not stopping here.”

By Ryan Maquiñana
http://www.boxingscene.com/karim-mayfield-on-defeating-lopez-nabo-title–44508