Punishment Inc.

[PilotMan]

Last week of August, 2007

How do you beat a week like that. I went out, bought a new car, started house hunting, I feel like after more than 2 years that this has been a worthwhile adventure. I do have my sights set on having a fighter in the stable who is a champion. We have some good fighters here now, I don’t think that any of them are on the same planet as some of the top notch guys around, but stranger things have happened. Do you remember Omar Acevedo vs. Felipe Vargas? Vargas is now 12-1-0(8), his only loss is still to Omar. I love that.

Big fights for this week:

Former Lightweight Champion Jorge Reynoso 22-5-2(14) #3 v. Benny Leonard 88-7-1(69) #5

Both of these guys are almost mirror images of each other, they are both boxer/puncher types, who can go either way in a fight. Leonard has a bit more respect in terms of his career, but Reynoso is the former champ. However, since his loss to Essett Reynoso has been 1-1-1(0), not spectacular, he needs this win if we wants to stay in range for another title shot. Leonard is unbeated in 3 fights in the last year. Leonard is the big favorite at 1/4, while Reynoso is the underdog at 11/4. I think it will be closer than that.

Heavyweight World Champion and FOY Joe Louis 74-3-0(59) #1 v. Evander Holyfield 41-5-1(26) #2

Louis, again, takes on the top contender. He has had no problem since taking the title from Peter O’ Connell, and this is his 3^rd defense of the title. He is a solid all around fighter who is undefeated in the last 3 years. Holyfield is the #2 by default. O’Connell is probably the next best fighter, but he lost his rematch for the title so Holyfield moves up. Holyfield has had some good fights though. The biggest was his upset of Muhammed Ali last year. He has lost to Joe Frazier, but beaten Michael Moorer twice. He did lose to O’Connell, before O’Connell got his last title fight. Louis is a tough man to beat, Evander will have his work cut out for him. Bookies favor Louis at 1/4, while Holyfield is 10/3. I just can’t see Louis losing this fight.

[PilotMan]

A good money making week. I love those! I was contacted by the management of Jose Jimenez(insert joke here). He is a flyweight figher on his way down. He wanted to get at Lee Drydon, but Lee is still not up to his fitness goal. They were going to pay me just over 58k for the fight. It could have paid off nicely but, I am just not ready to see him fight yet.

In other world news, Joe Louis is still the best Heavyweight fighter in the world. He won with a unanimous decision over Evander Holyfield.

And former lightweight Champ Jorge Reynoso scored a 10^th round KO over Benny Leonard, and with the money I bet and the other fight, I netted a little over 200k for the week. That was a big win for Reynoso, he can still dream of a rematch with Essett, or hope somehow that Essett retires early and he can fight again, because he doesn’t have a dream of beating Essett.

[PilotMan]

have been working with Omar, getting him ready for his upcoming fight. He is going to be fighting in about 3 weeks. Omar is in good shape and has been training hard. It should be interesting to see if he can bounce back from his loss as well as Lawrence did. Everyone else is getting healthy and working on their skills.

Melvin and Lee are approaching the end of their contracts with me. I like both guys, though I am not sure how much farther Lee can go in the flyweight division. He has arguably made the most money for me, although now he is getting more expensive. Melvin Horne also has 2 fights left, I have almost 5 mil in the bank so there should be some money to be expended on some new contracts or contract extensions.

Fight of the week:

Welterweight FOY - Derrell Guyver 28-2-0(14) #5 v. Jose Victor Lopez 24-1-0(15) #6

Guyver and Lopez are fighting in a rematch of a fight that happend at the end of 2005. Lopez was the winner in that one. Lopez’s only loss was to Oscar De la Hoya, and that was last year, while Guyver, who handed De la Hoya his first loss, but is coming off of a loss against a former champion. Guyver is going to press the action, while Lopez hopes that his power can control the fight. Guyver is the favorite at 2/5, while Lopez is at 11/5. Lopez is deserving of more respect than that, I will take that bet.

[hoopsguy]

Congratulations on the string of victories.

Can you post a recap at some point of the stable of fighters listing their records (overall and with you), as well as their ranking and contract status? It is getting a little harder to keep track of everyone as you add more fighters to the mix.

[PilotMan]

I will try and see if I can get something, or if there is an update coming up that contains that info. It is a bit more difficult since I simmed up about 30 update pages ahead right now.

[PilotMan]

I can’t lose! What a run! The bet that I laid on the fight of the week paid off with winnings of 220k. It is incredible.

Jose Victor Lopez continued his good run, and knocked out Guyver in the 9^th round. Guyver is really struggling with consecutive losses.

The camp of Jose Jimenez offered us the same offer as they did last week. Again, I told them that I wasn’t interested.

I took a look at a couple of potential fights but didn’t see anything that really grabbed my eye. Leeds and Wantanabe are both training. Gutierrez is ready to fight but I haven’t decided what type of fighter I want to pair him with. Rueles is getting some much needed training. Omar fights in a week and Melvin, Lawrence, and Lee are all recovering from fights.

Fights of the week:

Former Flyweight Champion Adam Napier 27-3-0(25) #3 v. Colin Jolmers 20-3-1(12) #5

Jolmers is a young fighter who has been on the rise in the flyweight division over the last couple of years. He has won his last 12 fights and has only recently broken into the top 10 in the division. He really hasn’t fought any of the top fighter so Napier is going to be a test. For Napier he is trying to find something to grasp onto after losing the title, and then losing to Mauro Martinez. Jolmers is in better shape, but Napier has been there before. Napier is the favorite at ½, while Jolmers is 13/8. I like Napier here, he gave Martinez a real good run for his money.

Former Heavyweight Champion Peter O’Connell 37-5-1(20) #3 v. Anthony Wood 17-1-2(6) #9

O’Connell is still a man who commands respect even though he has failed in his bid to win his title back. He takes on a very beatable man in Wood. Wood was recently knocked out by Michael Moorer, although O’Connell may not have the power of Moorer, he should still be good enough to hand Wood his second loss in his young career. Odds are 1/7 in favor of O’Connell while Wood is 13/2.

[PilotMan]

Colin Jolmers proved me wrong with a unanimous decision win over Adam Napier. His name is now going to be whispered along with others as legit contenders to the flyweight title.

Peter O’Connell easily won his fight with a unanimous decision win over Anthony Wood.

New rankings were posted and here is where the fighters of Punishment Inc stand in the boxing world.

Melvin Horne (L) #5

Lawrence McFarlane (M) #9

Omar Acevedo (L) #53

Lee Drydon (FY) #65

Andreas Ruelas (M) #91

Ismael Gutierrez (LH) #101

Tomoaki Wantanabe (W) #110

Glenn Leeds (W) #123

[PilotMan]

Last week of September, 2007

Fight Night -

Middleweight Andreas Ruelas has his next fight scheduled and it is against a familar face. Ruelas is taking on John Fanshaw. Fanshaw hasn’t been very successful since he was TKOed by Lawrence McFarlane just over two years ago. Fanshaw is a fighter who is going to come after Ruelas, and hopefully he will eat a lot of leather on the way. Fanshaw has little power and poor defense. He is an accurate puncher, but whose heart to fight is in question. Ruelas should be able to take him, as he is a very similar fighter to Lawrence. This is going to be a good fight to keep building him up.

Glenn Leeds is also going to fight. His opponent is Faustino Virgen. Virgen is still winless, and Leeds needs a fight that he can win to keep building his confidence. Virgen was beaten by Wantanabe, and hopefully Leeds will do the same.

Wantanabe is also signed. He is fighting a real loser. Miguel Angel Morales is winless in 14 fights. He has more experience, but is really down on his skills. He had some potential at some point, but at this point he isn’t going to contend for anything.

Omar is fighting this week. We have spent the week getting him in top shape, and he is primed to make his return to the ring after being knocked out. Omar is going to have to be on his best because Ross has a good chin, and can take a lot of punches. He doesn’t have the power to really hurt Omar, so Omar will have to out box him to win. Ross has fallen from the ranks of contender to pretender. Ross hasn’t won a fight in over 2 years. A win for Omar would move him a long way up the ranks. Ross is ranked #39, while Omar is #53. Oddsmakers are heavy for Ross, he is at 1/4, while Acevedo is 3/1. I will take another big chance betting, as this one fight could pocked a ton of money. Even if he loses, it will be worth the risk.

Fight of the week:

Former Light Heavyweight Champ and FOY James Singleton 15-9-0(14) #2 v. Roy Jones 44-2-1(35) #5

Jones really wants to win, and for Singleton, he needs a win to prove his legitimacy. Singleton was crushed in his first defense of the title, and a win against Jones would let him keep his high ranking. Jones has yet to get a title shot, he has been inconsistent. Both men have been knocked silly by current champ Bob Foster. Odds are favoring Jones at 4/11, while Singleton is at 9/4. I think that Jones is likely to win, but I never thought that Singleton would beat Hill for the title.

[Tellistto]

Go Omar!


Tell

[TonyR]

woot! Can't wait to see Omar knock his block off!

[PilotMan]

Here we go!

Omar Acevedo 7-2-0(2) #53 v. Barney Ross 73-7-4(22) #39

This fight is scheduled for 8 rounds.

Round one is in the books, and it could have gone better. Omar did not do as good a job defensively and was not a accurate as he needed to be offensively. Ross takes the round, with Omar needing to be a bit more aggressive or he is going to get picked off.

Round two was a shocker for sure. Ross moved well and landed from the outside. He landed a couple of punches, while Omar did a much better job moving and was better with his accuracy. Out of nowhere, a right hook from Omar landed square on Ross’ temple. He staggered and fell backward and down. Stunned, Omar went for the corner and waited. The ref got to 4 before Ross got back to his feet. Omar, sensing weakness, went in for the kill. He got a couple of good shots in but the round ended before he could finish it on his own. This changes everything.

Having thought that Ross was still hurt I sent Omar out into the fray with an aggressive outlook. That was a mistake. A little over :30 into the round Omar was hit hard and went down on his back. I should have known better. His chin. Aggggh. He did manage to get up at 7, but with the whole round to go he laid back and just tried to survive. He manged to make it to the end, but this evens everything out.



Round four was a see-saw battle with neither man really getting the upper hand. Omar may have done just enough to win the round, but it was sloppy. There was too many missed punches as too many clinches. You would think that these two would be happy on the outside, but it appears that they both like to press the inside.

Round five was a draw. It looked like Ross was going to take the round because he was doing a better job of slipping Omar’s punches. As the round was winding down though Omar came on and landed a good flurry that brought the round back to an even standing. This is a close fight, and Omar needs to hang in there.

Round six belongs to Omar. He was hardly hit until the end of the round. He did miss to many punches. Ross could be tiring as it seems to be affecting his punches. If Omar has two more rounds just like that he should win the fight. Neither fighter has been hurt since the knockdowns. I keep waiting for Omar to land another, but I don’t think that it is coming.

I told Omar to press the action a little, and he did, but he did get hit more as a result. He took more damage than he should have, but he gave out more too. Neither fighter was in trouble, Ross seemed to get his second wind, and probably took the round. Round 8 is very important. I told Omar to relax, and box. Do not press, do not look for the KO, just land the punches. He should win the fight if he can win here.

He listened to what I had to say and executed it nicely. Ross was obviously tiring and had a hard time finding Omar. He missed a lot and left himself wide open. Ross also stopped punching with his right hand about halfway through the round. I wonder what happend? Omar finished strong, although he did mention that he hurt his hand as well at the end of the round. I am waiting for the scores. This would be a big win for Omar and help to get him back on track, not to mention the financial windfall that a win would mean for me.

[CalgaryBaller]

Oh man PM, I can't wait to find out what is going to happen with Omar.

[PilotMan]

Here are the scores:

J1: 76-76

J2: 76-76

J3: 77-75 Acevedo

YUK!!!! A majority draw in a fight that Omar should have won! Ripped off. I feel so used. Goodbye quarter of a million dollars. Omar should have won that. I had him winning by 1 point. I want a rematch. As soon as he is healthy, we are going to have ourselves a rematch.

---

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James Singleton didn’t have what it took to beat Roy Jones, as he fell by a unanimous decision.

[PilotMan]

^^ =

[Tellistto]

What a bummer, if only Omar hadn't gotten knocked down. That was the only reason it came out to a draw.


Tell

[CalgaryBaller]

Thats weak PM, at least it doesn't look like Omar took too much damage, so hopefully we'll be able to get that fight soon/.

[TonyR]

I've noticed how the game can be very lopsided and have various discrepencies.
I've had a fighter totally dominate a fight and go to decision and be like 70-63, 70-63, 65-63.

What a Rip! Omar should have won!!! REMATCH!!!!

[PilotMan]

such is the way of boxing

[PilotMan]

got a call today about a high profile fight involving McFarlane. Jeff Larkin, who is ranked just behind Lawrence in the rankings wants a fight in just under 2 months time. They also want to pay me almost 300k for the fight. That could be some nice money, and it would be a challenging fight for Lawrence. Larkin is a heavy hitter, but he too, lost to George Kings by a split decision. I cannot take this fight though as Lawrence is not in shape yet for fighting. He will be soon enough though.

Ismael is out to face a hard, young fighter, who is very highly rated and should draw a nice purse for the fight. His next opponent is a guy by the name of Shane House. House is undefeated in 3 fights with 3 KO’s. He will be hard, but could also boost Ismael should he win. This is a short prep fight, as it will be next month.

Fights of the week:

There are two titles on the line this week and they are:

Light Heavyweight World Champion Bob Foster 66-8-1(53) #1 v. Former Light Heavyweight Champ Virgil Hill 49-4-2(25) #3

Foster has never fought Hill, but he has killed guys that Hill has lost too. Hill is looking for redemption following his loss to Singleton, and now with Singleton out of the picture for the time being he might reign longer too. Foster is a power puncher, who could KO anyone in the LH division. There are rumors though. It is being said that there isn’t a LH now that can defend the title. Foster can prove them wrong here. This fight is a pickem’. Me? I like Foster, but again, I bet that Hill was going to keep the title earlier too.

Flyweight World Champion Gerardo Ramirez 29-1-0(13) #1 v. Flyweight FOY Rocky Cubillas 22-1-1(16) #5

This is almost the fight that everyone has been asking for, but since Maruro Martinez isn’t the FOY anymore this will have to do. Ramirez is on his second stint as the champ, and he is proving that he is deserving of it. Cubillas has had a great year, and has been just as good, though he has no title. Both men bring great punches, and great chin’s. This could go the distance, or be stopped early. The longer the fight goes the more it favors Cubillas as he has better stamina. But, he also has better power and a better chin, so if Gerardo wants to keep his title, he is going to have to earn it. Betting folk like Cubillas as he is the crowd favorite at 8/15, while Ramirez goes off at a close 5/3. Ramirez is one of the best champs around. He is going to be tough to beat.

[PilotMan]

Betting was a wash. Bob Foster was able to keep his title, and become the first light heavyweight to defend the title. He won by unanimous decision.

In the flyweight weight class, the reign of Gerardo Ramirez is over again, as Rocky Cubillas took the title from him in a controversial majority decision.

They guys are still training, although we are in a bit of a dry spell for fights the world does continue to move on. Our next fight is Ismael in 3 weeks.

Fight of the week:

Bantamweight World Champion and FOY Job Reyes 23-0-2(14) #1 v. Carlos Zarate 67-5-1(61) #4

Reyes has his hands full tonight. Zarate is a killer. He has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. As a top ten contender, he is unhappy that he has been passed over so many times. Job is not just any fighter though. He is a skilled boxer with power too. Neither fighter has great defense, so it will depend on who can take the blows, and who doesn’t get hit. Oddsmakers like Zarate at 4/6 while Reyes is 5/4. Reyes is one of my favorite fighters, so it is only natural that I cheer for him.

[PilotMan]

Oh well, another bad week. Crap I hate losing. The betting has not been my friend lately. A shocker in the Bantamweight division. Carlos Zarate knocked out Job Reyes in the FIRST round! Unbelievable! He is tough, he could reign for a while.

Here is our financial breakdown at this point:

Cash 4,118,973

Assets

Melvin Horne 393920 x 2 = 787,840

Lawrence McFarlane 440544 x 4 = 1,762,176

Omar Acevedo 499991 x 3 = 1,499,973

Lee Drydon 398982 x 2 = 797,964

Andreas Ruelas 256481 x 4 = 1,025,924

Ismael Gutierrez 569103 x 6 = 3,414,618

Tomoaki Wantanabe 87350 x 8 = 698,800

Glenn Leeds 138908 x 4 = 555,632

Total Contracts 10,542,927

Total Assets 14, 661, 900

That is a pretty penny!

[PilotMan]

Rankings as of October, 2007

Heavyweight

CHAMP Joe Louis 75-3-0(59)

#1 Peter O’Connell 38-5-1(20)

#2 Muhammad Ali 61-6-0(39)

#3 Colin Dibble 27-4-1(14)

#4 Evander Holyfield 41-6-1(26)

#5 Lennox Lewis 38-3-1(28)

#6 Richard Ferrier 24-9-1(14)

#7 Jim Corbett 27-8-7(14)

#8 Ralph Weymouth 19-8-2(14)

#9 Max Watt 17-2-4(10)

#10 Daniel Doherty 24-3-1(7)

Light Heavyweight

CHAMP Bob Foster 67-8-1(53)

#1 Roy Jones 45-2-1(35)

#2 James Singleton 15-10-0(14)

#3 Will Cripps 20-3-3(11)

#4 Virgil Hill 49-5-2(25)

#5 Julio Perez 17-3-0(6)

#6 Pat Olver 24-2-0(6)

#7 Derrick Scoulding 43-3-1(30)

#8 Jeff Ellery 21-12-1(12)

#9 Martin Kinnear 30-15-0(21)

#10 Brendan Lawe 14-8-0(12)

Middleweight

CHAMP Leavander Nolan 21-0-0(6)

#1 George Kings 27-2-0(9)

#2 Anthony Hardy 48-4-0(16)

#3 Wayne Wells 32-2-0(22)

#4 Bill Neville 29-1-1(21)

#5 Roger Jennings 39-3-1(27)

#6 Cedric Kaplan 25-3-1(16)

#7 Jeff Larkin 23-5-0(23)

#8 Lawrence McFarlane 18-8-0(16)

#9 Carlos Monzon 99-9-11(66)

#10 Mark Gannon 40-1-2(28)

[PilotMan]

Welterweight

CHAMP Jose Napoles 84-8-0(58)

#1 Javier Quirino 45-4-0(32)

#2 Oscar De la Hoya 38-2-0(27)

#3 Wilfredo Benitez 59-10-1(33)

#4 Manuel Castillo 27-3-1(8)

#5 Jose Victor Lopez 25-1-0(16)

#6 Derrell Guyver 28-3-0(14)

#7 Ed Roper 32-2-3(13)

#8 Ike Quartey 40-3-1(34)

#9 Andrey Romero 38-2-1(31)

#10 Milton McCrory 44-4-3(28)

Lightweight

CHAMP Damien Essett 24-1-0(23)

#1 Julio Cesar Chavez 105-5-2(84)

#2 Jorge Reynoso 23-5-2(15)

#3 Pernell Whitaker 46-2-1(20)

#4 Melvin Horne 12-8-0(11)

#5 Sam Hughes 45-7-0(25)

#6 Benny Leonard 88-8-1(69)

#7 Luis Valdez 36-5-0(15)

#8 Raul Jimenez 25-1-0(11)

#9 James Marks 50-7-1(23)

#10 Al Hardway 22-3-0(11)

Featherweight

CHAMP Gary Jakeman 20-7-1(10)

#1 Peter Badillo 24-6-0(17)

#2 Armando Medina 22-2-1(5)

#3 Calvin Calvert 22-4-0(16)

#4 Wilfredo Gomez 48-5-2(44)

#5 Kevin Kelley 56-4-2(36)

#6 Ricardo Sanchez 30-3-0(19)

#7 Derrick Abercrombie 29-5-0(19)

#8 Satoshi Ohba 27-2-0(16)

#9 Juan Zamora 23-2-1(14)

#10 Kazuki Sugita 20-2-0(12)

[PilotMan]

Bantamweight

CHAMP Carlos Zarate 68-5-1(62)

#1 Job Reyes 23-1-2(14)

#2 Xavier Firth 22-8-1(9)

#3 Hiroshi Nagase 33-9-0(12)

#4 Joselito Pana 36-2-1(14)

#5 Sandro Macias 20-6-3(14)

#6 Edel Milanes 22-6-2(13)

#7 Eder Jofre 76-4-4(51)

#8 Enrique Grimaldo 43-2-0(30)

#9 Bimbo Melchor 21-2-1(12)

#10 German Tiznado 47-2-2(13)

Flyweight

CHAMP Rocky Cubillas 23-1-1(16)

#1 Gerardo Ramirez 29-2-0(13)

#2 Mauro Martinez 35-0-0(21)

#3 Colin Jolmers 21-3-1(12)

#4 Adam Napier 27-4-0(25)

#5 Geronimo Solorio 33-2-0(21)

#6 Ernesto Bantillian 16-6-0(11)

#7 Lito Jamili 20-8-0(17)

#8 Fidel Bassa 28-3-1(18)

#9 Hideki Nishizawa 22-3-1(10)

#10 Lito Mataganas 20-3-0(9)

[PilotMan]

Punishment Inc, has announced the extension of the contracts of Melvin Horne and Lee Drydon. Both fighters have signed contracts valued at around 1.5 million for an additional 4 fights each.

I am glad that we have enough to be able to extend the contracts of both of them. They have their weaknesses but I enjoy how well they have done. Horne is looking to get a title shot, while Drydon needs some more fights to build experience and improve his skills. Both are young and tough, and given the right timing, they can be fantastic fighters.

Fights of the week

Former Light Heavyweight Champion #6 Julio Perez 17-3-0(6) v. #7 Pat Olver 24-2-0(6)

A pair of boxers who should see the end of the fight, they will put on a good show. Perez is trying to stop a downward slide as he has lost all of his last 3 fights. The good news is that Olver hasn’t beaten any of those guys either. Olver’s most recent fight saw him win with a second round KO of contender Cliff Harris. Olver is the favorite at 2/5, while Perez is 2/1. I don’t know what to think. To me Perez should be able to win, but his confidence is suffering, and Olver isn’t a pushover.

Former Light Heavyweight Champ #9 Jeff Ellery 21-12-1(12) v. #21 Kelly Schofield 34-4-1(14)

This is a rematch from a fight when they were both top 10 contenders. That fight was a draw, since that fight one has one a title, but neither has been dominant. Schofield has been knocked out twice by former champ Brenden Lawe, and Ellery, who beat Lawe for the title, has won once in his last 5 fights. Ellery is a better puncher, but the loser in this one is really a loser. Schofield is the favorite at 8/11, and Ellery is 6/5. Ellery should win this fight, I just see him as the better fighter.

Lightweight Fighter of the Year #4 Pernell Whitaker 46-2-1(20) v. #8 Luis Valdez 36-5-0(15)

Whitaker is still rebounding from his loss earlier this year to Chavez. He is the favorite here against Valdez. A man who he beat last year. This shouldn’t be to troublesome for him.

[PilotMan]

Whitaker grabbed another win with a 5^th round KO over Luis Valdez.

Pat Olver won a majority decision over Perez, handing him another big loss.

Kelly Schofield won a unanimous decision over Jeff Ellery.

I have been making some big bets, and didn’t win any this week. 200k down the tubes. I got more coming up though.

Lawrence McFarland (M) is going to fight in about 5 weeks. He has been training and should be ready for this fight. Mark Gannon is his opponent. Gannon is currently ranked #11 and but has moved up the rankings fast. He is a power hitter, and has only been beaten one time. That was almost 3 years ago. McFarlane will need to again, be on top of his game. Gannon is going to move well and he has good power, but not an exceptionally good puncher. His chin is his weakness that we are going to try and exploit. It should be a good battle.

[PilotMan]

Last week of October, 2007

Fight Night -

One big fight for PI this week. Ismael Gutierrez fights for the seventh time, and tries to extend his winning streak to 4 fights. He is moving up rapidly, and needs to develop his skills before he ascends to fast. His opponent this week is a very tough fighter. Shane House hits hard and is very accurate with his punches. He has a good chin, and is likely to be able to stand and go toe to toe with Ismael if he wants. We will try and move better, avoid his power, and strike the body. If he cant breath then we should be able to take the fight to him. He has won all of his fights by TKO and is undefeated in 3 fights. A large payday looms with this fight, so it is important that he do well. Ismael will need to potect his chin unless he wants it exposed again. A win here would move him up in the rankings and would be great for his confidence. House is a huge favorite at 2/7 while Gutierrez is 13/5. IF he can win, it would mean very good money. He is trained better than he has for any other fight, and his confidence is high. Now it is up to him to turn that into results in the ring.

Fight of the week:

Former Welterweight Champion #4 Wilfredo Benitez 59-10-1(33) v. #8 Ed Roper 32-2-3(13)

These two met earlier this year, with Benitez Koing Roper in the 7^th round. Benitez then got taken to the house by De la Hoya, and Roper drew with Andrey Romero. Benitez is still a way off from being able to contend for the title, but he should have no problem with Roper. Roper is an aggressive fighter who if, he catches you the right way can steal the fight, but Benitez should be too well rounded to lose. Benitez is the favorite at 3/5, while Roper is 11/8. I like Wilfredo here all the way.

[PilotMan]

Here we go!

#100 Ismael Gutierrez 5-1-0(3) v. #106 Shane House 3-0-0(3)

This fight is scheduled for four rounds.

Ismael executed that plan that we laid out ahead of time. He tried to stay on the outside and counter punch House. He seemed to be fighting himself as he struggled to stay outside versus pushing inside which is where he likes to fight. House landed multiple combinations early and really had his way with Gutierrez. It was sloppy on the inside as the ref was constantly pulling them apart. House was really pressuring Gutierrez when Ismael found an opening and cracked him with a one punch left hook to the temple. House went down and looked stunned. I know I was. He managed to get back up at 5 and came right back into the fight. He knew that cost him the round though.

House seemed to be on his back foot in this round. He lacked the pressure that he had in the first round and just wasn’t hitting like he did in the round one. Ismael controlled the early part of the round but failed to impress and House slowly got his confidence back. Neither fighter landed many combinations, and Gutierrez held a lot. Round three needs to be cleaner. This one could have gone either way. I am still holding him back though. If he can outpoint House he can take it since I know that House is coming head hunting.

House came out fast in this one. He really controlled the round with Ismael content to move around the ring, and land the occasional punch. About 2:00 into the round Ismael changed tactics and came after House. He landed a number of crisp shots and looked really good. This round could have gone either way as well. He certainly didn’t lose the round. Round 4 will be very important. The knockdown in round one is proving to be huge right now. Otherwise, he might need to press hard.

Ismael must have felt good because he came out and pressed the action once again. He wasn’t looking for the KO, but he was trying to get the first shot off. Initally it looked like House was going to steal the round. He was laying back and not pressing like I expected too. Then the jab of Gutierrez took over. He threw it from all over and it landed so often that House finally started to come forward, and when he did he got more of the same. Ismeal finished very strong and had his best overall round. We will see what the judges say, but I feel really good about it too. If Gutierrez gets the win he will have deserved it. He fought well.

[PilotMan]

J1: 40-36 Gutierrez

J2: 38-37 Gutierrez

J3: 38-37 House

JUDGE 3 YOU SUCK! Ismael clearly dominated the fight, how he could have seen that Ismael lost 3 rounds is beyond me. He really dominated the last round and round one was 10-9 at the least. I saw it much more like 39-37. I would have been happy with that. Oh well, whataya gonna do? He did win the fight, although someone tried to steal it from him. It was a well deserved win against a formidable opponent. Made a nice payday from this one. The odds were definitely in my favor.

[PilotMan]

Wilfredo Benitez grabbed a 10 round Unanimous decision over Ed Roper. That was to be expected though.

When I got back to the office there was a message to call the manger of young and up an coming lightweight Enrique Frias. Frias is unbeaten in 23 fights and is ranked #13. Horne is probably the lowest rated contender to the title, so they sweetened the pot with 287k, on top of what would already be a very nice payday. This is not the kind of fight that I am looking for. I said no. But I am looking for opponents for Melvin. He is ready to go again.

Fight of the week:

Featherweight FOY Calvin Calvert #4 22-4-0(16) v. Former Featherweight Champ Peter Badillo #2 24-6-0(17)

This is the fight that Calvert wanted, except that he wanted it before he lost to Armando Medina and before Badillo lost the title to Gary Jakeman. It should be a very entertaining fight though. Both men are aggressive, hit hard and have great defense. In fact they are almost identical in terms of their abilites. Calvert is the favorite at 4/6 while Badillo is 5/4. I would have thought that this should be a pickem, so I guess that means that a bet on Badillo would be worth the risk. Calvert is in better fighting shape and his confidence is better, as this is a very tough test for Badillo right after his loss.

Featherweight World Champ Gary Jakeman #1 20-7-1(10) v. #5 Wilfredo Gomez 48-5-2(44)

These two men have fought before, but it has been a while. Jakeman won the first fight by split decision. Both men have lost to Ricardo Sanchez, this year. Jakeman doesn’t get a whole lot of respect as a champion, and Gomez is a quality fighter. Both men are slugger type fighters with good chins. I expect that it will be a good fight, but if it goes the distance, then I like Jakeman. The betting has been favoring Gomez at 8/11, while Jakeman is 6/5.

[PilotMan]

A new Featherweight Champion has been crowned. Wilfredo Gomez scored a unanimous decision over Gary Jakeman to grab the title. I lost 100k on this fight.

Calvin Calvert beat former champion Badillo in a split points decision, I won around 67k for this fight.

Someone called to offer Omar a fight, but isn’t back into good enough shape to even warrent a look. Given his chin issues, I need to be very careful with whoever I have him fight next.

I did manage to book a fight for Lee Drydon. My favorite flyweight is going to get an easier fight than his last. His opponent this time is Bert De Costo. De Costo is a seasoned journeyman, who at one time was a title hopeful, he is at the end of his career now, and just looking for his next payday. He has won 1 fight in 3 years, and has a glass jaw. This was Lee’s reward for his contract extension.

I am having a difficult time trying to decide who Horne’s next opponent should be. He is currently the #4 contender to the title, but I don’t think he would have a prayer against the likes of Whitaker, Cesar Chavez, or former champ Reynoso. Right now, Damien Essett is in a who other galaxy. The name that does stand out is aging Benny Leonard. Leonard is a fantastic, well rounded fighter, who can box as well as he can slug. He was knocked out by Reynoso in his last fight, and but his aging body is slow to recover. We just can’t come to an agreement on a fight right now. There really aren’t any others that I want him to fight just yet.

[PilotMan]

Third week of November, 2007

Fight Night -

And so begins a night that will lead to many nights until the end of the year, and a lot of fights for Punishment Inc. Middleweight Andreas Ruelas is fighting tonight. He has looked very good in the gym the last couple of weeks. His training really seems to be going better. I am looking forward with great anticiaption to this fight. His opponent, John Fanshaw, was disposed of by Lawrence, and I am looking for Andreas to do the same thing. Rueles is like a younger McFarlane. He is incredibly aggressive, and that means that he will be hit by the boxer Fanshaw. Fanshaw is aggressive as well. I would look for him to come in and out a lot, and to try and disrupt Ruelas. He has a good chin, and good stamina, but he has no confidence. He is in much worse shape than when Lawrence whipped him so it should be easier for Ruelas to do the same thing. Andreas has good instincts, so I am going to let him go out and fight his fight tonight. If he gets into trouble then I will give some advice, but I want to see how he is going to deal with Fanshaw. The oddsmakers like Andreas. The odds on him are 8/13, while Fanshaw is 11/8.

[PilotMan]

Here we go!

#89 Andreas Ruelas 12-9-3(10) v. #91 John Fanshaw 17-15-0(8)

This fight is scheduled for six rounds.

Andreas was relaxed going into the fight. I wanted him to go out and be comfortable and see what Fanshaw was going to do. Fanshaw wanted to push the pace of the fight and threw and landed some nice punches. I wanted Ruelas to go to the body and work him over there. Andreas landed a number of nice combos, and genereally controlled the round with his jab. Hooking the body when he could. He got hit more than he should but he still won the round.

Round 2 was more of the same. Actually it was the jab show. Both men threw their jabs well, Ruelas landed better. Fanshaw only managed to get a few 2 punch combos, while Andreas jab was working well, and he was still working the body. I noticed an uppercut that made Fanshaw wince, and I wonder if it might be broken. Later I thought that I saw Fanshaw shake his left after an especially hard jab off of Andreas’ head. I told him it is time to work the chin, especially if his jaw might be broken.

A sloppy, sloppy round from my fighter. He started to get greedy and took too much punishment. He also failed to really control the round like he did in the first two rounds. Fanshaw is still a good puncher, he just isn’t going to hurt you. Andreas needs to do a better job.

Another solid round from Andreas. He focused more on his defense, he took some off of his punches, but still came forward looking for a fight. The result was a lot of punches landed and minimal damage taken. A good round. If he can do that a couple of more times this fight will be in the bag.

Well Fanshaw survived round five but that was all. This fight should have been stopped. Andreas’ jab is really controlling the fight. He just throws it at will and he is able to use it as a first punch or a counter punch. His defense is what is really working though. He looks to be a step faster than Fanshaw. Fanshaw just ate a lot of leather, and looked really bad at the end of the round. He fought back enough to go on, but it is clear that he needs a KO to win.

Round six was a close as any. Fanshaw was accurate and Ruelas landed some nice uppercuts, but neither fighter was hurt at all. This round could have gone either way, but as far as the fight goes, I would say that Ruelas had done enough to win the fight.

[Tellistto]

Woot, the fights go on. Looks like a solid fight by Rueles who seems to be following in Lawrence's shadow step for step. Let's hope he can continue that trend and become as good as Lawrence has as well!


Tell

[TonyR]

Wow could we possibly see a Ruelas/McFarlane fight in the future?

[PilotMan]

Here is what the judges think:

J1: 60-54 Ruelas

J2: 60-56 Ruelas

J3: 59-56 Ruelas

A nice win in a fight that I was hoping he would show off some of his power and get a KO. A win is a win though and even though the odds were pretty good that he would win, I still laid the max bet of 250k on him to win. It is easy to bet when you know your guy is good enough to win. That was a good fight, he should be happy with the result. I am.

[PilotMan]

Fred Apostoli, the man who was TKOed by Ruelas a few weeks ago wants a rematch. He isnt the caliber of fighter that he should be facing right now. He wants to move up and a rematch like that just isn’t going to put you on the map. NO.

Omar has his rematch. He is going to get his fight with Barney Ross. It is scheduled for the middle of January next year. He has to win this fight. There is no way around it. He should have won the last one.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

Woot, the fights go on. Looks like a solid fight by Rueles who seems to be following in Lawrence's shadow step for step. Let's hope he can continue that trend and become as good as Lawrence has as well!


Tell

That is what I was thinking when I signed him. He seems to be very similar in style and result.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by TonyR

Wow could we possibly see a Ruelas/McFarlane fight in the future?

???? I guess it's always a possibility. Ruelas has a way to go though.

[PilotMan]

Last week of November, 2007

Fight Night -

Glenn Leeds is fighting for his third time with the organization. Leeds has done ok in training, but has already fallen behind Wantanabe in the rankings and in the gym. He has an opportunity to fight the man that Wantanabe handily beat. Faustino Virgen isn’t going to put a lot of money in the bank account, but he could really help Leeds on his road back up. Virgen is fighting just to put food on the table. He has been handled well in all four of his fights and I don’t expect much out of him here.

Leeds has to show the good tools that I know that he has. So far he has just not proven himself, and his contract value really hasn’t gone up that much. Like I said, right now, Wantanabe is better fighter. Look for him to stay loose and I would like to see him end the fight early. It would be a big boost if he could, but he is only going to have 12 minutes to do it in. Leeds is a solid favorite at 2/5, while Virgen is at 2/1.

Next week is a very busy week for Punishment Inc, as well as the rest of the boxing world. So this will have to be good enough this week.

[PilotMan]

Here we go!

#124 Glenn Leeds 4-8-2(1) v. #134 Faustino Virgen 0-4-0(0)

This fight is scheduled for four rounds.

Glenn was dominant, he controlled the entire round and peppered Virgen with power shots. He had him reeling a number of times, and I was cheering him on and yelling at the ref to stop the fight. He would have none of it, and Virgen fought back. Glenn came back holding his left hand. He says that he knows he broke it. Man, that really sucks. Now we will see if he can still end the fight early.

Another good round for Leeds, although not nearly as good as round one. He just couldn’t seem to push the fight hard enough. Leeds is having trouble breathing, he is really struggling. He may need to back off, as he has taken way too much damage. Good thing this fight is half over. He wouldn’t make it through a ten rounder.

Virgen was again in control, he backed off and landed a boatload of punches and Virgen just didn’t get it going. Leeds should have this well in hand, he just can’t take him out. It is not a dominating performance, let’s just see him finish the fight on an upnote.

Well, he didn’t finish with a flurry and he didn’t dominate, and he took the most damage of any other round. Virgen did a great job of controlling this last round. I don’t think that it was enough to steal the fight. If Leeds did grab a draw, I will be very dissapointed. Even there were no knockdowns either round one or round three could have been 10-8 rounds. Here is what the judges have to say.

[PilotMan]

J1: 39-39

J2: 39-39

J3: 40-38 Leeds

This is the most unfucking believable scoring I have ever seen. Who the hell saw the fight like this. This cost me a quarter of a million dollars. That is fucking rediculous. How do you get a draw out of two rounds where Virgen easily could have been taken out. It is hard enough that Leeds may have a broken hand and a broken nose, but add insult to injury. Literally. I am ready to get in there, put the gloves on and kick ass on all three of those judges at the same time.

Sad to say, that this will probably leed to Glenn Leeds not being resigned by me. If he can’t beat a palooka like Virgen he will never improve beyond where he is right now.

[PilotMan]

First week of December, 2007

Fight Night -

This is not only a big week for Punishment Inc, but also the number of other fights across the world.

The first fight of the night is Tomoaki Watanbe. He is in his second fight, and hoping to build on his last impressive fight. His opponent this week is Miguel Angel Morales. Morales has a lot of experience, but has yet to win a fight. Morales is a boxer, who likes to press the action. He has very little power, but he has a good chin. To his credit Watanabe is coming off of a dominating performance. He will try and punish Morales, and grab his second career win. If he can he will have paid off on the investment. I think that he can. It is going to be a short fight, so he will be attacking. His chin is a little fragile, so it will be with some caution. Watanabe is the underdog at 5/4 while Morales is the favorite to get his first win at 4/6.

The second fight features the most popular fighter in Punishment In,. Lawrence McFarlane. McFarlane has a very difficult fight on his hands. His opponent is Mark Gannon. Gannon has one loss, and has won 40 fights and 28 of them by KO. Gannon has good defense, solid power, but his chin may be his weak spot. He is in good condition, although his last fight was a draw with Calvin Lewsey. Gannon will try and take the fight to the later rounds, and utilize his defense to keep McFarlane away. Neither fighter will be the aggressor, and Lawrence could win a boxing match, but I really want to see him land the big punch. He has trained very well, and he is ready for this fight. The winner here will lauch themselves handily into the top 10. Gannon is a huge favorite, the odds on him are 4/9, while McFarlane is getting no respect at 15/8. A chance to win some money.

Other big fights this week:

Welterweight World Champion #1 Jose Napoles 84-8-0(58) v. #2 Javier Quirino 45-4-0(32)

Quirino is fresh off of wins against Sugar Ray Leonard, and Oscar De la Hoya. He has been ranked in the top 10 for over a year and a half. He has beaten the best of the best in the welterweight division and now he gets his shot. Napoles is defending his title for the second time and has looked very good in his last fights. Both men are big time punchers and I would be surprised if either will last for the full 12 rounds. Napoles is the slight favorite at 4/5 while Quirino is at 11/10.

Lightweight World Champion #1 Damien Essett 24-1-0(23) v. Former Lightweight World Champion #3 Jorge Reynoso 23-5-2(15)

Essett, the most dominating pound for pound fighter around will defend his title in a rematch against Reynoso. Reynoso was knocked out in the first round in their last fight, but he is coming off of a 10^th round KO of Benny Leonard. Essett is the favorite at 3/5 while Reynoso is at 11/8. How can Essett lose? He has to be a sure thing.

Former Welterweight Champion Sugar Ray Leonard #14 37-6-1(25) v. Robert McCormick #20 16-9-2(14)

Sugar Ray has dropped four fights, while McCormick is 2-2 in his last four. This isn’t clash of the titans but is is going to be important to the future of Leonard. If he can’t get a win here he may as well retire. He has really lost a lot of confidence and is isn’t like McCormick is a great fighter. Leonard will need all his power and speed to win, although he is the favorite by a long shot. He is at 2/7 while McCormick is at 13/5. I am not going to touch this with a ten foot pole.

[PilotMan]

Here we go!

Tomoaki Watanabe #116 1-1-2(1) v. Miguel Angel Morales #138 0-12-2(0)

This fight is scheduled for four rounds.

Morales owned round one and landed a load of punches that were not powerful, but they were effective. Tomoaki will need another strategy, his punches are powerful, and he could end the fight if he gets Morales going backward. Round two will need to be better than this.

Round two was even. Neither fighter seems to be able to get the upper hand. Morales was not as accurate, but Tomoaki didn’t impress either. He will really need to turn it on in order to turn this fight around.

Tomoaki tried to come out on the offensive and ended up getting peppered with a series of punches that immediately sent him moving backward. He looked to move a little more and found much more success and may have even stolen this round. He has to be the better fighter in the next round, I have a lot of money riding on this fight. I am surprised that he has yet to really hurt Morales. He is just too slippery.

Tomoaki did very well in the last round and made up for the failure in round one. He hurt Morales about two minutes in, but just couldn’t end the fight. Morales landed the least amount of punches in the last round than in any of the other rounds. He was tagged by some good punches, but his chin held up well. I really hope for Watanabe’s sake that he doesn’t end up with another draw.

[PilotMan]

J1: 39-38 Morales

J2: 39-38 Morales

J3: 39-39

Awwwwwww......(*^(^&! Just damn. I mean, what a dissapointing result. Especially on the heels of the Leeds fight. This just was not to be. I can see how they came to their decisions though. I guess round three was more of a draw, and that Tomoaki outright lost the first two. Sigh. Back to the gym with you. We have a long road ahead. For me? Lawrence McFarlane.

[PilotMan]

Here we go again!

Lawrence McFarlane 18-8-0(16) #10 v. Mark Gannon 40-1-2(28) #11

This fight is scheduled for 10 rounds.

Round one was an ugly round. Gannon expected Lawrence to come out and try and take the fight to him and he was sorely mistaken. Instead he laid back and watied for Gannon to come forward. He landed more counters and generally out boxed Gannon in the first round. Neither fighter did much damage, and the round was marred by some pushing inside, but all in all it was a good first round.

Gannon and Lawrence both got a bit more aggressive in this round. The beneficiary of this was Gannon. He seemed to be getting off first and is defense was better too. Lawrence can not get picked apart on the outside, especially when Gannon needs to have his chin tested. A hard lesson from the Kings fight was that Lawrence has a tendency to tire earlier than the other guy. He will have to not let these early rounds go away.

Gannon did a great job of counter punching and was being very pateint waiting for McFarlane to come forward. He was moving too well, and it felt as though Lawrence was chasing him around the ring. Toward the end of the round a straight counter right caught Lawrence right below the left eye and he slumped to the canvas. He was up quick at three, but that really cost him a couple of rounds worth of points. I am not happy at all. Something has to change.

Well we got one back! Round four was not going well at all, in fact Gannon was toying with McFarlane for the round. He was out pointing him and generally making him look bad. That is until the left hook. Gannon went right down and almost didn’t get back up. He took the standing eight and fought back well. This round easliy could have been lost, but it was salvaged with the knockdown. We need more of that.

Round five was taken off by Gannon. He didn’t do much and Lawrence didn’t either. Lawrence did do enough to take the round though. He landed more even if most that landed were just jabs. Gannon was not as accurate as he has been. Hopefully that knockdown slowed him some.

Round six was even. Both men landed well in spurts but neither was able to really take advantage. Early in the round Lawrence was moving very well and I was under the impression that he was going to take this round too. Gannon came back though and brought things even.

I have this fight even, and I hate the late rounds. I told Lawrence that this fight was on him. He had to take charge. He had to do it the way that he felt he could. As the round started I knew he was fired up but he wasn’t showing anything in the ring. His punches were behind, although Gannon couldn’t seem to catch up with him either. :51 into the seventh round a powerful right came out of nowhere and sent Gannon flying. It really hurt him. He was down for a seven count. He did get back up, and fought well, however he still lost the round, and Lawrence did what he really needed. Now he needs to keep it up.

I told Lawrence that was just what he needed and to keep it up. It only took :23 for another right hand to find it’s way to Gannon’s jaw. He crumbled down, but did manage to get up at 7 again. There is no hurry now, as Gannon will be forced to come forward. McFarlane didn’t try and end it, but he is gaining confidence now. That was a bad round for Gannon. Lawrence must keep the pressure on with two rounds to go.

Round 9 looked like the earlier rounds, with Gannon picking off Lawrence from the outside. He pumped jab after jab, and wouldn’t stay in one spot long enough to get hit. This round was clearly his. I still think that he probably needs at least a knockdown to win this fight. Lawrence will try and win this fight with a solid round here at the end.

Well that is it. It wasn’t pretty but he did keep it close. Gannon could have stolen the round with great boxing skills again, but hopefully Lawrence landed enough to make him look good. As of right now, I have this fight scored a draw. I really hope that isn’t the case. With the hit that I took on the Watanabe fight I can’t afford another big blow to the budget. Here are the scores:

[PilotMan]

J1: 96-92 McFarlane

J2: 95-91 McFarlane

J3: 94-92 McFarlane

Great! Not only a win, but a unanimous decision! Those scores are a lot further apart than I would have guessed, but I will take it. He got the win, and he did it with great power. Three knockdowns in the fight should seal it, and there is no way that he should have ever been knocked down. This is a very nice payout against a fighter who was favored pretty good. Hopefully this will be good for us in the rankings.

[PilotMan]

Sugar Ray Leonard did what he needed and grabbed a close split decision against Robert McCormick.

Jose Napoles did what I didn’t think that he could do, and that was grab a win against a hot fighter. He won in style with a unanimous decision.

Damien Essett dominated Jorge Reynoso, and defended his title again with at 10^th round knockout

[PilotMan]

As we wind down the 2007 year there still are no real good looking fights for Melvin Horne. The fighters that are available are just not a good match for him. Most have some appealing traits, but all have at least one or more disqualifing skills. I will just be patient with him.

Lawrence is pretty worn out following his fight, but he is training. It was a great win for him. I am looking to press him further up the rankings for his next fight.

Drydon has the last fight of the year for the gym. He should be able to beat this guy. He needs the experience.

[TonyR]

Just Awesome! McFarlane should get a Title shot in a few fights!!

btw, you getting any endorsement deal yet?