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Friday, May 25, 2012

Netzer Bounces Back

Middleweight Danny Netzer won a four-round majority decision over Jose Luis Doviasa at Arena Duran in Panama City, Panama. The scores were 40-36, 39-37, and 38-38. Netzer, who weighed 159 pounds, improves to 3-1 with one KO. Doviasa, who was 157.25 pounds, falls to 0-3.

This was an important bounce-back fight for Netzer who dropped a majority decision to Phil Rose on April 17.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Netzer to Fight Tomorrow, Groenteman's Bout Canceled

Middleweight Danny Netzer is scheduled to fight tomorrow, Thursday, May 24 at the Arena Roberto Duran in Panama City, Panama. Light middleweight Jose Luis Doviasa is penciled in as the opponent. Nezter is coming off of his first professional loss last month. He is 2-1 with one KO. Doviasa, a Panamanian, is 0-2. He was KOed in his last bout, which took place in 2007.

Junior welterweight Barry Groenteman's fight against Jarkko Jussila, which was scheduled for Saturday, has been canceled. The entire card was scratched when cruiserweight Juho Haapoja twisted his ankle running on Monday. This is Groenteman's second fight in as many months to be canceled.

Groenteman was pumped for this bout, tweeting on May 13, "Sharp and confidence! It's gonna be a hell of a fight the 26th in Finland. Gonna show my maccabee[an] heart!" He is coming off of a controversial split decision loss to Andrea Carbonella in March.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Melson Looking to Rebound

Junior middleweight Boyd Melson is looking to rebound from his first career loss on June 14 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, New York. On March 7, Melson (8-1, 4 KOs) lost a controversial unanimous decision to undefeated prospect Delen Parsley after knocking Parsley down twice.

Melson is scheduled to face Enrique Gallegos in a six round bout. Gallegos (6-5, 1 KO) has lost his last three fights. Those three opponents went a combined 32-4-1 before they met the Oregon resident. Gallegos is a tough and capable fighter who possesses deceptive pop in his punches.

It remains to be seen if Gallegos can correct the defensive lapses that have plagued his him in his losses. He'll have to in order to compensate for below average hand speed. Gallegos has been a slow-starter of late. He was hurt in the first round against Donnie Orr, stopped in the first against Derek Ennis, and dropped in the first against K.J. Noons, a former MMA champion.

Gallegos's last fight, against the aforementioned Noons, took place three years ago. Melson has been far more active. He's fought all nine of his professional fights in the past year and a half.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Brooks Gets KO

Lightweight Mike "Lefty" Brooks knocked out Calvin Pritchard last night at Plattduetsche Park Restaurant in Long Island, New York. The end came at 2:59 of the second round. When they fought in 2010, Brooks took three out of four rounds from Pritchard. This time, Brooks showed that he has been improving since his second professional fight.

Brooks advances to 7-0 and earned his second knockout. Pritchard fell to to 0-6-2. This was the second time he has been stopped.

Cletus Seldin, who was originally scheduled to fight on the card, was a late scratch.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Salita Wants to Fight Malignaggi

Welterweight Dmitriy Salita wants to fight WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi this fall at Brooklyn's new Barclays Center. Malignaggi won the belt from Vyacheslav Senchenko late last month.

As reported by Phil D. Jay, Salita remarked, "Fighting Paulie for his title is my goal. We've even talked to each other about it. Paulie would like it to happen, also."

For Malignaggi's part, he talked euphemistically to the Boxing Channel's Marcos Villegas last week about his next fight, "It makes perfect sense to make my first title defense in Brooklyn, New York in the Barclays Center."

The Brooklyn native continued, "I don't really have to gun for one or two guys because there's probably plenty of options out there that would make for an interesting fight with Paulie Malignaggi as well as make for an interesting sell for New York City."

Salita (33-1-1, 17 KOs) would make for an interesting fight with Malignaggi (31-4, 7 KOs) and the matchup would surely make for an interesting sell in New York. But that is true of other potential opponents as well.

One of those potential opponents is Zab Judah. But that fight likely won't happen in the fall. Malignaggi tweeted yesterday, "I know people want to c @PaulMalignaggi vs @SUPERJUDAH he is a great friend & maybe one day we can get it on but we r on 2 different paths."

So, Salita still fits the criteria Malignaggi has laid out and wants the fight. In the meantime, Salita, who has been out of the ring for thirteen months, is planning on taking a tuneup fight this summer.

The former title challenger asserted, "I would like to have a fight in July and then fight Paulie for the title.That is my goal."

Sunday, May 13, 2012

A Look Back: Kenny "Bang Bang" Bogner

In an effort to link the past with the present, The Jewish Boxing Blog will present monthly a short biography of notable former Jewish boxers.

Kenny "Bang Bang" Bogner saw his promising boxing career derailed due to trouble with the law. While Bang Bang has been unable to live a quiet life since his boxing career ended, thoughts of what could have been for the lightweight prospect dance in the imagination of anyone who saw him fight.

Kenneth Bogner was born on January 9, 1961 and grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. He won the silver medal in the featherweight division at the 1977 Maccabiah Games while still attending high school. Kenny opened his professional career with a second round knockout of Robert Johnson on May 22, 1980. Eleven fights later, he had remained undefeated, piling up an 11-0-1 record.

On June 4, 1981, the promising lightweight took on another undefeated prospect, future world champion Livingstone Bramble in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In an interview with Scoop Malinowski, Bramble later remembered, "The best performance I had by far was the fight I had with Kenny "Bang Bang" Bogner and the first [Ray] Mancini fight." When asked why, Bramble continued, "Because Kenny Bogner was [11-0-1], I was [5-0-1]. And he came at me, he came to fight. He wanted to beat me; he didn't like me. He disliked me. And I think it made a lot come out of me. It made me bring out a lot of stuff that probably wouldn't have ever come out at that point in my career."

Bramble won that fight via a seventh round TKO. Bogner was a man willing to take a punch to hit back. Defense was never much of a concern for Bang Bang. But, the brawler had power. He had three different fights scheduled with Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini- two when Mancini was champion- and Boom Boom backed out of all three. Bogner also had a fight lined up with the famed Hector "Macho" Camacho that fell through.

Despite his inability to land a big fight, Bogner won his next eleven bouts. This streak included ESPN's Fight of the Year for 1982 against Kato Wilson. Then, his life unraveled. On November 2, 1984, he was sentenced for stealing marijuana and other personal belongs of a convicted drug dealer. In January of 1985, Bogner was accused of assaulting a woman over a gold chain that belonged to a third party.

Bogner attempted a comeback during the summer of 1987, but was stopped by Remo Di Carlo in the sixth round of their fight. Bang Bang earned a KO in 1989 and two more in 1993. He looked into coming back in 1997, but that attempt was thwarted by another bout with the law.

Muggsy Episcopo, who ran the gym in New Jersey where Bogner helped out early in the 2000s, said of Kenny, "He was a good fighter, a gutsy fighter. If it wasn’t for trouble, he would have been a champion." Bogner, with a record of 25-2-1 with 16 KOs, thought about another comeback in 2004 that never materialized. He was arrested three times in Citrus County, Florida from 2005-2007 and last year encountered a series of run-ins with the law once again.

His ex-girlfriend had a restraining order placed on him, a bus hit his bicycle, and he was accused and later convicted of stealing $150 worth of groceries within a matter of weeks in 2011. About stealing groceries, Bogner says he accidentally walked out of the store forgetting to pay. He explained, " I didn't even realize it! I'm a fighter; I'm a little stupid sometimes. The punches did it."

Kenny lives in Yardville, New Jersey with his girlfriend. At 51, he is retired and does some occasional handiwork. He dons a flat twisted nose, long curly hair, and a face that suggests a hard life. He told the Trentonian that he resents when people only remember the bad things he's done. "I mean, I did handicapped benefits, muscular dystrophy benefits, a marathon run for disabled people and so forth. They don't remember all the good things."

See Kenny Bogner's obituary

Bibliography
"Bogner: Comeback is a Long Shot: Trenton’s promising lightweight had career derailed." The Trentonian. 2004.
"Exclusive Q&A with Trenton's troubled ex-boxer Kenny 'Bang Bang' Bogner." The Trentonian. 2011
Malinowski, Scoop. "A Night at the Klitschko Fight." East Side Boxing. 2008.
"Newswire." Los Angeles Times. 1985.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Mike Brooks vs. Jamell Tyson

August 19, 2011
Paradise Theater
Bronx, New York

part 1


part 2


Brooks: black trunks, white trim
Tyson: black trunks, red trim

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Boyd Melson Update

Junior Middleweight Boyd Melson will be a guest speaker at May's Ring 8 meeting in New York on Tuesday, May 15. The Ring 8 deals with charitable causes. Melson is very involved with funding stem cell research for spinal cord injuries. He donates his boxing purses to Justadollarplease.org and started Team Fight to Walk.

Melson (8-1, 4 KOs) is coming off of his first career defeat. That bout took place in March, a heated and controversial unanimous decision loss to undefeated Delen Parsley. Melson is looking to get back into the ring on June 14 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, New York..

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Chilemba Enters Ring's Ratings

Isaac Chilemba (19-1-1, 9 KOs) entered The Ring's light heavyweight ratings this week. He debuts at number ten. Chilemba is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over former title contender Edison Miranda in February. A spot was open in the top ten when Ismayl Sillakh lost to underdog Denis Grachev this past Friday.

Chilemba, who is from Malawi and is in the process of shifting his home base from South Africa to the United States, plans on deciding on his next opponent at some point this month. The "Golden Boy" reached the ratings thanks in part to a draw with the sixth rated super middleweight in the world Thomas Oosthuizen, a win over prospect Maxim Vlasov, and the victory over Miranda.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Seldin, Brooks in Action on the 17th

Cletus "Hebrew Hammer" Seldin and Mike "Lefty" Brooks are scheduled to fight in separate bouts on May 17 at the Plattduetsche Park Restaurant in Long,Island, New York. The two Long Island natives are both members of the Westbury Boxing Club.

Seldin (7-0, 5 KOs) earned his fourth consecutive knockout on March 31 by stopping Marcus Hall. The welterweight has defeated four fighters with winning records in his young professional career. No opponent has been named yet for this fight.

Brooks (6-0, 1 KO), a southpaw, was a renowned amateur. His professional career has been slowed by injuries to this point. His last fight was a decision victory over journeyman Eddie Ramirez in October.

"Lefty" is scheduled to face Calvin Pritchard (0-5-2) in a six round lightweight affair. Lefty decisioned Pritchard in September of 2010. Brooks has fought beyond four rounds only once in his career, two fights ago against Jamell Tyson. In that contest, he admitted he became tired. Afterwards, he said, "Fifth or sixth round, I hit the wall." He blamed his diet and vowed to do better next time he fought in a scheduled six-rounder.