Tuesday, August 25, 2015

ROCKY PEPELI

   After a long amateur career including Silver Gloves and Jr. Olympics titles in 1980 (at age 15), Iowa's Rocky Pepeli turned professional in 1987.  His first 8 pro bouts were decided in the 1st or 2nd rounds!  He opened with a first round KO over Lon Liebergen in Rocky's hometown of Davenport, Iowa.  After scoring another 1st round knockout in Anchorage, Alaska, Pepeli soon found his self as a regular on the boxing events staged at the Reseda Country Club in Reseda, California. 

   He quickly became a favorite of Southern California fight fans.  His fearless style, wins over Mike Gans and Bobby Quarry, and record of 16-4-1 with 15 by knockout landed him a big fight against world ranked contender and former NABF Cruiserweight Champion "Smoking" Bert Cooper (28-9, 24 ko's).  Cooper ended up stopping Pepeli in the 8th round.

   Rocky would go on to face even bigger names including Eric "The Whip" Curry, Jesse Ferguson, and former World Champion and Boxing Hall-of-Famer Larry Holmes.

   Pepeli got his only shot at a title belt on March 21, 1995 when he faced Russian World Ranked Contender - Alexander Zolkin (20-2, 14) for the vacant NABF Heavyweight Title.  It was a wild affair with Zolkin scoring the 3rd round TKO to take the title that had been vacated by Joe Hipp.

   Pepeli also faced James Buster Douglas losing a 10 round unanimous decision to the former World Heavyweight Champion.

   His final pro bout came on April 2, 1998 in Buffalo, NY.  Rocky was stopped in the first round by undefeated and world ranked Kirk Johnson (23-0, 17 ko's).

   After a professional boxing career that spanned 11 years, Rocky Pepeli ended with a final record of 19 wins, 11 losses, 1 Draw, winning 18 by Knockout.


Click HERE to see Rocky Pepeli's entire Pro Ledger.

If you would like to see Rocky in Heavyweight action, I have the following bouts available on DVD:

VINCENT JONES                          [L-10]
BERT COOPER                              [tko-by-8]
LARRY HOLMES                           [tko-by-4]
JESSE FERGUSON                         [tko-by-9]
ALEXANDER ZOLKIN                  [tko-by-3] {Vacant NABF Heavy Title}
JAMES BUSTER DOUGLAS          [L-10]

Contact: Disneyguru@outlook.com


Saturday, August 8, 2015

RUDY LOVATO

Nickname: "Bad Boy"

   New Mexico's Rudy "Bad Boy" Lovato started out in the world of Kickboxing where he became a  multi-belt champion.  He turned to professional boxing on Feb. 15, 1986 when he scored a 4 round decision victory over fellow New Mexican Everett Berry in the Lightweight Division.  He then began his career as a "Road Warrior" taking fights in his opponents home towns. It was April 30, 1992 when he scored a spectacular first round knockout over California's Efrin Granillo televised on espn.
   Sept. 3, 1992 saw Lovato in one of New Mexico's memorable showdown fights as he faced unbeaten fellow Albuquerquean Steve Hindi (3-0).  Lovato rallied in the late rounds, but lost a decision that night.  He would continue to be boxing's "minuteman", ready to take on whoever called, wherever and whenever the call came in.



   June 14, 1997 saw Lovato in one of his greatest performances as he put on a masterful boxing display against Florida's Tommy Eaglin (15-3, 8 ko's) over 10 rounds.  It was a lopsided unanimous decision on scores of 98-94, 98-92, and 99-91.
   It was May 16, 1998 when Rudy finally got a chance to fight for a title belt.  He faced Santa Fe New Mexico's Chris Linson Jr. (13-1-1, 10 ko) at the Palo Solari ampitheatre in Santa Fe.  After 12 brutal rounds, Linson was awarded a 115-114, 115-114, 117-112 decision victory to claim the New Mexico State Jr. Welterweight Title.

Lovato's post fight interview after defeating Tommy Eaglin
   Rudy's next fight was another main event, this time he faced another New Mexico favorite in rising star Charles "Poison" Anaya (5-1-1, 3 ko).  It was a back and forth technical boxing match until someone in the audience threw a soft drink bottle into the ring that hit Lovato which prompted a stop to the bout.  In the interest of safety the bout and the event was halted, and the judges decision was announced in the newspapers the next day.  A Technical unanimous decision victory on scores of 79-73, 77-75 and 79-75 for Albuquerque's "Bad Boy" Rudy Lovato.
   He continued his campaign as boxing's "Road Warrior" fighting in Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Yuma, Boise, Tacoma, and other home towns of local favorites.
   It was August 12, 2000 that Lovato would get a 2nd shot at a Title Belt, this time it was for the WBC Fecarbox Jr. Middleweight Title.  He would face another unbeaten contender in Kingsley Ikeke (11-0, 6 ko).  One Judge had Lovato winning handily with a score of 119-107, but he was over ruled by the other two judges who gave the fight to Ikeke on close scores of 116-114, and 116-113.  Ikeke would go on to add the NABO, NABF and NABA Middleweight Titles to his collection as well as fight for the IBF Middleweight World Championship against Arthur Abraham in Germany.
   Two fights later, Rudy Lovato got his 3rd shot at a Title Belt, and this time he would have to travel to Tacoma, Washington and face local favorite Shelby Pudwill (13-1-1, 7 ko's) for the C.A.M. (Canadien American Mexican) Jr. Middleweight title.  On this night, Rudy would not be denied, and scored a close but unanimous decision win to take the belt home with him.   Lovato continued on,  fighting all over the United States, often on short notice.  Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Illinois were some of the states that saw Lovato take on World Champions and World Ranked Contenders including: Greg Haugen, Cleveland Corder, Juan Baldwin, Tom Lowry, Emmet Linton, Danny Perez, Yori Boy Campas, Miguel Angel Ruiz, Mark Suarez, and Diobelys Hurtado.  Rudy's final victory came August 13, 2005 in Lewiston, Idaho as he defeated Donnie Fosmire via 12th round knockout to win the WBC Fecarbox International Welterweight Title.
   After a professional boxing career that lasted over 21 years, Rudy stepped into the squared circle for the final time on Nov. 10, 2007 at the Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colorado, where he was stopped by Joe Gomez (12-1-1, 6 ko) in the 7th round.
   Rudy Lovato ended his years of boxing with an overall record of 21-40-4, 7 ko's.  He was a fighter who didn't worry about picking his opponents, and never had the promoter's edge to bring him hand picked opponents to pad his record. He was involved in some wild events.  He just said "Yes" to any call that came in and took the fight! 

Click Here to see:
Rudy Lovato's entire Pro Ledger
 
If you would like to see Rudy Lovato in action, I have the following bouts available on DVD:

1. MICHAEL POWELL                                             [L-6]
2. EFRIN GRANILLO                                                [tko-1]
3. STEVE HINDI                                                        [L-8]
4. ANTHONY CHAVEZ                                            [w-dq-2] (Bout erupts into riot in ring)
5. JUAN BALDWIN                                                   [tko-by-2]
6. ERNEST PARGAS                                                 [tko-3]
7. RICKY PONCE                                                     [w-4]
8. RICARDO GALVAN #1                                        [tko-3]
9. TOMMY EAGLIN                                                  [w-10]
10. RICARDO GALVAN #2                                      [w-4]
11. JOSE RAMIREZ #1                                              [w-8]
12.  JUAN GALVAN #1                                             [ko-6]
13. CHRIS LINSON JR.                                            [L-12] {Vacant NM State Jr. Welter Title}
14. CHARLES ANAYA                                             [Tech-w-8]
15. JUAN GALVAN #2                                             [w-4]
16. JOSE RAMIREZ #2                                             [w-6]
_________________________________________________
Kickboxing: 
1. RONI LEWIS
_________________________________________________
Sparring & Training:

1. Rich Garcia (Sparring)

Contact The Boxing Guru: Disneyguru@outlook.com


Friday, August 7, 2015

BOBBY PACQUIAO

Nickname: "The Sniper"

   Born Alberto Dapidran Pacquiao, he became known as "Bobby" Pacquiao.  The younger brother of boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao, turned professional on April 24, 1997 with a first round knockout over Teddy Gan.  He fought in the Phillipines and Thailand for his first 38 pro fights.  In 2002 he won the Phillipines Jr. Lightweight Title with an 11th round KO over Renato Inal.  He fought his first fight  in the USA in 2004 where he won a unanimous decision over Oscar Villa in Montebello, California.  On June 17, 2005 he scored a mild upset over Carlos Navarro by 7th round knockout to claim the WBC Continental Americas Jr. Lightweight title belt.  He then shocked former world champion Carlos "Famous" Hernandez with a 10 round Split decision victory.  He then added a 3rd big name to his ledger as he defeated former world champion Kevin Kelley in a defense of his WBC Continental Americas Jr. Lightweight title, stopping "The Flushing Flash" by knockout in round 4. 
   The Big name upset streak ended when he was disqualified in round 11 against Hector Velasquez at the Hard Rock Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV.  He was stopped in his next fight on June 9, 2007 at Madison Square Garden, where he fell by KO to former interim WBC Featherweight World Champion Humberto Soto (40-5-2, 25 ko) on the undercard of Miguel Cotto/Zab Judah.
   His last pro fight came on Nov. 20, 2008 where he lost to Robert Frankel by a clear 10 round unanimous decision.  Bobby Pacquiao never challenged for a world title, and he ended his career with a record of 31-15-3, with 16 wins by knockout.  He started as a Super Flyweight, and ended his career in the Lightweight division.

Click here to see:
Entire Pro Record of Bobby "The Sniper" Pacquiao

If you would like to see Bobby Pacquiao in ring action, I have the following bouts available on DVD:

1. CARLOS NAVARRO            [ko-7] {WBC Continental Americas Jr. Light Title}
2. KEVIN KELLEY                    [ko-4] {WBC Continental Americas Jr. Light Title}
3. HECTOR VELAZQUEZ         [dq-by-11] {WBC Continental Americas Jr. Light Title}
4. HUMBERTO SOTO               [ko-by-7]
5. FERNANDO TREJO              [tko-4]
6. URBANO ANTILLON           [ko-by-1]




Contact The Boxing Guru:  DisneyGuru@outlook.com