Archive for March, 2015

Antonio Nieves returns from New York still undefeated!

Posted: March 30, 2015 in Boxing
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(photo: George Jimenez/ GeoImagez)

(photo: George Jimenez/ GeoImagez)

Undefeated Cleveland Super Bantamweight contender Antonio “Carita” Nieves (11-0, 5 KO’s) scored an eight round unanimous decision victory over Saul Tejada (5-4-2, 1KO) in the main event at the Resorts World Casino in Queens, New York on Saturday night. All three judges were in agreement, with each of their score cards showing the same 79-72 score in favor of Nieves. The event was promoted by New Legend Boxing.

Fighting not only for the first time as the main event, but also for the first time in the Big Apple was quite the experience for the 27 year old Nieves.

“The atmosphere for the fight was great,” Nieves said excitedly. “You could feel the intensity of the crowd as I walked up into the ring!”

Nieves was never in any trouble during the fight and was able to score a knockdown in the sixth round after a left hook to the chin of Tejada.

“I threw a 1-2-3 combination,” Nieves explained of the knockdown. “I was able to hurt him several times but he stayed up making it only one knockdown.”

Heading into the seventh round was uncharted territory for Nieves, who had never been past six rounds. His conditioning paid off as he was well prepared to go the distance.

“Entering the seventh round I felt good,” said Nieves. “Conditioning was no issue for us.”

Nieves also knew at this point with a big lead on the scorecards, Tejada would have to go for the knockout. What exactly did his corner tell him heading into the eighth and final round?

“My corner was telling me to continue to box,” Nieves said. “They told me to be smart and not to ‘Mickey Bey’ it.”

Mickey Bey is another Cleveland fighter that had seemingly won every second of the first nine rounds of his fight against John Molina Jr in 2013 and for some ungodly reason his trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr, told him to go for the knockout in the final round. Low and behold, Bey was caught by a wild, free swinging Molina and got stopped in the last round when all he needed to do was continue to outbox his foe.

Nieves’ trainers, Joe Delguyd and Francis Figueroa of Old School Boxing Club, obviously knew better and gave their star pupil sound advice.

“My opponent was throwing wild shots so I had to make sure that my hands stayed up and to stay sharp on defense,” Nieves said of the final round.

Working on his jab during training for the fight, Nieves felt It was a weapon that was underutilized in previous fights.

“The best punch and combination that was affective in this fight was my jab,” Nieves stated. “After my jab, I was able to land any combination I threw.”

There’s no rest for the hungry contender, who will be right back in the gym Tuesday as he begins preparation for his next fight in Puerto Rico on April 11th. Despite going eight rounds, Nieves still feels great.

“We are still planning to fight in Puerto Rico because I really didn’t take any damage,” Nieves explained.

While an opponent is still being finalized for his next match, Nieves will continue to train away, hoping to bring a World Championship to Cleveland.

 

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Even in the offseason, the Browns rule Cleveland

Posted: March 26, 2015 in Browns
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The same week that the Cleveland Browns made it into the national news for the wrong reasons once again this offseason, I received an email to deposit money for 2015 season tickets!?! I’m serious. I can’t make this up.

ssn tix

This after CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora wrote a  piece suggesting Browns owner Jimmy Haslam trading the franchise for the Tennessee Titans:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/25119985/titans-sale-getting-closer-but-dont-rule-out-haslam-swapping-browns

There was a positive story as well, however. After the local and national ridicule the club garnered following the logo and helmet color change (or lack thereof), safety Donte Whitner was chosen to participate in a Nike photo shoot promoting the new uniforms the team will debut this season. Sworn to secrecy about specific details of the changes, Whitner did throw us a couple of bones.

It’s nearly April which means the most exciting time of the year for Browns fans is approaching. That’s right. The NFL draft! We now know where the Browns will be drafting in each round as well as the league announced the draft order this week. Of course it’s expected that the Browns will lose at least one of their mid round picks due to the incompetence of their GM Ray Farmer, who was texting coaches during games and was caught when former OC Kyle Shanahan most likely turned whistleblower. Anyhow, here are the picks as they stand as of right now:

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/article-5/Official-2015-NFL-Draft-order-unveiled-See-where-Browns-will-make-their-10-picks/4626bc3b-eb5a-40cd-85f4-597e72232abe

nfl_a_joshnn_cr_600x400Now I know the prospect of Josh McCown as the Browns starting quarterback doesn’t sound exciting at all, but in all honesty this dude is hard to not root for. He is extremely intelligent and will put the team needs before any of his personal goals, even if that means being a teacher to Johnny Manziel (If the entitled frat boy makes it to the playing field). McCown was interviewed on ESPN Cleveland by Tony Rizzo Wednesday and came across as a genuine, all class individual. If you missed the interview, do yourself a favor and take a listen to the guy that will most likely start the season as your starting quarterback:

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=70&c=476&f=4175803

 

Antonio ‘Carita’ Nieves to headline in New York City

Posted: March 23, 2015 in Boxing
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Nieves with trainers Joe Delguyd (L) and Francis Figueroa (R)

Nieves with trainers Joe Delguyd (L) and Francis Figueroa (R)

Undefeated Cleveland Super Bantamweight contender Antonio “Carita” Nieves (10-0, 5 KO’s) returns to the ring for the first time in 2015 this Saturday, March 28th at the Resorts World Casino in Queens, New York. Nieves is headlining the card as the Main Event against Saul Tejada (5-3-2, 1 KO) of Spain.

Nieves made his mark in Cleveland as amateur. He was a five-time Cleveland Golden Gloves champion while also being ranked in the top 10 by USA Boxing.

The eight round main event will be a first for Nieves, whose last four bouts have been scheduled for 6 rounds. If the fight does go the distance, Nieves is sure there won’t be any concern regarding fatigue.

“I have no worries at all,” said Nieves. “We have done everything that we had to do to ensure that conditioning is not an issue.”

This will also be Nieves’ first fight in New York, but taking a road trip will be nothing new for the 27 year old.  He’s already fought in Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia in addition to his Ohio fights. Nieves knows the lights will be shining bright in the Big Apple.

“To have my first main event fight in New York is a big opportunity and I will take full advantage of it and shine. Being the main event fighter is exciting. I’m ready to put on a show and showcase my talent,” proclaimed the confident Nieves.

Coming off a busy 2014 that saw him fight five times, Nieves won three of those by knockout. In his last fight against DeWayne Wisdom, he scored four knockdowns en route to a fifth round stoppage at Wheeling Island Casino in West Virginia on December 20th.

With a three month layoff between fights, Nieves has been able to work on improving his already solid technique. He trains under the tutelage of Francis Figueroa and Joe Delguyd at the Old School Boxing Club located inside Strongstyle Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness Center.

“Since my last fight we’ve been focusing on a couple of things. We’ve been focusing on establishing my jab more, defense, and using more angles. I have a great jab but tend to under use it at times,” Nieves confessed.

Nieves wrapped up his heavy training for the fight over the weekend and is now just doing light work to stay on weight, which is contracted at the Super Bantamweight limit of 122 pounds.

“This training camp went really great,” said Nieves. “We did everything that we had to do to be in the best shape. I’ve been sparring three days a week anywhere from 6-10 rounds.”

This will be the first fight in America for the lesser known Tejada, whose previous fights have all come in Europe, including all but one in Spain.

“I don’t know much about him. I’ve seen some tape on him, but that’s about it,” stated Nieves.

Tejada is unbeaten in three of his last four fights including his last two. He’s coming off a four round unanimous decision victory in his last bout on February 21st.

Nieves will waste little time after this bout as he’s already scheduled to fight in Puerto Rico on the undercard of the Orlando Salido vs Roman Martinez Super Featherweight title fight on April 11th.