Bronx, NY – The year 2009 is finally here and if it is anything like 2008, Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing is in for yet another extremely busy year in the boxing world. Whether it was exciting sold out shows, major signings, or watching our fighters climb the ladder in the world ratings, Star Boxing had it all, including having two of its top fighters being named to Dan Rafael’s ESPN.com, Top Prospects of 2008 list. Below is a brief break down of the Star Boxing Roster and what they accomplished this past year.
Edison Miranda
Miranda Gets KO Of Year; Banks vs. Maccarinelli – News
Cruiserweight Enzo Maccarinelli (29-2, 22 KOs) will be facing number #1 ranked World Boxing Organization cruiserweight contender Johnathon Banks (20-0, 14 KOs) in February for the vacant WBO title. Banks, 26, severely sprained his ankle while training for his previously scheduled bout with Maccarinelli in December. The injury prevented Banks from taking the bout, making it necessary for Maccarinelli to find a replacement opponent. Maccarinelli then moved up to heavyweight and took out British journeyman Mathew Ellis, stopping him in the 2nd round on December 6th in London.
Edison Miranda: Can He Resurrect His Boxing Career?
By Eric Thomas: It’s sad to see the mess that has been made out of Colombian Edison Miranda’s (30-3, 26 KOs) once intriguing career. At one point he was 26 with 23 knockouts, being groomed for a potential title shot against then WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. However, just when his career was skyrocketing to the top, he traveled to Germany and lost a foul-plagued bout to Arthur Abraham. The fight was perhaps one of the worst managed fights I’ve ever seen in my life, as Miranda was penalized over and over again for borderline low blows and an intentional head butt. Removing the deductions from the equation, Miranda won the fight easily over Abraham.
Following that fight, Miranda moved on three fights later taking on the power-puncher Kelly Pavlik, who quickly brought Miranda’s star power back to earth with a stunning 7th round TKO victory in May 2007. The fight left no question that Miranda was flawed defensively, and didn’t have the skills yet to defend against a power puncher with comparable skills to him. It was an especially brutal defeat, one in which Miranda was forced to take a lot of head shots from Pavlik until the fight was eventually stopped in the 7th.
Abraham Destroys Miranda, Is Pavlik Next?
By Michael Lieberman: I hate to say I told you so, because it pains me to gloat when I’m right but I predicted this outcome, although I was off by two rounds in my prediction. Instead of Edison Miranda (30-3, 26 KOs) being knocked out in the 6th round, as I previously predicted, he only lasted four rounds against Arthur Abraham (27-0, 22 KOs), in a fight that was mostly going Miranda’s way up until the 4th round, when Abraham suddenly dropped Miranda with a right hand. Abraham would later drop Miranda two more times, at which point referee Telis Assimenios stopped the bout at 1:13 of the 4th round.
It’s hard to say what happened to the 27 year-old Miranda. He was fighting well in the first three rounds, keeping Abraham, 28, under constant pressure, hitting him with big shots and mostly not getting hit with anything significant. In a way, it was a like the first three rounds of their first fight in September 2006, in which Abraham covered up continuously on along the ropes, and fighting a kind of primitive rope-a-dope. In this case, however, Abraham was blocking little and getting hit with a lot of shots from Miranda full force to the head and body. In the first round, Miranda was warned for throwing a low blow, and thankfully the referee didn’t penalize Miranda. In the second round, Miranda landed another low blow, a hard right hand that landed well low, causing Abraham to crouch down and wince in pain.
Miranda-Abraham: Look For Arthur To Win By KO
By Michael Lieberman: I personally can’t stand either one of these guys. Neither of them are all that good, especially the annoying chatterbox Edison Miranda (30-2, 26 KOs) who talks as if he’s the king crap of the super middleweight division, when in all probability, he may never rise above being one of the middle of the rode contenders. As for IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (26-0, 21 KOs), this guy seems to have been totally protected his entire career up until the point that his management finally let him take a risky opponent in Miranda.
Things didn’t go too well in their previous fight two years ago, as you can see, with Abraham getting his jaw broken badly, swallowing a ton of blood, taking a vicious beating and seeming to be saved by both the referee (who penalized Miranda early and often) and the judges, who in their good hears rewarded Abraham for staying in the fight with a broken jaw by giving him what appeared to be a very questionable unanimous decision victory.
Has Miranda Over-trained For Abraham?
Photos: Courtesy Red Line Media Group – By Nate Anderson: In looking at the recent photos of super middleweight Edison Miranda (30-2, 26 KOs), photos of him looking far more leaner and cutup than usual, I can’t help but think that he’s either over-trained himself for his rematch with IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (26-0, 21 KOs) this Saturday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida, or Miranda has depleted himself of water in order to make the catch-weight limit of 166 lbs. Whatever the case, I don’t think he looks good at all. He looks far too think for him, like he’s lost too much weight and it’s also had the effect of making him look older, as if he’s aged visibly in the matter of months.
I know that he’s said to walk around at 190+ pounds in between fights, with most of it in the way of muscle rather than fat. This would seem to indicate that Miranda likely had to strip off a considerable amount of muscle – or water – in order to make the weight limit of 166, which seems to have given him the lean, over-trained and muscle starved look in the recent photos of him. It certainly looks good for a person that would want to enter a bathing suit contest or perhaps an amateur bodybuilding contest, but as far as boxing goes, he looks much too thin for him.
Miranda-Abraham: Edison Looking To Settle The Score
By William MacKay: It’s been an incredible 21 months, almost two years since the two last fought, and it’s seemed more than a lifetime for super middleweight knockout artist Edison Miranda (30-2, 26 KOs) who has been deeply bitter since that time when he lost a controversial 12-round unanimous decision to IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (26-0, 21 KOs) in Arthur’s adopted country Germany. The fight, which had high expectations going into the bout, turned into a confusing fight, stopped on four separate occasions with Miranda getting 5 points taken away from him for a mix of fouls – low blows and a head butt.
Abraham, fighting in his high energy style, had his jaw broken in the 4th round when he ran into a straight right hand from Miranda. From then on, Abraham was forced to fight with his mouth wide open, with blood constantly pouring out. The fight should have been stopped, but there didn’t seem to be anyone in charge willing to make that decision, certainly not the referee Randy Neumann, who looked like he was waiting for the ringside doctor to make the call. It didn’t, and Abraham was forced to fight the rest of the way with his jaw broken badly. As it turns out, even with the point deductions given back, Miranda would have lost regardless, as the judges had Abraham soundly defeating Miranda in the fight.
Abraham vs. Miranda II – Arthur and Edison To Settle Unfinished Business
By Aaron Klein: Last time the two met two years ago, Edison Miranda (30-2, 26 KOs) appeared to be the better fighter offensively, stalking and pounding away on IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (26-0, 21 KOs), breaking his jaw in the 4th round. However, due to a string of point deductions made against Miranda by referee Randy Neumann, totaling an incredible 5 points, Abraham was able to win the fight by a unanimous decision by the ridiculous scores of 114-109, 115-109 and 115-109. The scores, though, looked nothing like the actual fight that took place that night in which it was Miranda who did most of the punching, landing the high number of shots (mostly power punches) and pressing the action constantly during the fight.
For his part, Abraham generally moved around, covering up constantly on the ropes and trying to wade out Miranda’s attacks. When Abraham would punch, it would be in short flurries of shots near the end of the round as he tried to pull out the round. Obviously, Abraham has been trained to know that he can win rounds by fighting hard in the last half minute, while coasting during the first two and a half minutes of every round. This is what Abraham seemed to be doing against Miranda, which made it almost impossible for Abraham to win any of the rounds, even with his last second flurries.
Boxing: Edison Miranda vs. Arthur Abraham II On June 21st
By Jim Dower: On June 21st, Edison Miranda (30-2, 26 KOs) and undefeated Arthur Abraham (26-0, 21 KOs) meet to settle some unfinished business in a 12-round bout at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida. Their first fight, fought two years ago on September 23, 2006, ended up with Abraham winning in a highly controversial manner, due to Miranda being docked five points by Randy Neumann. However, removing the point deduction from the equation, Miranda appeared to win the vast majority of the fight, excluding rounds 5, 7 and 9. Abraham, the IBF middleweight champion, fought only sporadically for most of the fight after having his jaw broken in the 4th round by Miranda.
After appearing to have lost the first four rounds of the fight, Abraham lucked out in the 5th round when Miranda lost his cool and heat-butted Abraham. The bout was stopped at that time, giving Abraham an extended period of time to have his jaw worked, even though the head butt hadn’t occurred in the area of the jaw.
Abraham-Miranda: “This time Arthur will knock him out” – Ulli Wegner
By Erik Schmidt: The war of words between IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (26-0, 21 KOs) and super middleweight Edison Miranda (30-2, 26 KOs) continue on, this time with Abraham’s trainer Uli Wegner chiming in, saying “this time Abraham will knock Miranda out.” He made indeed be right, because the latest word is that Abraham is having an excellent training camp and is looking the best he’d ever looked. That can’t be good news for Miranda, who previously lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Abraham in September 2006.
The fight, as most people already know, turned out to be a controversial one, in which Abraham’s jaw was broken in two places, and Miranda being penalized numerous times, twice in the 5th & 7th, and once in the 11th round for low blows, and a head butt. Honestly, it was minor miracle that Miranda wasn’t disqualified by referee Randy Neumann, who showed the patience of a saint by allowing Miranda to stay in the fight despite his repeated fouls. I know that Neumann has taken a lot of heat from the boxing fans, especially American fans, but he didn’t deserve any of it as far as I’m concerned, because he was only calling what he was seeing in the fight in terms of fouls from Miranda.