New England Chatta

JD Vena

When I attended the Evander Holyfield-John Ruiz battle for the vacant WBA heavyweight title in Las Vegas over a month ago, there was a tremendous negative reaction among the fans and the media moments after the decision was announced. Though I felt that Holyfield deserved at least two points deducted from his tally for excessive fouling, I still had the Real Deal winning slightly more rounds and by a score of 114-113. After the fight, many that I had talked to felt that I was crazier for scoring for Holyfield than I was predicting a Ruiz upset. NY Post scribe, Wally Matthews was one of the people who strongly opposed my pre-fight forecast and scorecard. Favoring Holyfield might have had to do with the fact that I predicted Ruiz to win.

    "RUIZ ROBBED" and "SHAM" were just some of the titles gracing the covers of Sport sections the day after the fight. After watching the fight I had taped, I felt the same way. During Showtime's broadcast on August 12th, on-line scorers had Ruiz winning 8 rounds to four while Showtime boxing analyst and former two-time world champion Bobby Czyz had Ruiz winning 9 rounds to three.

    This Sunday afternoon (Sept. 17) TV viewers who don't subscribe to Showtime will have the opportunity to catch the rebroadcast on CBS at 4:30 PM (check your local listings). Ruiz, who was recently named the Massachusetts Athlete of the Year will be watching and commenting on the national rebroadcast from the Good Time Emporium (a cool place to drink cervezas and shoot pool) in Somerville, Ma. Ruiz' comments will be posted between rounds on the Internet at www.sho.com. Wally Matthews among others will be a guest on the CBS broadcast to offer his opinion on the controversial bout. If your favorite football team isn't playing, be your own judge and watch it for yourself.

    If your favorite college football team isn't playing this Saturday evening (Sept. 16) and you live in the New England area, you might want to attend the live, 7-bout boxing card at the Worcester Centrum. The Centrum was the venue for a handful of Marvin Hagler title fights and the 1992 Olympic Trials. Headlining the card will be New Bedford's "Sucra" Ray Oliveira against Denver's Steve Valdez. The fight is a tune up bout for Oliveira, who may receive a potential title shot against IBF jr. welterweight belt holder, Zab "Supah" Judah later this year. Oliveira, a former NABF jr. welterweight champion is ranked 8th by the IBF. Also featured on the card will be an interesting all-Massachusetts jr. middleweight bout between Worcester's Jose Rivera and Southie's Tommy Attardo. For ticket information, call the Worcester Centrum at (508) 755-6800.

    Jimmy Birchfield, Classic Entertainment & Sports will run an exciting 10-bout card next Friday (September 22) at the glamorous Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet in Cranston, RI. In the main event, Oliveira's stablemate and pal, Scott "The Sandman" Pemberton will set his sights on Levan Easley and the vacant NABF Super Middleweight title at stake. Pemberton, ranked 15th by WBA, 14th by the IBF and 20th by the WBC is coming off an impressive 9th round knockout victory over Glenwood Brown this past June.

Hartford's Israel "Pito" Cardona will battle Guyana's Keith Thomas in a ten-round co-feature. Cardona, a former USBA and NABF lightweight champion is coming back from two devastating losses: a 12 round decision loss for the vacant IBF lightweight title to Paul Spadafora and a knockout defeat to Julio Alvarez. Over the past year Cardona has been suffering from both managerial and marital problems during this streak.    Should Cardona be successful, the fearless Boy Scout leader may earn a TV bout in late Autumn. Also featured at the mansion will be Kathy "Hollywood" Rivers, Arthur "The Armenian Assassin" Sarabekian, Brian "Drop 'em" Dumas, Dan "TNT" Constantino and the debut of New England amateur star, Peter Manfredo, Jr. For more information, visit www.cesboxing.com or call (401) 724-2253.