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Monday, April 30, 2012

Salita, A Possible Malignaggi Opponent

Dmitriy Salita could be Paulie Malignaggi's next opponent according to Dan Ambrose of Boxing News 24. Malignaggi (31-4, 7 KOs) won the WBA welterweight championship by stopping Vyacheslav Senchenko in the ninth round yesterday.

Ambrose describes Salita (along with a few other fighters) as "soft" and a "bottom tier contender." While questions about the strength of the fighter's competition are valid, Salita (33-1-1, 17 KOs) would surely give Malignaggi a tough go. The two Brooklynites are friends and have talked about facing each other in the past. Brooklyn's new Barclays Center is scheduled to open in September this year and could be the perfect location for this proposed title bout.

Salita's last fight was a unanimous decision victory over Ronnie Warrior Jr. over a year ago.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Netzer Out of April 26 Date in Panama

Danny "Silent" Netzer, who suffered his first career defeat on Tuesday, will be forced to skip his scheduled April 26 fight in Panama City, Panama. Netzer (2-1, 1 KO) was cut in his bout against Phil Rose this week.

Netzer is planning on returning to the ring in late June or early July. The middleweight started his career with two impressive wins against veteran opponents who each held a drastic weight advantage over Netzer.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Chilemba in Malawi, Meets President

Light heavyweight Isaac Chilemba has been in his home country of Malawi this week in order to get the necessary documentation to shift his home base from South Africa to the United States, according to the Nyasa Times. During the trip, Chilemba met the newly anointed President of Malawi, Joyce Banda. President Banda, the former Vice President, assumed the presidency when her predecessor, Bingu wa Matharika, died of a heart attack earlier this month.

Chilemba said of the meeting, "I really felt good to meet Her Excellency President Banda. She gave me encouragement and was keen to develop the sport of boxing so that Malawi can develop many international champions."

President Banda and her husband, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Richard Banda, are fans of Chilemba and make a habit of watching his fights.

Chilemba (19-1-1, 9 KOs) moved to South Africa in 2005. On this trip, he confirmed that he has not renounced his Malawian citizenship, despite the impending move to the U.S. Chilemba earned the biggest win of his career in February, a unanimous decision victory over Edison Miranda.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Netzer Takes a Loss

Middleweight Danny Netzer suffered his first career loss Tuesday night. At the Shaw Festival boxing event in Toronto, Canada, Phil Rose defeated Netzer by majority decision. One judge saw the bout as a 38-38 draw, but was overruled by the two judges who gave marked their cards 40-35 in favor of Rose.

Netzer was dropped late in the fourth and was also cut over the left eye, but gave a valiant effort in defeat.

Netzer, who had been badly outweighed in his first two fights, was 160.2 pounds while Rose was 157.8. Netzer falls to 2-1 with one KO; Rose rises to 4-1-1 with three KOs.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Groenteman's Fight Cancelled, New One Scheduled

Junior welterweight Barry Groeteman's fight that was scheduled for April 21 against Araik Sachbazjan has been cancelled. Groenteman now has a fight scheduled for May 26 in Vaasa, Finland against Jarkko Jussila.

Jussila (5-1, 3 KOs) is a 32 year old welterweight from Finland. His only loss came against an undefeated fighter. His last fight resulted in a second round KO victory against a little-known Latvian boxer. Groenteman (7-5-1, 2 KOs) is coming off a disputed split decision loss last month. This bout is scheduled for six rounds.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Zachary Wohlman vs. Tatsuro Irie

**This fight is no longer available. Hopefully, it will be back up soon. Apologies for the inconvenience.**

January 21, 2012
Warner Center Marriott
Woodland Hills, California



Wohlman: black trunks
Irie: white trunks

Monday, April 9, 2012

A Look Back: Sam Berger

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.

Sam Berger was the first Olympic heavyweight gold medalist in boxing history. After a stunted professional career, Berger still played a role in the San Francisco boxing scene.

Samuel Berger was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 25, 1884. He was raised in San Francisco, California and eventually took up boxing. He became a decorated amateur fighting out of San Francisco's Olympic Boxing Club. In 1901, he won the Pacific middleweight amateur crown and won the heavyweight version in 1902. Berger won virtually all of his amateur bouts by KO.

The 1904 St. Louis Olympics was the first time boxing was featured in the modern Olympics. Only American boxers took part in the competition and Berger proved superior in the heavyweight division, earning a gold medal. He turned pro immediately after the games.

His promising professional career lasted a scant two years. His most notable bout was against light heavyweight champion Philadelphia Jack O'Brien in 1906. The bout against the veteran champion took place in Philadelphia and was ruled a draw after six-rounds.

Berger was a crafty boxer puncher who happened to be the brother-in-law of the great Joe Choynski. Sam stood 6'2" and weighed 200 pounds. In Berger's next bout, he was thwacked by Al Kaufman. The scheduled 20 round fight was stopped in the tenth. That loss ended Berger's career as a boxer.

But Sammy stayed close to the sport. He became a promoter. When Jim Jeffries was in the midst of his comeback against Jack Johnson, Berger served as Jeffries's manager and sparring partner. Berger also sparred with Bob Fitzsimmons. In addition to work in boxing, Berger ran a clothing store in San Francisco, where he died on February 23, 1925 at the age of 40. Berger was elected tot he International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.

Bibliography
Blady, Ken. The Jewish Boxers Hall of Fame. 1988.
Somrack, Daniel F. Boxing in San Francisco. 2005.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Groenteman to Face Sachbazjan

Barry Groenteman (7-5-1, 2 KOs) is scheduled to face veteran journeyman Araik Sachbazjan on April 21 at the Wellness Profi Center in Pumerand, Holland. Sachbazjan (13-20, 6 KOs) is from the Czech Republic by way of Armenia. The 39 year old won his first seven career fights, but has lost 15 of his last 16. Those 16 fights have all taken place within the last three years.

Groenteman lost a disputed split decision against Andrea Carbonello last month, which snapped his four-fight winning streak. Sachbazjan represents the most experienced opponent of Groenteman's career to this point. The bout is scheduled for eight rounds.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Busy April Planned for Netzer

Coming off of his second professional victory, Danny "Silent" Netzer has two bouts scheduled this month. Netzer, an Israeli Canadian, is also a Krav Maga instructor.

A middleweight, Netzer was drastically outweighed by both of his opponents in his first two career bouts. Last November, he gave up four and half pounds to Eric Roy, a veteran boxer with a winning record. Netzer knocked him out in the third round. This past weekend, Netzer was at a five pound disadvantage against Steven Tyner. Danny won by majority decision.

On April 17, Netzer is scheduled to face Phil "The Assassin" Rose (3-1-1, 3 KOs) as part of the Shaw Festival boxing event, which will take place in Ontario, Canada. Former heavyweight champion Gene Tunney and writer George Bernard Shaw were friends and the Tunney family set up a trust fund for the Shaw Festival in honor of their friendship. The trust fund holds a charity boxing event annually.

Rose last fought in September in a light heavyweight bout against a winless opponent. Rose, who weighed 174.75 pounds in that fight, is 1-1-1 in his last three bouts. Netzer hasn't weighed in at over 164 pounds in either of his two contests.

If all goes well for Danny, he will head down to Panama City, Panama to fight at Arena Roberto Duran on April 26.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Wohlman Earns First KO

Zachary "Kid Yamaka" Wohlman took his first professional knockout on Saturday night against his last-minute opponent Clifford McPherson at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, California. The fight only lasted for a minute and 44 seconds before referee Lou Moret reached the ten count stopping the contest. McPherson injured his thumb in the fight.

Questions had surfaced in the boxing community about the degree of Wohlman's power. He managed to put Ricardo Malfavon down with a left hook in his debut, but didn't show much ability to hurt his opponents otherwise. That changed this past weekend. Wohlman moves to 3-0 with one KO. McPherson descends to 2-9-1 with one KO.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Seldin Racks Up Another KO, Netzer Wins Too

Welterweight Cletus Seldin knocked out Marcus Hall last night at the Paramount Theatre in Long Island, New York. Seldin was in control of the fight until the end, which came at the 1:06 mark of the second round after the Hebrew Hammer threw a memorable body shot. Seldin improves his record to 7-0 with five knockouts. Hall falls to 5-5-1 with 4 KOs.

Danny Netzer also fought on the card and won an exciting majority decision over Stephen Tyner, who is from Albany, New York. Two judges saw Netzer winning 39-37 while the third judge scored the bout 38-38. Netzer, who weighed 160 pounds for the bout (five fewer than his opponent), advances to 2-0 with one KO. Tyner tumbles to 2-5-1 with two KOs. Netzer is scheduled to fight twice in April. Once in Ontario, Canada and then later in Panama City, Panama.