Lightweight
Ray Beltran makes his return to the Warner Center Marriott tonight, where he
headlines “War at Woodland Hills 5.” The last time we saw him,
Beltran took on the undefeated Sharif Bogere in May in a nationally-televised
card “ShoBox” main event from Primm, Nevada. In a fight many believed he
had done enough to win in against Bogere- who was the “house” fighter that
night for Golden Boy Promotions- Beltran lost a disputed decision.
Months
after this defeat, you can still hear and feel the disappointment in his voice.
"I mean,
it was a really big low blow. I've been hoping to get big fights, name fights
and finally, I get a good chance and good opportunity. I believe I did
everything necessary to win the fight. I even knocked him down and, man, it
really, really upset me big time. It really took me time to feel alright,"
he said a few days ago, while sitting down on the ring apron at the Wild Card
Boxing Club after his workout.
Beltran
admits he's still not completely over this loss. "When you lose a fight
[legitimately], you get over it easier," he explained, "but when
somebody takes away something from you because they can, it's hard. It takes
time. Even at this point, dealing with that, it's hard."
The
knockdown that Beltran refers to was not called by referee Robert Byrd, a
pivotal judgment because Beltran ended up losing by the score of 96-94 on two
of the judges’ cards. As the final bell sounded at the end of ten, you got the
sense it was a tight contest but Beltran, for all intents and purposes, was the
visiting team in this scenario. Not only is Bogere handled by Golden Boy but he
trains in Las Vegas.
"I
believe I won the fight but I also was not surprised at all. I tell my people, 'Y'
know what, man? I don't think we're going to get this decision.' Even the referee
was like, acting funny. He didn't even count the knockdown, stuff like that and
he didn't even make [Bogere] fight. The guy wasn't even boxing me; he was
running away from me. I wasn't surprised they robbed me," said Beltran,
whose record dropped to 24-5 (16) with the bitter defeat.
Being the
pro he is, Beltran was back in the gym within a couple of weeks.
"But
only with my heart because my mind was like...a lot of bullsh*t, man. A lot of
stress, I really got depressed," he admitted. This loss had some rather
severe ramifications and there was added insult to injury." I mean,
I was going to get a title shot with [IBF titlist] Miguel Vazquez. I even bet
on myself. I bet a $1,000 on that fight and they took my money away. They took
my victory and they took my title shot. It sucks, man."
So now,
Beltran goes back on the club scene, back to the venue where he captured the
vacant USBA lightweight title in March by halting Carlos Vinan in seven. He's
scheduled to face Darien Ford. It's like Beltran's starting over to a certain
degree.
"Kinda, ya know, but hey, at least I'm fighting," he said. "They've
promised me fights and I've had pullouts and pullouts and pullouts. At least
now, I'm keeping busy. I'm staying on the radar. It's better than not doing
anything."
BUZZKILL
In what is a pretty major buzzkill, Lucas Matthysse, who was scheduled to face
Erik Morales on the “Star Power” pay-per-view card on September 17th,
has pulled out of the fight due to a virus (at least that's what I was told. There
seems to be conflicting stories). So now, the hunt is on for a replacement for “El
Terrible.” It's a shame, though; that was one of the few pay-per-view undercard
fights that the fans were truly looking forward to. Golden Boy made an inquiry
to see if Marcos Maidana, who has a fight scheduled on September 23rd,
would pinch-hit at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas but Maidana chose to go through
with his bout in Argentina. The gut feeling here is that Morales will end up
facing Anthony Crolla, who was originally slated to face Morales on this card
and ultimately slotted on the undercard as consolation.
It looks like Vanes Martirosyan has passed on the opportunity to face Alfredo
Angulo on November 5th in Cancun, Mexico as the main event on HBO's “Boxing
After Dark.” The word is that if James Kirkland can gain legal clearance to
leave the country, he might get the assignment to face “Perro” next. Also, Humberto
Soto might open the broadcast.
FRIDAY FLURRIES
Showtime will air two editions of “Fight Camp 360” on Oct. 8th and
the 22nd leading up to the finals of the “Super Six”...The card at
the Warner Center Marriott opens its doors at 7 PM with the first bout
scheduled (“scheduled” being the key word) at 7:30...For more information, log
on to bashboxing.com...Demetrius Andrade headlines a card on Sept. 21st in Manchester, NH. He'll be jibitty-jabitty-jab-jab-jabbing all night, I
assume...Is the Big 12 about to go the way of the Dodo bird?...Manager Gary
Gittelsohn told me that the goal is to pair WBO flyweight beltholder Brian
Viloria with Giovani Segura on Dec. 10th in Manila...Anyone else
getting the feeling that we won’t be seeing Peyton Manning in 2011? I feel bad
for anyone that has Reggie Wayne on his fantasy team...Can't wait to see the
newest installment of “America's Game” on the 2010 Green Bay Packers on the NFL
Network. This is always a first-class production...My Super Bowl prediction is
the Packers vs. Patriots…
I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com and I tweet at www.Twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
