Rogers Mtagwa tried his hardest but in the end Yuriorkis Gamboa’s speed led to a 2nd round TKO at Madison Square Garden. Garrett Wilson gave a game effort in his fight against the 6’6″ Carlos Negron but the scorecards did not read in his favor when it was all said and done. We’ll get ‘em next time…
South Philly’s Rogers “The Tiger” Mtagwa (26-13-2, 18ko’s) has reached the top of the mountain, now there is only one thing left to do…. and that is WIN! After years of crawling and scrapping, Mtagwa gets the fight of a lifetime as he is set to do battle with the darling of the sport, Yuriorkis Gamboa (16-0, 14ko’s) of Cuba over a scheduled 12 rounds for the WBA World Featherweight title. This contest will be held at Madison Square Garden in NYC and will also be broadcast live around the world on HBO on Jan 23, 2010.Mtagwa comes into this fight as a 14 – 1 betting underdog according to the Vegas line. The network is using him as a steppingstone towards a unification bout between Gamboa and Juan Manuel Lopez, a fighter whom Mtagwa took to the limit in a losing effort back in October of ’09. Mtagwa has been in war after war after war and can always be counted on to give the crowd it value. He will need everything in his arsenal to pull off this victory. While Gamboa has a skill set as good an anyone in the game, he is hittable and has been on the canvas on multiple occasions. Mtagwa can ill afford to wait until round 7 to warm up, he must attack early and often. If he does, Philly could have a new world champion in their midst!
On the untelevised undercard, North Philly based road warrior Garrett Wilson (7-2, 2ko’s) again goes into enemy territory. His foe is undefeated Cruiserweight Carlos Negron (6-0, 5ko’s), a former Olympian for Puerto Rico. In Wilson’s last bout he upset the 2006 US Amateur Champion Adam Willett.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you can email Philly Keith at keith@phillykeith.com
Go to http://www.phillykeith.com/ for up to the minute info on the Philly boxing scene
It was a rough night in Connecticut for Bridgeport’s Harry Joe Yorgey (22-1-1, 10ko’s) who was stopped hard inside of 3 rounds by Mexico’s Alfredo Angulo (16-1, 13ko’s). Yorgey turned in a solid first round, moving side to side and effectively countering his foe. Things turned south quick in the 2nd when Angulo turned up the heat – throwing lots of power punches while trapping Yorgey on the ropes. After a knockdown late in the round, Angulo landed a hard right to the back of the head at the :48 mark of round two, a shot the referee obviously saw but failed to call. This was the beginning of the end as Yorgey was on rubber legs for the remained of the fight. Yorgey was fighting on pure heart going into round three but unfortunately that was the reason it ended in such horrific fashion. Angulo nailed his dazed foe with a vicious left – right combo that stopped a fighter who fought like a man who would only be deprived a win by going out flat on his back. Harry Yorgey: Controlling His Own Destiny
This Saturday night at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, world-rated “Lightning” Harry Joe Yorgey (22-0-1, 10 KOs), of Bridgeport, Pennsylvania will face fellow contender Alfredo “Perro” Angulo (16-1, 13 KOs), of Mexicali, Mexico, and now Coachella, California. They will box twelve rounds for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental junior middleweight title. The winner will also establish himself as a top title contender in the wide-open junior middleweight division. Yorgey is coming off an impressive ninth-round knockout of Ronald Hearns, while Angulo most recently stopped Philadelphia’s Gabriel Rosado in two rounds. FightNews caught up with Harry at his training camp in Youngstown, Ohio.
Harry Yorgey is one of those “blue collar” fighters that you read about every now and then. A construction worker by trade, Harry has built a huge fan base in the Philly area not only with his boxing style, but with his availability to members of his community, especially children. He recently made some moves that allowed him to take his game to the next level.
Sometimes, fighters have to take their careers in their own hands, so after a bitter split with his former manager and promoter, Harry did just that. First, he hooked up with Banner Promotions.
The next move he made was to change trainers and go to camp in Youngstown under the guidance of Jack Loew.
“I met Jack’s son when I was in Saint Louis, at a Cory Spinks fight. After that, Jack read on the Internet that I was looking for a trainer, and he approached me. Everything is perfect, better than I thought,” said Yorgey.
Talk about it on the forum http://phillykeith.com/fightforum/index.php?topic=889.msg6745;boardseen#new
Word is out that Bridgeport’s Harry Joe Yorgey (22-0-1, 10ko’s) hits the big time on November 7th for a Jr. Middleweight showdown against Mexico’s Alfredo Angulo (16-1, 13ko’s) in the opening bout for HBO World Championship Boxing. What may not be known is that Team Yorgey has gone off to Youngstown for camp, and have chosen to train under the eye of Jack Loew (Kelly Pavlik’s trainer), replacing Henry Racich who had a good 2 fight run the Yorgey. Talk about it on the forum
http://phillykeith.com/fightforum/index.php?topic=889.msg6745;boardseen#new
There is a morsel of good news to share in an otherwise very dead Philly boxing scene and that is Harry Joe Yorgey (22-0-1, 10ko’s) hits the big time on November 7th as he is signed for a Jr. Middleweight showdown against Mexico’s Alfredo Angulo (16-1, 13ko’s) in the opening bout for HBO World Championship Boxing. Like the old saying goes, gotta take a big risk to get a big reward and the winner of this is almost certain to land a world title shot in their next bout.
Yorgey, a former #1 on the Philly Keith Sports local pound for pound list has impressed in his last two outings, both of which were televised on national TV. In his latest effort he impressively TKO’d Ronald Hearns live on ShoBox which cemented his name as a player in the 154 lb division. As he has climbed the ladder, his opponents have gotten tougher and once again I am here to report that Yorgey will face his toughest foe to date. Read more…
photos by Mike McGuigan
Philadelphia, PA (May 17, 2007)….This latest segment of the Bernard Hopkins vs. Winky Wright “Coming To Fight” 5 city press tour led to the Legendary Blue Horizon in Hopkins backyard of Philadelphia to generate interest in their upcoming showdown on July 21, 2007 which can be viewed live on HBO PPV. Below are comments from both fighters and HBO executive Mark Taffet.
Bernard Hopkins –
“They say I am the underdog. I am the poster boy for being everything that is the underdog.” ‘I proven I can do this as a 42 year old guy and still demand the respect by my performance. Winky comes with a lot of credentials, Winky didn’t get that by sitting on his butt doing nothing..”
“I know how it feels to be unbeaten, defend the titles. Try to get it some other way but can’t get it. 99% of the people know I need to have this. I need this fight, to beat the guy with the toughest defense, the hard to hit guy. You are only as good as your last fight but I won’t harp on Tarver but I have to remind you of it. Winky is no Tarver and Tarver is no Winky.”
“I went to the store for a Gatorade and I saw this. Tarver has been missing for a long time. You heard Tarver, he is gonna do this and that, now he is on a milk carton. Winky I might as well put you on one now so there is no mystery. Wright is wrong about this one.”
Winky Wright –
“I’d like to thank everyone for having me here. It is amazing when I heard that Bernard Hopkins wanted to fight Winky Wright, I thought it was a joke at first. I got the contract at a catch of 170 so I said lets do it. This is gonna be a throw back to the old days.”
“Bernard is bigger guy, older guy I am the young and smarter guy. He wants to stand up for Philly but I refuse to lose.”
“They say he fought great southpaws but he ain;t beat Winky Wright, he beat Tarver but he hasn’t beaten Winky Wright.”
“July 21 will be a heck of a fight. After this fight he is gonna know he should have stayed retired.’
Mark Taffet – on the heals of May 5th, it’s the privilege and honor to be amongst greatness like this. These guys have the focus, dedication and commitment to be the best. They don’t strive to be the best, for over 10 years they have been the best. Winky Wright hasn’t lost since 1999. Winky has never walked away from a challenge, fighting the biggest names and incredible wins over Mosley and Tito Trinidad. They thought Taylor fight was changing of the guard, the young bull but Winky brought it right to him.
Bernard Hopkins, what a pleasure it has been to work with Bernard, even in the latter portion of his career. 2 weeks after 9/11 he dominated Tito Trindad to win the Sugar Ray Robinson trophy. Then he has the big big win over De La Hoya. Most recently his memorable win over Antonio Tarver. That night he showed what he showed what he has over 20 times as a middleweight.
When the best fight the best there are so losers and July 21st you will see that. You will see what the greatest look like that night. Two of the true stars of the sport will be fighting each other. Documentary will start on July 16th and will air 17 times on HBO.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you can email Philly Keith at keith@phillykeith.com
Go to www.phillykeith.com for up to the minute info on the Philly boxing scene
