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.
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I know Rogers “The Tiger” Mtagwa, having met him when he first arrived from Tanzania in 2000 and started training at the Marian Anderson boxing gym. Over the past nine years I have developed a good feel for what drives him and why nobody in their right mind would consider him a “tune-up,” much less a world-class promoter like Arum. Mtagwa is not only fighting for his two kids (little Sinia and baby Rogers), he is also fighting for his country driven by an indomitable will to succeed and a noble spirit. Therefore, there was no way I would not be at the Garden to witness him win the championship.
Talk about it on the forum http://phillykeith.com/fightforum/index.php?topic=924.msg6896#new
The final result said the winner was Juan Manuel Lopez (27-0, 24 KOs) , but it is the rally Rogers Mtagwa (25-13-2, 18 KOs) staged down the stretch that has the boxing world buzzing, with many calling him “true Philly fighter” for almost pulling off the upset of the century multiple times during the 12 round WBO Super Featherweight title match at Madison Square Garden on October 10, 2009. Mtagwa gave away all of the early rounds as Lopez boxed but JML made the fatal mistake of fighting on the inside with The Tiger and almost paid dearly. Mtagwa’s missile like right hands had Lopez was out on his feet at one point and JML was beaten around the ring in the 12th as Mtagwa looked to seal the deal. To Lopez credit, he hung on under heavy fire to reach the final bell. All judges saw the fight for Lopez, judge Kevin Morgan scored it 114-113 but gave the final six rounds to Mtagwa. The difference coming in a 10-8 fifth round in which Mtagwa went down from a right hand. Carlos Ortiz (116-111) gave Mtagwa four of the final five rounds, and Steve Weisfeld (115-111) gave Mtagwa the last three rounds, including a 10-8 margin in the 12th.
In a losing effort, Rogers Mtagwa finally gets the world wide respect that he deserves. At the same time, he walloped a lot of luster off the name of Juan Manuel Lopez. If these TV execs have any brains, they will showcase Mtagwa on PPV cards on a regular basis
Go to www.phillykeith.com for the latest on the Philly boxing scene or email me keith@phillykeith.com
Talk about it and see what others are saying about this on the forum http://phillykeith.com/fightforum/index.php?topic=924.msg6896#new
photo courtesy of www.fightnews.com
It is official, South Philly’s Rogers “The Tiger” Mtagwa finally gets his shot at a world title when he takes on red hot prospect Juan Manuel Lopez for the WBO 122lb belt on Oct10 at Madison Square Garden in NYC. In a career filled with wild brawls, upset wins, bad losses and robberies, Rog has seen, hit and been hit even more. He throws caution to the wind and defense out the window which makes him on of the most TV friendly fighters in the business.
Though Mtagwa has been in some classics and ranks in a few sanctioning bodies top 15 lists, Lopez promoter Top Rank seems to think of The Tiger just as a showcase to set up a really big fight with Lopez & Gamboa.
Does the Tiger have a shot in this one? Could be a good action fight but I def think someone is getting KO’d in this one. This will be televised as part of a Latin Fury pay-per-view. More info to come.
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photo by Tony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com
With swine flu, rain & The Kentucky Derby all in the air, the boxing fans of Philadelphia stayed true to their roots and came out in solid numbers for a sweaty night on North Broad Street as Peltz Boxing returned for Act III at Legendary Blue Horizon on May 1, 2009. This date has a bit of significance to it, not only because of the action in the ring but it also marks the half way point of a surprise partnership with the landmarks proprietors. After relinquishing my spot in press row for a night of talking to ticket paying fans, many are happy that consistent competitive match making has returned to the city’s most recognizable venue and they also seem to be impressed with the personalized service they get when making arrangements to come to the fights. After a wildly successful return to the building in February and a solid follow up with the Golden Gloves finals a month later, promoter J. Russell Peltz put together a card that I would like to call a “midterm” for the participants that are currently signed to fight exclusively under this promotional banner. I say that meaning all of the “house” fighters were clear but favorites but each “opponent” had their own special purpose to test the level of progress in the invested boxer. Inside of the ring, the night started off strong with solid action through the main event but faded down the stretch as the final run of bouts failed to produce many fireworks before the curtain closed for the evening. Read more…
photo by Mike “Teek” McGuigan
It has been a while since I put together a Philly top 10 list and in that time it is still pretty obvious who is #1 in the town, that would be B-Hop. But in the past year there has been a lot of activity amongst the rank and file who made moves to get to the top. Some succeeded, some failed, some have rebounded and others are on their way.
This time around I give you two lists. First is a national Philly top 10 pound for pound which gives my ranking to those from this area who are either champions, within title contention or TV fighters. These guys are all over the world and are known industry names.
The next list is themed “21 & Under” ranking the Philly pros with 21 pro fights or less. These fights can take place anywhere in the world. This list tracks the activity of the young pros who seem to be on their way to making big moves in the boxing circuit within the next few years. These rankings are based on pro performance and potential, not solely on amateur career.
This was done as a replacement for the local top 10 list that ranked boxers competing within city limits. There was just not enough activity to compile one. Take a look and feel free to send any feedback to me via email.
http://phillykeith.com/nationaltop10April09.htm
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
Peltz Boxing returns to the Legendary Blue Horizon on May 1, 2009 for what is looking to be an 8 fight card highlighted by the return of world rated featherweight Rogers “The Tiger” Mtagwa (25-12-2, 18ko’s) in the main event. His assignment is 10 rounds of action against the mahogany headed Mexican Ricardo Medina. Mtagwa is fresh off a 2008 national fight of the year candidate when he rose from the grave to knock-out the IBF’s #6 contender Tomas Villa in a stone cold thriller, adding another chapter in a career of peaks and valleys. Medina (31-33-5, 17ko’s) is a well travelled journeyman who has pulled two upsets in this town in the past, though to competition well below the level of Mtagwa. His most recent outing as a decision loss to the 13 win prospect John Jackson in Florida. Many consider this a “safe” fight for the Tanzanian contender, but then again when has Rogers Mtagwa ever made his ring life easy? Stylistically both match up for a crowd pleaser as Mtagwa throws lots of punches and Medina only knows one direction, forward.
The under card will see Philly’s Kassem Wilson take on Louis Leija of San Antonio in an 8 rounder. Philly Middleweight Jamaal Davis has a tough assignment in Jerome Ellis of Paterson, NJ. Also scheduled for action are Anthony Flores, Victor Vasquez, Tony Ferrante & Ardrick Butler all in separate bouts.
More info to come soon, get your tickets by calling 215-765-0922
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
Just when you think his career done, Rogers Mtagwa once again pulls off the impossible and gets his name back into the mix despite a number of setbacks, controversial decisions and mistakes. On Friday night Mtagwa of South Philly via Tanzania travelled to Arizona to fight the top 10 ranked featherweight Tomas Villa of TX for the main event of Telefutura’s Boxeo Solo series. The fighters threw caution to the wind and defense out the window which resulted in a 2-way slugfest which will definitely be a front runner for a Ring magazine fight of the year award. Some fans on message boards around the blogosphere have dared to compare this comeback to the first match between the late, great Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo. While that may be extreme, this one did have a lot of late drama. Mtagwa, was dropped and badly hurt in the 9th round but somehow survived. Between rounds, manager Joe Parella was overheard keeping the safety of his fighter first, telling the ref to stop the fight if he gets hurt again. Instead Mtagwa, knowing it was do or die, jumped out and floored Villa with the first punch of the round and dropped him twice more in the 10th to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Congrats to Team Mtagwa on a great performance.
Unfortunately, this is one of the last shows to be televised on the Telefutura station as they decided to cancel boxing from their lineup. Anyone who objects to the cancellation of Solo Boxeo can email David Downs at ddowns@univision.net or call him at 212-455-4719. Doesn’t have to be a long letter, just let him know how you feel about the station canceling this program.
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
