The New York State Supreme court ruled today that Robert Guerrero’s felony gun possession charge, stemming from a March 28 arrest at John F. Kennedy airport, will be reduced to a $250 disorderly conduct fine and 50 hours of community service.
Guerrero was arrested after attempting to check luggage holding an unloaded firearm. Although Guerrero made officials aware of the weapon, his lack of ammunition, and his registration in California, New York state laws require a weapon to also be registered in state. The arrest preceded the biggest fight of Guerrero’s career, a May 4 showdown with Floyd Mayweather, which he lost via a unanimous decision.
Guerrero was happy with the verdict and released the below statement.
I’m pleased that the District Attorney’s Office considered my case carefully and resolved it fairly. I never intended to violate New York law, but I know that ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Lesson learned. I’m happy this incident is behind me and [I'm] looking forward to returning to the ring as well as serving my community as ordered by the court.
Guerrero will be allowed to serve his community service in his native California.
Golden Promotions and the camps of Floyd Mayweather and Robert Guerrero have released a joint statement regarding Guerrero’s arrest this morning in New York for criminal gun possession. Although Guerrero is facing four felonies, the camps have confirmed the scheduled May 4 Showtime pay-per-view will take place as planned. You can read the statement in its entirety below.
Early this morning Six-Time and Four Division World Champion Robert Guerrero was checking in his luggage at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, bound for Las Vegas, and, as he was doing so, made sure to advise the authorities that they needed to be aware that he had a firearm, which was unloaded and in a locked safe box with his luggage to be checked. Guerrero was carrying no ammunition and was within his legal right to possess such firearm in the state in which he resides. He was then arrested. At an arraignment held before the New York State Supreme Court for Queens County, the court, after hearing the pertinent facts of the case, released Guerrero on his own recognizance. The next hearing in this matter is scheduled for after Robert’s May 4 fight against Eight-Time and Five-Division World Champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather.
We are very pleased Robert Guerrero was released on his own recognizance this afternoon in the wake of this incident and that he is on his way back to Las Vegas to continue training for his highly anticipated May 4 bout against Mayweather.
HUNTINGTON, New York — We should have known better. There was too much boxing going on Saturday for there not to be at least on controversial moment. The shameful moment came on NBC Sports with Malik Scott being completely screwed out of a career-defining win against fellow “undefeated” heavyweight Vyascheslav Glazkoz.
STOP ME IF YOU’VE SEEN THIS STORY BEFORE: An Eastern European heavyweight gets the majority of his offense neutralized, can’t get past his opponent’s jab and summarily gets outboxed for most of the fight. And yet, said Eastern European heavyweight manages to walk out the ring without a blemish on his record. If this sounds very familiar, then you were one of the people who saw Steve Cunningham get jobbed against Tomasz Adamek in December.
At least in that fight Adamek won a clear amount of rounds. Glazkov couldn’t get anything going outside of sporadic body shots. On the other hand, Scott essentially shut Glazkov down with a stiff jab and occasional left hook and right hands. On my card, Glozkov got a round.
The official cards were another story. One judge had it fairly accurate at 98-92 for Scott. Another had it 96-94 for Glazkov and Julie Lederman sealed the worst decision of 2013 thus far with a score of 95-95.
MAIN EVENTS GETTING A NEW REP: When this happened with Adamek-Cunningham II, Main Events essentially responded like this to angry fans. Now that it’s happened again in the span of two months, they are putting their image as a reputable promotional outfit at risk, being that both dubious decisions were to the extreme benefit of their fighters. And it even hurts their other fighters, as the Scott-Glazkov decision has completely overshadowed a great undercard effort from Chris Algieri in his action-packed decision win over Jose Peralta.
As of now Main Events isn’t touching the fan ire. We’ll see if it’s addressed over the next few days. Watch the full fight below and let me know your scorecard.
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NEW YORK — Austin Trout went entered the ring first last night as a mostly unknown and unrespected 154 titlist. This morning he’s the talk of the boxing world, having become the first man to defeat Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden. The fight was very good, but Trout clearly showed who was the better man and added his name as a force at light middleweight. Have we seen the last of Miguel Cotto, who’s now gone winless in 2012? Onto the news and notes from last night.
Trout’s Straight Left to the Body: This was probably the most important punch of the fight. From the first round, Trout was stabbing Cotto in the pit of his stomach with this punch. With a five-inch reach advantage, the shot kept Cotto at mid and long range. And it was one of the reasons Cotto didn’t have much snap on his punches in the later rounds. Cotto was right in that he had lots of experience with southpaws, but he never met one with Trout’s size, length and commitment to body punching.
Roughing Up the Bruiser: Like many, I expected Cotto to get inside and rough up Trout as the fight went on. Starting in the third round, it seemed like that prediction was coming true. Cotto was able to get Trout on the ropes and repeatedly landed hooks to the body that forced Trout to hold (sometimes excessively). Although Cotto was still being outworked for most of the third through the sixth, he was landing the harder shots in exchanges. Perhaps realizing how much he towered over Cotto, Trout began manhandling Cotto in the trenches while mixing in uppercuts through the guard and to the stomach. This was another factor that contributed to Cotto’s fatigue and had him looking completely spent in the championship rounds.
Did Cotto Underestimate Trout?: During the final press conference, Cotto flat out said Trout was nothing special and spoke about how the potential fight against Canelo would be great for boxing. You can’t help but wonder if he completely overlooked the man in front of him. Cotto looked absolutely lost out there from about the eighth round on. Nothing consistently worked. Trying to go inside got him smothered and bullied. Outside left him a sitting duck to be outboxed with Trout’s underrated southpaw jab and get potshotted with straight lefts and right hooks. Trying to fight off the backfoot and counter had Cotto eating shots on the ropes and having to retreat further. You could see the discouragement on Cotto’s face and confidence building in Trout’s body language as the fight progressed.
Cotto Is an Old Fighter: Don’t even focus on the physical aspect of all the mileage Cotto has on him from the wars. Look at it from the mental aspect. Did you see the same killer instinct from years past? The same guy that fought through adversity to take out Jose Torres and DeMarcus Corley? The same one who showed no mercy to Yuri Foreman? Or even the guy who in May gave Floyd Mayweather all he could handle? I say emphatically no. Miguel Cotto looked mentally worn out in those later rounds. The mental edge/killer instinct that was one of his trademarks has been significantly dulled. He just couldn’t dig deep to truly get himself back into it. This is a man who has spoken openly about retirement in the last few weeks, a clear indicator that his heart is not completely in boxing anymore. The biggest example of this came in the ninth when a Trout shot on the belt line made Cotto turn away and act like he had been hit low.
The Scoring: There were people on Twitter last night who said the scoring was too wide. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaeffer echoed those sentiments in the post-fight press conference. I know fights can be very different in person than on TV, but from my couch I didn’t give Cotto a single round after the sixth. Miguel was being outworked (clean punching), controlled by Trout’s gameplan (ring generalship), couldn’t land much clean outside of sporadic hooks to the body (defense) and had every attempt to pounce on Trout turned back (effective aggression). If you go by the four criteria points used to score fights, Trout ran away with this fight in the second half.
What’s Next for Both: Before storming off from the ring, Cotto stated that he “probably” will fight again and stated he wasn’t finished yet. I do believe 2013 will be his last year as a fighter. His name is still big in boxing so he’ll command nearly any fight he pleases. Schaeffer said in the post fight interview that the Canelo fight is still possible for Cotto, despite Trout calling out Canelo himself after the fight. The circumstances of their last fights are totally different, but let’s hope Trout doesn’t get the Timothy Bradley treatment over the next few months. The man deserves his due; we all lauded about how well Cotto did against Mayweather and Trout just beat Miguel much more decisively. I seriously doubt Trout gets Canelo — he’ll probably at best have to look at a unification showdown with Cornelius “K9″ Bundrage as a viable fight.
The Canelo Jinx Strikes Again: If you hear Canelo wants to fight you next, be very afraid and make sure he’s nowhere near the arena on fight night. Cotto joins Paul Williams, James Kirkland and Victor Ortiz as potential Canelo opponents that have had their careers derailed for various reasons. Maybe this is Fate’s way of telling Canelo he needs to face a tough fighter like a Austin Trout before he’ll get a superstar.
What are you thoughts on last night? Too wide scoring? Should Cotto hang it up?
Now that we have the promotional tagline of “Ring Kings,” the thrones were brought out for Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto’s New York press conference at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Cotto was short on words, so Mayweather handled the majority of the talking. He spoke about this fight being essential to proving his worth as a great fighter, which is why he declined a catchweight. As expected, there’s a brief Pacquiao diss about not taking the blood tests. The Mayweather-Cotto press tour wraps Thursday (March 1) in Los Angeles at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
NEW YORK, NY — After nearly two hours of suspense, the New York State Athletic Commission has voted to grant Antonio Margarito a license to move forward with the much-anticipated rematch against Miguel Cotto on December 3.
The three-member board made the verdict after a lengthy private, executive session to review doctor Michael T. Goldstein’s evaluation of Margarito’s surgically repaired right eye. The board also factored in Margarito’s 2009 suspension in California for attempting to use illegal hand-wraps, stating “rehabilitation” was important in the licensing process. Regular board member Melvina Lathan, who was absent due to laryngitis, had her vote casted by a stand-in.
“After due consideration of the evidence of rehabilitation, the commission finds the issues of a license to the applicant not to be contrary to the best interests of boxing,” read a statement made by a commission representative at the meeting. “Further, following the thorough examination performed by Dr. Goldestein and his testimony that it is his opinion that the condition of Mr. Margarito’s eye is such that he is fit to be in the ring, the commission rules that Mr. Margarito’s petition for licensure in New York is granted.”
Earlier today, Miguel Cotto shocked his promoter Bob Arum by refusing to fight outside of New York if Margarito was not licensed.
At press time, over 18,000 tickets have already been sold at Madison Square Garden for Cotto-Margarito II.
Knicks team captain Amar’e Stoudemire is using this off-season to network with the Hip-Hop elite in hopes of starting a secondary career as a rapper.
According to the NY Daily News, the All-Star power forward began exploring the possibility of a Hip-Hop career due to his friendships with Swizz Beatz and Fabolous. Beatz recently completed a video remake of the well-known 90s Knicks’ theme “Go New York Go,” which featured Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.
In addition to potential industry connections through girlfriend Ciara, sources with the newspaper indicate Stoudemire would also like to receive production from Lil Jon.
“He’s been telling people he’d love to work with [Lil Jon] although he hasn’t found the right time to sit down with him,” the unidentified source said.
Although NBA players such as Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal and Cedric Cellabos have dabbled in Hip-Hop since the mid 90s, Amar’e Stoudemire would be the first prominent Knick player to do so.
At press time, Stoudemire could not be reached for comment.
Prodigy seems to have hit a goldmine with his new autobiography My Infamous Life. The buzz in the Hip-Hop world has given Prodigy some promo time with mainstream outlets, such as this interview with NBC New York. You can tell Prodigy is out of his comfort zone and a little nervous, but he doesn’t embarrass himself . He just missed an opportunity to really sell the product and his brand. The book is in stores now.
Jay-Z is being investigated by the NBA for potential pre-draft violations for visiting the locker room of the Kentucky Wildcats earlier this week.
The Hip-Hop mogul and stake owner in the New Jersey Nets made a surprise visit to the Wildcats locker room after their Final Four clinching victory over North Carolina. He took time to pose for pictures and shake hands with the players.
The NBA prohibits team personnel from dealing with college players who have not made themselves eligible for the draft. Jay-Z would be subject to a fine if found guilty of violating any rules.
At press time, Jay-Z has not commented on the matter. He was in attendance last night in Newark for the Nets’ home game loss to the New York Knicks, 120-116.
Draft-scouting, Hov! Considering LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony passed on Jay’s wooing attempts, maybe he’ll have better success in the college ranks.
I’m sure Jay went there more so as a fan than anything else. He’s made locker room appearances before, most noticeably for fellow Brooklynite Zab Judah. At the same time, it would be naive to think he didn’t at least mention in passing to a few top guys he’d love to have them with the Nets, or at the very least gave them available channels to contact him if there were any future interest.
It’ll be interesting to see how the NBA rules on this. It could set a precedent.
Ja Rule has received a two-year prison sentence following a guilty plea on a 2007 gun possession charge.
Ja Rule (Jeffrey Atkins) made the plea deal earlier today in Manhattan State Supreme Court. He faced up to four years if found guilty at trial.
On July 23, 2o07, Ja Rule was stopped by police for speeding after finishing up a concert the Beacon Theater venue. Authorities searched his Maybach vehicle on suspicion of marijuana use, and found a .40 caliber, semi-automatic handgun.
Rule will be officially sentenced in February 2011. In November, the rapper had just completed a tour of Moscow, and performed in Iraq for American troops.
At press time, Ja Rule could not be reached for comment.
Two years sounds very steep, but I’m not sure how many priors Ja Rule has either. Rappers are good for catching gun cases due to members of their entourage carrying around illegal firearms. This still seems excessive, but also keep in mind what’s happened to Prodigy, Lil Wayne, and even NFL player Plaxico Burress when they’ve caught gun charges in NY. Each and every one of them has had to serve time.
Rappers have to realize they are targets, especially when you’re riding around in a vehicle that’s worth about $250,000. We saw what happened to T.I. a few months back when he was in his Maybach in Los Angeles. Tough break for Ja.
