50 Cent's boxers ain't worth much

Curtis Jackson, the well-known rapper “50 Cent” moved into the boxing business on July 21, 2012 when he obtained a promoter’s license to promote fights in the state of New York under the banner of his new company TMT which stood for “The Money Team.”

He also quickly applied for a license in Nevada which is the hotbed of boxing anchored in Las Vegas.

A former amateur boxer 50 Cent has been scouting for talented fighters and signed up a few, but alas in the last two weeks his prime possessions – former WBA Interim featherweight champion and Cuban Olympic gold medalist Yuriorkis Gamboa and undefeated American prospect Mark Davis were both battered into submission and effectively wrecked the rapper’s disposition.

It was particularly painful for 50 Cent when his birthday celebrations were ruined by hard-hitting Filipino southpaw Michael “Hammer Fist” Farenas who lived up to his nickname and hammered the unbeaten American and former amateur standout Davis in a fight card that the rapper, actor and now boxing promoter had arranged as a special fight night in the Grand Theater in Fox Tower at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, as an integral part of his 39th birthday celebrations.

In fact the fights were advanced to Wednesday to fit into the planned birthday bash and were part of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.

Although another one of his fighters, Australian Billy Dib who lost his IBF title to Russian Evgeny Gradovich by a 9th round TKO in the plush Cotai Arena of the sprawling Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino in Macau last November 24, won a unanimous ten round decision over Mexican journeyman Albert Garza it was a lackluster fight with only the spectacular performance of Farenas against the highly fancied Davis saving the day for fight fans but ruining the night for 50 Cent.

The Davis near massacre came barely four days after Yuriorkis Gamboa took a bad beating at the hands of Terence “Bud” Crawford at the Century Link Center in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
The game Gamboa who moved up in weight to face Crawford for the WBO lightweight title was dropped once in the 5th and 8th rounds and twice in the 9th with referee Genaro Rodriguez not even bothering to count.

Some 10,943 cheering partisan fans who came to watch their hometown hero “Bud” Crawford defend his title against previously undefeated former Cuban Olympic gold medalist Gamboa got what they wanted when Crawford scored a spectacular 9th round knockout in a fight telecast by ABS-CBN Sports and Action on Sunday noon, Manila Time.
 
It was the first world title fight in Omaha after 42 years and seated at ringside shadow boxing was another hometown favorite, local butcher Ron Stander who was stopped in the 5th round by heavyweight champion “Smokin” Joe Frazier on May 25, 1972.
 
Veteran HBO Sports TV analyst Larry Merchant and anchor Col. Bob Sheridan described Crawford as an American star and his KO victory over the previously unbeaten three division world champion Gamboa ratified the comment.

 
The veteran ringside commentators Col. Sheridan and Merchant reported that the first four rounds were close and on their unofficial scorecards the two respected panelists had Gamboa winning three of the first four rounds.
 
Yahoo Philippines noted that Gamboa who darted in and out to score against the taller Crawford appeared to be quicker than Crawford.
 
However, the tide turned in round five when the lanky Crawford switched to a southpaw stance and dropped the Cuban star before hammering him with flurries the rest of the round.
 
Gamboa appeared to go for broke in round eight and Crawford nailed him with a stunning counter combination to send the Cuban Olympian crashing to the canvas once again.
 
In a last desperate effort Gamboa stunned Crawford in the ninth round and had the American in trouble. Obviously unwilling to let his hometown fans down, Crawford fought back furiously ripping hooks to Gamboa’s head to drop him twice more in the round with referee Gino Rodriguez seeing enough at 2:53 of the 9th round as the fans at the CenturyLink Center went wild.
 
It was Michael Farenas who first exposed Gamboa’s vulnerability to southpaws and power hitters when he dropped the world champion during a furious exchange in round nine of their WBA super featherweight Interim title fight but Gamboa who also dropped Farenas a couple of times proved too good in the end and won a unanimous twelve round decision.

 
In a post fight interview monitored by Yahoo Philippines the 26 year old Crawford who improved to 24-0 with 17 knockouts said he “imagined everybody screaming, supporting me. It was everything I thought it was going to be. He caught me at the beginning of the 9th round with a good shot which got my attention and buzzed me a little. I hurt him plenty of times so when I hurt him the last time I was looking to finish.”
 
In the case of Davis who was fancied to outbox Farenas and win a comfortable decision at the very least, it was Farenas who looked to finish Davis as quickly as possible.
 
The soft spoken but hard-hitting southpaw, a protégé of former two division world champion Gerry Penalosa, earned a world title shot with his devastating 8th round TKO of Mark “Too Sharp” Davis who suffered his first setback.
 
Respected boxing writer Steve Kim said Farenas was “really good tonight in dominating “Now Dull Davis” who had no respect for him coming into this fight.”
 
With the win in what was billed as an IBF title eliminator Farenas who improved to 39-4-4 with 31 knockouts earned a shot at the winner of the July 10 rematch between champion Argenis Mendez of the Dominican Republic and Cuban Rances Barthelemy who fights out of Miami, Florida.
 
Farenas quickly earned Davis’s respect when he began aggressively and opened up a cut in the first round as he roughed up Davis.
 
With celebrated trainer Freddie Roach’s able Filipino assistant Marvin Somodio who had previously worked with Miguel Cotto and Ruslan Provodnikov in his corner, Farenas started off aggressively and set the tone for the fight.
 
While Davis tried to salvage some respect with occasional flurries, Farenas battered him over the first four rounds landing some big shots while countering Davis’ speed.
 
Farenas ripped into Davis in round five and staggered the American with devastating shots to the body and head which included a right hook and continued his brutal assault in round six.
 
After the ringside physician took a long look at Davis and gave him one more round to survive, Farenas eased off a little in round seven which Steve Kim remarked was “a stay of execution” before Farenas hammered Davis in round eight sending him reeling into a corner giving referee Steve Smoger no choice but to stop the massacre at :59 of the eighth round.
 
Former WBO/WBA flyweight champion Brian Viloria who trained alongside Farenas at the Wild Card Gym told Yahoo Philippines that Farenas was “one of the most hardworking guys I know at the Wild Card. He did a great job.”
 
An excited Gerry Penalosa in a brief conversation with us said “it was a very good fight and Michael’s power really made the difference.”
 
On the eve of the fight Penalosa told Yahoo Philippines Farenas was “looking good and ready to rumble” even as he added “he is hungry for recognition and a world title.”

 
Penalosa’s elder brother Carl and Somodio handled the training of Farenas and were assisted by strength and conditioning coach Jay San Pedro who studied the regimen in Canada.
 
It was effectively the last stand for Farenas after he blew his chances of getting a world title shot when he lost to Marlon “Rata” Aguilar of Nicaragua in Mexico on May 6, 2010.
 
Farenas determined to fight his way back into the reckoning as a title contender made a remarkable comeback and earned a title shot at WBA champion Takashi Uchiyama on July 7, 2012 but the fight ended in a 3rd round technical draw.
 
What undoubtedly earned Farenas the shot in the title eliminator against Davis was the recognition he earned when he fought Gamboa on the undercard of the fourth showdown between Pacquiao and Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on December 8, 2012.

Gamboa dropped Farenas twice but the courageous Filipino caught the cocky Cuban Olympian with a cracking left hook and dropped him in the 9th round but eventually lost a twelve round unanimous decision.
 
That performance gave both Farenas and his mentor Penalosa, heart while it also may have given 50 Cent the feeling that Davis could outbox Farenas with his quickness and overall skill.

In a return to the US, Farenas hammered overmatched Mexican Gerardo Zayas, dropping him three times in the opening round to win by a TKO in Austin, Texas on April 27, 2013 and in his last fight scored a 2nd round TKO over Mexican veteran Hector Velazquez to win the vacant WBC Asia Boxing Council Continental title.
 
Velazquez had previously lost by a 6th round TKO in a WBC International super featherweight title bout to “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao on September 10, 2005.
Davis was an outstanding amateur who won a gold medal at the US Junior Olympics in 2002 and several other gold medals before winning at the Eastern Olympic trials for the 2008 Olympic Games.
 
The amateur background and skills of Davis were no match for the power-punching Filipino southpaw who was hungry for one last shot at a world title and the fame and glory that it normally brings.
 
He rapped and zapped Davis in an overpowering display that stunned the fans and 50 Cent.
 
Boxing columnist Paul Magno’s comments after Billy Dib lost his title to Gradovich were most appropriate and may force 50 Cent to realize the feeble foundation upon which his supposedly game-changing promotional outfit is built and to understand that 50 Cent ain’t worth much in the fiercely competitive and sometimes brutal sport of boxing.