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Undefeated WBO Jr Middleweight Champion Harry Simon goes against former WBC Champion Hacine Cherifi for the vacant WBO Middleweight Title on Showtime Boxing. Plus Jim Grey interviews Felix Trinidad.
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00:00:00Francisco Valcarcel, Supervisor Ricardo Rizzo, junto con la Comisión de Boxeo de Puerto Rico, el Presidente José Peña Garricano.
00:00:11Presentando a los jueces, introducing our judges scoring the bat from ringside, Dennis Nelson, Victor Salamón, and José Torres,
00:00:22and the referee in charge of this bat, el referee es Roberto Ramirez.
00:00:30All right, fans, here we go, 12 rounds of boxing for the vacant WBO Middleweight Championship of the World.
00:00:40Presentando en la esquina azul, introducing first in the blue corner, wearing black trunks, hailing from Lyon, France,
00:00:48pesando ciento cincuenta y ocho libras y media, his weight 158 and one half pounds.
00:00:55Su record, 32 victorias, 4 derrotas y un empate, tiene 20 ganadas por knockout, with a record of 32 wins,
00:01:044 losses, 1 draw.
00:01:06He has 20 wins coming by way of knockout.
00:01:09Here is the former WBC Middleweight Champion of the World.
00:01:13Aquí está el ex campeón del mundo, peso mediano, introducing Asin Sharifi.
00:01:26Y su oponente en la esquina roja, his opponent across the ring in the red corner, wearing white trunks with
00:01:33blue trim,
00:01:34hailing from Walvis Bay, Namibia, tiene un peso de ciento sesenta libras, he weighed in at 160 pounds even,
00:01:43tiene un récord de 21 victorias, sin derrota, con 17 de ellos por knockout, with a record of 21 wins,
00:01:52no losses.
00:01:52He has 17 wins coming by way of knockout, introducing the undefeated WBO Junior Middleweight Champion of the World,
00:02:01presentando al campeón del mundo, peso mediano, Jr., introducing Harry Simons.
00:02:16Once again, Roberto Ramirez, our referee in charge, now to give instructions.
00:02:23Hey, howdy, hey, Samuel.
00:02:30Come over.
00:02:32Okay, both of you were already properly addressed in the dressing room, but let's have a very quick review of
00:02:39the intro.
00:02:40You are not allowed to use the back of your punch or use your elbow, don't punch by your head,
00:02:48okay?
00:02:48Good punches are below the burn, back punches, illegally.
00:02:53Legal punches over the leg.
00:02:55Okay?
00:02:56Very good.
00:02:58Okay?
00:03:08Very good.
00:03:12You're gone.
00:03:13The final guy in the background of the show in the backyard of Tito Trinidad.
00:03:16I seen Sharifi one and three in world title bounts.
00:03:19All-time, one of 19 world champions from France.
00:03:22always brimming with confidence
00:03:24hard to intimidate and what really
00:03:26sets Sharifi apart from other French
00:03:28fighters he is often in the attack
00:03:30mode tenacious less of a boxer
00:03:32he is strong looks to impose
00:03:34his will and we'll see how he does
00:03:36with Simon
00:03:38Simon's come out using a good jab and I know he wants
00:03:40to be impressive here in front of not only
00:03:42Trinidad's crowd but Trinidad himself
00:03:44he's in the house Trinidad who just happens
00:03:46to be the most significant
00:03:47160 pounder on the planet
00:03:49and the message Simon plans
00:03:52his descent is simple Trinidad is not
00:03:54the only middleweight who matters
00:03:57I find it a little bit
00:03:58interesting here to I see Sharifi sitting
00:03:59back letting Simon carry the fight
00:04:02he's got to get to the inside I think he's better
00:04:04on the inside than Simon but
00:04:05I'm fighting now
00:04:06the knock on Simon in the pass as he just
00:04:09rattled Sharifi had the tendency
00:04:11to be too mechanical
00:04:13he needs to apply the pressure more
00:04:15force the action more
00:04:17you notice the 154 pound champion
00:04:20heavier five pound and a half than the
00:04:22full-blown middleweight Sharifi
00:04:26time and making no bones about it
00:04:28he wants Trinidad
00:04:31sometimes you shouldn't make them
00:04:32wish too hard as you might get it
00:04:33might come true
00:04:37but the winner of this fight may have
00:04:39to fight Armand French and
00:04:41sweet the man who vacated this title
00:04:43or was stripped of this title to set up
00:04:45the void he may become the mandatory
00:04:49that is the likelihood you know right
00:04:52now Simon appears to be stronger
00:04:54of the two
00:04:55Sharifi doesn't have a lot on his
00:04:56punches does seem somewhat weak
00:04:58Simon does have punching power
00:05:00particularly the right
00:05:02sometimes relies too much on the power
00:05:04rather than working his way inside
00:05:06he was a bit wild and knockout crazy
00:05:09before settling down in three of his
00:05:11previous four about
00:05:15the wild punches by both fighters
00:05:17both very wide hooks that are
00:05:19telegraphed a mile away you can see
00:05:21the right hand that's scored by
00:05:23Sharifi
00:05:24that gets the crowd going and then he
00:05:26pounds to the body with the left
00:05:29and he often leads with his head as
00:05:31you just saw Sharifi does he bends
00:05:33over and then jumps up with the hook
00:05:35but every once in a while his head is
00:05:36out there undefended he is awkward
00:05:39he throws from unusual angles
00:05:45there's a nice left hook by Sharifi
00:05:47but right now I think the fighters
00:05:50are still in a little bit of a
00:05:51feeling out process both a little
00:05:52nervous
00:05:54Sharifi almost always looking to
00:05:56force a brawl
00:05:59he's in excellent condition which is
00:06:00a big reason he can do what he does
00:06:02perpetual motion
00:06:07wild swing of the best with a right
00:06:08hand by
00:06:10Simon and Sharifi with a series of
00:06:12shots to Simon's head
00:06:13very busy is Sharifi here at the
00:06:16end of round one
00:06:16nice right hand and uppercut to him
00:06:18now Simon coming back
00:06:27all right Bobby how about your keys to
00:06:30victory
00:06:31well we start with Harry Simon I
00:06:32think he needs to set the fight
00:06:33distance he likes to fight better from
00:06:35boxing stance
00:06:36control things it's easier for him to
00:06:38stay outside and get inside also keep a
00:06:40fast pace
00:06:41he's used to throwing a ton of
00:06:42punches and be quicker than the
00:06:44bigger Sharifi although weight wise he
00:06:46seems to be the bigger right now
00:06:49for Sharifi I think he should bring the
00:06:51fight on the inside that's his fight
00:06:53it's not Simon's fight Simon likes to
00:06:54set up from the outside also good
00:06:56body work we saw a little bit of it in
00:06:58the first round he needs to do more
00:06:59lastly outwork Simon if he can outwork
00:07:01Simon at this weight the fight is his
00:07:12I don't want to go back anymore
00:07:14I think this guy's going to go back
00:07:16I think this guy's going to go back
00:07:17second out
00:07:17stay with me stay with me stay with me
00:07:20stay with me
00:07:28Simon well he told us his basic
00:07:30strategy was to box inside and out for
00:07:32first body guys who come forward like
00:07:35Sharifi a wild first round Bobby yeah I
00:07:38think Sharifi probably landed more
00:07:39punches just a few more but not the
00:07:41heavier punches the heavier punches
00:07:42were landed by Simon so that's a very
00:07:45close round it could be a dead even
00:07:46round
00:07:49but Sharifi can really take a punch he
00:07:52was training for a fight for last
00:07:53night of the south of France an eight
00:07:55rounder and he has no specific game
00:07:58plan has never seen Simon fight
00:08:00before tonight you know and it's
00:08:03something when he talked to me in the
00:08:04interviews I was amazed at how could
00:08:05you go into a fight and not prepare
00:08:07with what you have in the way of
00:08:08assets as well as deficits to cover
00:08:10your deficits and accentuate draft
00:08:12your assets would just be
00:08:14i can't believe it shocking to me that
00:08:16you wouldn't watch the guy and see what
00:08:17he has apparently some guys can
00:08:20can do that they don't always win but
00:08:22they try to do that but his response
00:08:24to you was interesting he said i'm not
00:08:26here in puerto rico to sit by the pool
00:08:28i understood that too and i said to
00:08:30him i know you came to fight you have a
00:08:31basic style but you might want to do
00:08:32certain little okay adjustments
00:08:35for specifically simon he said we'll
00:08:37see he said his experience of the
00:08:39notion that simon hasn't had the same
00:08:40kind of quality opposition he's had
00:08:42will be
00:08:43the difference he says i have a great
00:08:46chin we'll see what kind of chin
00:08:48simon had
00:08:59simon feels he'll be just as strong at
00:09:01this higher weight as he was at 154
00:09:03sherefi says with simon moving up in
00:09:07weight that his punch won't be as
00:09:08effective remember he scored a 168
00:09:11sherefi just caught simon with a nice
00:09:13left hook but didn't seem to do much
00:09:14damage but it was probably the cleanest
00:09:16punch he's landed got the crowd going
00:09:19excellent crowd on hand
00:09:21the coliseum seats over 11 000
00:09:24simon seems to be over swinging a
00:09:26little bit steve trying to land
00:09:27extra hard punches hitting a lot of
00:09:29arms and missing just seems to be
00:09:31overswing a little bit trying a little
00:09:33too hard perhaps
00:09:37sherefi with a little blood on the
00:09:39brim of his nose
00:09:42the upper ridge
00:09:44there again you see simon leaping in
00:09:46with a big left hand there a big
00:09:48right hand and it was blocked
00:09:50by the arm of sherefi
00:09:51i think simon's trying to make a
00:09:57statement in the middleweight division
00:09:58that he's a puncher here too
00:10:00could be a mistake and this fighting on
00:10:03the inside could favor
00:10:04sherefi
00:10:09simon needs a little distance
00:10:18final seconds of round two scheduled
00:10:20for 12 with a vacant wbo middleweight
00:10:23a good finish by simon he's landing with
00:10:26left side right to the head
00:10:27very clean
00:10:29i need more for the punches
00:10:31i need
00:10:32no one nine side i need to show an
00:10:37apocad
00:10:37one nine side i need to show
00:10:40apocad inside
00:10:42apocad inside
00:10:42apocad is going to do
00:10:44apocad both sides here to left and
00:10:46right then you come and double up okay
00:10:47because that's the apocad that's going
00:10:49to make us a way for us here
00:10:53came out a little bit on the wild side
00:10:55swing some big punches
00:10:56looping look how wide that is very very wide
00:11:00telegraphed you can see that a mile away
00:11:01this one to the right hand lands that's a big wide shot
00:11:04it limits his power
00:11:13anything special
00:11:16he doesn't have a work rate like you
00:11:17he doesn't have that so let's put
00:11:19everything let's get the apocad going
00:11:21okay i need to see those
00:11:23apocad inside go go for it baby go for it
00:11:27okay
00:11:34round three
00:11:37simon a very good counter puncher he knows how to go to the body
00:11:41which can often be more debilitating than headshots
00:11:44let's see if he does more of that now he finished strong with a flurry
00:11:47at the end of the round there's a good body shot right on cue
00:11:50beautiful right hand underneath
00:11:52and simon again he seems to be in a hurry
00:11:55sharifi getting tangled up with some of the advertising
00:11:57break break break i think it's horrible
00:11:59he needs to get that advertising off the ring
00:12:04i thought going in the first two rounds would be very significant nobody made a real big statement
00:12:08simon a little more of a statement than sharifi so the next two rounds should be equally important
00:12:20both fighters being a lot more deliberate now against simon missing a duck under move by sharifi
00:12:27right hand by simon a screen shot
00:12:30sharifi through a hook at degrees and that right hand landed clean hey hey don't hold don't hold
00:12:36that right hand in the right hand
00:12:37sharifi being cautioned for the hold pulling simon's head down
00:12:41big right hand by simon to the head
00:12:44simon shown much better power than he thought at this weight
00:12:51he thought it would be otherwise
00:12:56simon continues to press
00:12:58have a clean break his confidence gating
00:13:03halfway round three
00:13:12sharifi
00:13:12sharifi now just flailing with the left
00:13:15yes sharifi doesn't look like his feet are set a lot of his legs aren't under him sturdy
00:13:19he seems to be thinking retreat even as he punches
00:13:27a series of right hands by simon to the head of sharifi
00:13:32sharifi wiping a little
00:13:34right hand by simon that lands cleanly to the head
00:13:37once again simon not only leaving better punch but out muscling sharifi on inside
00:13:42two tremendous right hands by simon sharifi looks like he may be ready to go
00:13:46good mix up too simon went to the body and hurt sharifi up top and then downstairs
00:13:51simon testing sharifi's recuperative powers right here in round three
00:13:56with 30 seconds on the clock
00:14:06and a left hand body shot by simon
00:14:09come on
00:14:14diamond really had sharifi in trouble and now sharifi
00:14:19answers back with a couple of shots but simon jumps right back on him with a right to the head
00:14:25you can see right now that simon is in control his punches are hurting sharifi
00:14:28in the reverse is just not the case
00:14:32a case of survival in round three for the frenchman
00:14:40a couple of shots
00:14:43a
00:14:46a
00:14:47a
00:14:47a
00:14:49a
00:14:49a
00:14:49a
00:14:52a
00:15:05we saw a good right hand harry simon through comes in and there it is right on the tail end
00:15:11caught him right in the jaw you see sharifi bend over and offer up almost no offense whatsoever
00:15:15just looking to hide stay alive it's another look a good shot right here beautiful right hand right
00:15:22on the jaw sharifi not firing back not really answering harry simon is answering a lot of
00:15:28questions tonight sharifi's been on the canvas five times in his career okay in fact he came
00:15:36off the canvas to beat keith holmes for the title
00:15:43and here we go into round four sharifi's toughest opponent he told us neville brown in 97 he got
00:15:50knocked down three times came back to win by a six-round tko he may have to update
00:15:57that situation harry simon may now take his boy well i'll tell you what i saw
00:16:04joppy give him a good old-fashioned beating i'm not sure he went a whole round
00:16:08and if that wasn't a good tattooing devil brown must be some fighter he went down two times against joppy
00:16:16in september and he did get pasted
00:16:20he lost every round of that play hung in there at 0 for 12.
00:16:25he does have current a series of left hooks to the head by
00:16:29sharifi didn't seem to bother simon simon comes right back the very first round sharifi came out
00:16:34almost like it was the seventh or eighth round a little slow no real strength almost like he was a
00:16:38little bit zapped which is unlike him because he's usually in excellent condition and he comes out
00:16:43fresh and in your face now he looks sluggish and really slow and lethargic
00:16:48very uncharacteristic of sharifi the crowd behind sharifi the frenchman
00:16:54there you saw that right hand that was almost like a token
00:16:57push not even a punch these are barely slaps okay break i don't understand it
00:17:01three b being out to punch out strength out class generally by the namibian mary simon
00:17:23this is not the same fighter that beat keith holmes it's not even the same fighter who
00:17:28attempted to beat william joppy okay great great great
00:17:33sharifi just doesn't look like he has any strength today and you know what sometimes the wars like
00:17:37the ones with both of the wars with home and then joppy can take it out of you steve
00:17:43and simon may be finishing him off but here comes sharifi as the crowd goes wild as i speak sharifi
00:17:49wakes up
00:17:50he got his wake-up call out of nowhere gets his second win simon slipping that was a slip and
00:17:57a push
00:18:01that was the best exchange by far in this fight a flurry by sharifi
00:18:09surprising simon
00:18:12and now simon looks a little physically spent leaning on the shoulder of sharifi
00:18:18see if sharifi comes forward like this that's that's his fight in this particular fight that's the way you
00:18:23should fight it down and tell you sharifi bring it on that big right that long right was blocked
00:18:30the left-right combination scores by sharifi
00:18:36to a bounce back situation for sharifi with blood coming from the left side
00:18:41really playing much better round
00:18:47the resilient has seen sharifi being cheered by the fans
00:19:03halfway through the round sharifi woke up
00:19:05works inside with a nice left hook there gets the attention
00:19:08the attention of simon there's a right hand and another left on the inside now they get tangled up a
00:19:13little bit but he stays with it and then later in the round
00:19:17some more
00:19:22fighting back with some fire where he had not been for the first part of the fight
00:19:28he ended around here he ducks out
00:19:30gets simon with a small combination on top of the head
00:19:33nothing real serious but working out working simon much busier out working simon something
00:19:39i think he definitely needs to do
00:19:41work work work you move that hit work work work you move that hit
00:19:46sharifi very awkward doesn't move around a lot he's a good target but he's frustrating simon now
00:19:54right here's the first one
00:19:54to be waking up towards the end of round four and picking up where he left off in round five
00:20:02to reiki really rallying at the end of round four with looping
00:20:07lefts and straight rights
00:20:09and he's pushed down
00:20:11by simon who hears it from the crowd
00:20:17a wf move by simon
00:20:19okay
00:20:22you think that was partly out of frustration
00:20:24uh i suspect a little bit you know it's starting to come on a little bit
00:20:28sharifi simon's gonna look frustrated not able to hit him
00:20:30being forced to back up not landing as he did the first two and a half rounds
00:20:33maybe a little frustration
00:20:36wide left by simon did not score clearly
00:20:44sharifi
00:20:46working that jab
00:20:48pesky jab in the face of simon
00:20:52he's bothering well see now you see simon's not coming forward at will now
00:20:56now he's forced to back up there he gets hit another right hand and another
00:20:59a left right combination to the head that that's scored by sharifi
00:21:03sharifi takes the fight to the inside simon has a problem
00:21:10that is sharifi's
00:21:13game plan and forte fight on the inside looping right hand by simon and
00:21:18counter punching by sharifi to the head that is more successful
00:21:23simon's not comfortable fighting backwards
00:21:24sharifi really isn't either but the first part of the fight that's all
00:21:28sharifi's doing going backwards can't be affected that way not with his style
00:21:33very very successful with that left jab and a slip under move by sharifi perfect
00:21:39triple jab in the way but just brought a right-hander to look
00:21:44simon has really slowed down
00:21:59there's that point jab this time he follows it up has seen with a right
00:22:03and then it goes down to the body jab being a big factor here i've seen establishing a jab now
00:22:08you
00:22:08notice simon's mouth got the foot big punch from the outside again not looking good that way
00:22:13and i'll tell you defensively sharifi is blocking a lot of those punches by harry simon
00:22:28a little bang of heads there
00:22:36nice right hand over the top by simon
00:22:38three showing a little bit of time just getting tired
00:22:45we talked about all the clutter at the top of the broadcast well one division that is uncluttering
00:22:50itself these days is the middleweight division 160 pounders are down to two
00:22:56with felix tito trinidad to face benard hopkins for title unification in september
00:23:02they treat tito like a rock star here in puerto rico he received a standing o during a prelim
00:23:08fight when he arrived and he's with us and in particular jim gray
00:23:13thank you very much steve well it'll be september 15th madison square garden tito trinidad joining us
00:23:18and marcus maldonado will interpret tito what about your fight with bernard hopkins are you upset at
00:23:24the way that he has infuriated puerto rico and the displays that he has had in the promotion of this
00:23:30fight he said he did insult me personally and all my people and i take that to great offense
00:23:48i guess you'll take it out on him in the ring
00:23:56i'm a three-time world champion and that's exactly what i'm going to do to him
00:24:01now harry simon has said he would like to fight you should he be victorious tonight is that something
00:24:06you would entertain simon there will be una pelea si gana esta noche
00:24:16myself there is no problem as long as it's okay with my father and donkey
00:24:19now of course you're here tonight to see daniel santos he will fight in the next bout
00:24:23he's a countryman of yours you're going in the locker room to see him what are you going to say
00:24:27to him
00:24:42he said he is my countryman so i'm going to walk in there and wish him all the all the
00:24:45best luck and
00:24:46i do recognize that margarito is an excellent challenger tito thank you muchas gracias very
00:24:50much good luck against bernard hopkins it's great to be with you in puerto rico thank you steve
00:24:54all right jim the incredibly popular tito trinidad talking to our jim gray round six here between
00:25:02simon and the white sherefi and the black and just got tagged with a straight right hand by
00:25:07the namibia there have been no knockdowns thus far in the fight blood first appeared on sherefi in round
00:25:13two and sherefi pushed to the canvas 24 seconds into round five signing came out a little more
00:25:20energized this round i think this corner told hey you know he started let a couple of rounds slip away
00:25:24and letting sherefi out work to get back to work land the hard shots push him back and that's exactly
00:25:29what he's
00:25:30doing this is scheduled for 12 for the vacant wbo middleweight championship a little fuzzy a little
00:25:37perplexing there's a slip by sherefi as to why armand price of sweden was stripped of the title
00:25:47he was thinking of changing management and for some reason they took the title away from him
00:25:51opened it up for these two guys but i'm not so sure why numbers one and number two are not
00:25:57fighting
00:25:57as opposed to these guys in any event we're here and it's been a fairly entertaining fight
00:26:08simon's playing extra hard right here using a lot of energy but unloading some punishment on sherefi
00:26:25he's not rated as a middleweight but getting special consideration because he is a world champion in
00:26:32another weight play that's a common practice with all the sanctioning bodies you have a world title you
00:26:39want to shift around and take a crack at another one they'll allow it and let you keep the other
00:26:43one
00:26:43if you lose sherefi was not rated by the wbo until yesterday he became number eight he is number three
00:26:51wba
00:27:17sherefi
00:27:19has really come on let's go inside the ropes further dissect the situation with former world
00:27:25champion Bobby Chez well it's almost the replay round after round and over the top there's the
00:27:30right hand right here in temporary there's another right hand on the jaw he's throwing it over the
00:27:36top he's not throwing straight there's one to the body back up top again he consistently lands
00:27:41because Sharifi is biting the fake and letting his left hand go down and over the top you'll notice
00:27:47Simon dips his shoulder Sharifi watches the shoulder go down he throws the right hand right over his
00:27:52head economy this move
00:28:02to shoot you know that for the kilometer okay second out second out second out second out seven blood
00:28:11first appeared as mentioned on Sharifi in round two his quarters done a pretty good job of preventing
00:28:16more bleeding from the cut above his left eye right well the bell has sat up around seven are both
00:28:23content to remain on their stools for some reason well for the past three rounds Simon's corner has
00:28:28been in the ring still in the ring well after the whistle whistle does a signal to get out and
00:28:33they
00:28:34stay in the ring it's been I don't know if you're trying to buy a mixture rest and a lot
00:28:37of moisture in
00:28:38that Simon corner that they are feverishly toweling off as we speak
00:28:44round seven scheduled for 12 for the vacant WBO 160 pound title I know Felix Trinidad is watching and
00:28:53he's watching because these are both potential fights that he could have but I I think right now
00:28:57they're potential victims I don't see anything in front of me that Tito has to really worry about to be
00:29:03concerned with at the same time we still have a few rounds left well Simon says if he wins this
00:29:11fight
00:29:12he'll throw down the gauntlet to Trinidad for a unification fight but the Felix has other matters
00:29:17to take care of first uh-oh down goes Sharifi but it was a tangling of feet hang the feet
00:29:24a slip and no
00:29:25no punches that's the second time Sharifi went down but not via the knockdown Sharifi pushed to the
00:29:35canvas in round five Simon slip too there's water in the ring a lot of water dripping off Simon I
00:29:41think
00:29:41that is the result of the Simon corners Simon tries to once again press Sharifi into the ropes
00:29:47and going to the body I think it's interesting that Simon here is displaying the strength and out
00:29:52working in strong wise out working Sharifi the power
00:30:09once again we see Sharifi almost slipped to the floor ring very slippery in the center
00:30:18we talked about the fact too that Sharifi took this fight on only eight days notice
00:30:22he was scheduled to fight the day before today so he scheduled the fight yesterday which means that
00:30:27he was in probably pretty good shape but he's only scheduled to fight an eight rounder not a 12 rounder
00:30:31that's a significant difference too and for Simon it was his second opponent he says he's used to that
00:30:37Bobby as you know the last time we saw him against the Brit Wayne Alexander that was his fifth opponent
00:30:43within days he's supposed to be Robert Allen so he has to always stay very
00:30:52shots down his toes I would have loved to see him fight Robert Allen and the Robert Allen I know
00:30:57and have come to watch could make a great fight
00:31:05hey hey no come close come close great come on Sharifi seems to be tiring Steve nothing on the punches
00:31:10again
00:31:27well Steve it's gotten wet through the course of the bout but I was in the ring before the fight
00:31:31in fact there was great concern here in Puerto Rico about the ring here
00:31:35there are a lot of spots in this ring where the wood underneath is warped and they have tried to
00:31:40cover
00:31:40it up by using a sponge in some place they have carpet in other places it's very uneven it's causing
00:31:45a lot of
00:31:46these guys to turn their ankles so you've seen a Sharifi go down a couple of times that's because there
00:31:50are seams in
00:31:51between this this is almost like the bad AstroTurf out at Veterans Stadium where you see guys go down and
00:31:56turn an
00:31:56ankles I mean this is deplorable and and if you remember the last time we were here Steve the ring
00:32:01collapsed in a
00:32:02Tito Trinidad fight that we did here some time ago but this ring really is substandard
00:32:07here's an example of what you're talking about Jim just a slip he just feet they got tangled amongst
00:32:13themselves again could be something in the flooring some separation boards not only that but you see
00:32:18where those logos are for the various sponsors those are painted on so the moisture makes that even
00:32:25more slippery for the fighters and you're right Jim that was April of 1998 Tito Trinidad versus Mahenge
00:32:31Zulu for the IVF welterweight championship we were here and because of all the weight of all the
00:32:36people that flew into the ring to congratulate Trinidad the ring collapsed and it was like the
00:32:42Poseidon adventure Jim Gray sliding down the ring almost into the first row unbelievable and that was
00:32:49right here at the Ruben Rodriguez policy a little bit of tape loose
00:33:00how do you sum this fight up to this point Bobby you know there was some reasonable
00:33:05event flow first round was kind of even then next two rounds clearly Simon Brown excuse me
00:33:09Harry Simon and then flip back Sharifi comes on for a couple rounds but then he died again
00:33:14in the last two rounds all the Simon so there has been some ebb and flight there's no more
00:33:19even flow I think that Sharif is in trouble he's looking the worst for wear right now and this is
00:33:24the
00:33:25quietest the most cramp will this crowd has been all night I mean they got it going here at 730
00:33:30and they were going wild here a lot of local fighters were in action the crowd had assembled very early
00:33:38and perhaps they're all cheered out but they don't have much to cheer about right now
00:33:43right now the action is limited there's a lot of tying up on the inside a lot of blocking
00:33:47crowd doesn't like it or they're saving themselves for their hometown product Daniel Santos after this one
00:33:53in the main event now these are two fight fans here in Puerto Rico I think if the fight heats
00:33:57up they'll
00:33:57start screaming knowledgeable fans there's that tape flying around again on the right glove of Sharifi
00:34:06Sharifi is a survivor he's got a great gent great heart very resolute he just takes a lot to get
00:34:13this
00:34:13guy down he got into a little bit of trouble in the early round and then he started coming around
00:34:19himself and most of that is just guts he doesn't even have a game plan he doesn't watch tapes a
00:34:28wild right
00:34:28hand that missed by Simon and that has been an accusation towards Simon for the last three four
00:34:34fights just very wild flailing away no purpose for those punches well sometimes just staying busy
00:34:40pressure physical pressure is in your face it causes you mental and physical problems
00:34:51going back to Jim grave reported a moment ago and Simon peppers the ahead of I see in Sharifi so
00:34:58many dead
00:34:59spots here as Jim pointed out it's almost like the the old parquet floor at the old boston guard
00:35:05three got hit with a good left to lock them a little bit
00:35:14hey
00:35:26less than 30 seconds remaining in round eight okay Simon looks exhausted
00:35:37and he got tagged with a right cross and Sharifi looks like he's in better condition blood streaking
00:35:43from the right nostril of Haseen I just don't think so Steve I think that that was just a big
00:35:49spurt
00:35:50by Sharifi I think right now he's the worst for wear of the two with more fatigue on his on
00:35:54his plate
00:35:55thanks well there's a running left hook Sharifi hitting Simon after the bell well time will tell
00:36:01Bobby we'll see who's in the better shape today was the debut of Showbox the new generation let's take
00:36:07a look at what's on tap in our next installment
00:36:11the torch has been passed and a new generation of fighters has emerged get the shots off right away with
00:36:17the selfless dedication to the sport that their idols once had you had the dream now let's make it
00:36:23happen tough young scrappers eager to make their name and hungry to make their mark now watch them
00:36:28chase their dreams in the ring when antonio diaz takes on john michael johnson plus olympic star panchito
00:36:34bojado on showbox the new generation saturday august 4th at 5 p.m only on showtime boy some pretty uh
00:36:44fair boxers from the past in that uh uh promo how about results from today's showbox debut at atlantic
00:36:50city johnny molnar technical decision over victor rosado and then leo durin with a uh ninth round tko
00:36:56over martin o'valley that was stopped on cuts round nine and another delay as they
00:37:06try to tend to that loose tape around the right glove of sharifu
00:37:14the right glove of sharifu is ready to go
00:37:20good okay we want to offer up our heartiest congratulations to nick charles and steve bar hood
00:37:27for their premiere installment of showbox the new generation and good luck for the future
00:37:37round nine no knockdowns three he's been down a couple of times but the pushes and slips and sticky
00:37:44slips again it's over the logo which is extra slippery
00:38:03wild swing and a miss by simon
00:38:07there's the average length of the title bouts for these guys we're in the round nine
00:38:12so uh familiar territory for both right we'll do fairness to that statistic i think in title
00:38:19fights we have to say clearly that competition much stiffer for sharifu timon's never lost the
00:38:24title fight he's five and oh sharifu one and three
00:38:29i'd like to see okay break break i'd love to see joppy's i think that's a good thing
00:38:34well he certainly took care of matters against hasin sharifu why do you see that as a uh
00:38:38as a good matchup job he's a better puncher than he still has a good chin he's a better puncher
00:38:43than
00:38:43sharifu is a little more aggressive much sharper puncher and counter puncher i think the way they
00:38:49match up it's a heated battle and he did not fight the correct fight in my opinion against felix
00:38:56clearly underestimated two things tito's speed and tito's power and you can't do that to a
00:39:01fighter that good i don't care what division he's coming
00:39:06simon doing a lot of leaning on the shoulder and head
00:39:10of uh sharifu which leads me to believe that he might not be as perky as you think
00:39:16but there's a good left hand just as we say that
00:39:18he's coming alive like this and he's pounding away at the head of sharifi
00:39:23well he showed me that he can deal with the full-blown middleweight and we know that sharif
00:39:27has been in there with some of the better fighters in the league so he's shown he can do that
00:39:30he's shown he has the strength and the power to hurt sharifu
00:39:33but it's going to take a lot to put sharifi down that's correct i just don't think that he can
00:39:38step up to the upper echelon turned back to the hopkins i think that they beat simon but that's just
00:39:43my
00:39:43opinion well when sharifi beat keith holmes straight right to the body by simon
00:39:51in all uh uh fairness okay break please stay away was looking ahead he just he just wasn't up for
00:39:57that fight he went all the way to uh the old france and he wasn't himself and sharifi took that
00:40:03title
00:40:03away and then the very next fight a few months later uh holmes won the title back
00:40:12so right now this does not look like the sharifi we've seen it just doesn't seem to have the
00:40:16strength or firepower that we're used to seeing him bring to the table and simon hasn't hurt him that
00:40:20much but it's just not there in some days it's just not there i know it's going to stream simon
00:40:27may
00:40:27be wandering to himself as he stares sharifi down what is it going to take to put this guy on
00:40:32the floor
00:40:33can you see how he's dead all night long simon's been landing right hands here's a little work on the
00:40:52body comes up with a nice left hook
00:40:56mixing it up
00:40:59now he's going to come on right hand again right into the body and that buckled sharifi he did not
00:41:03like that body shot
00:41:08ended around we get a little little stare down at the very end no real clean punches landed here
00:41:14and then they get a little little stare down
00:41:16you know i think helps sharifi a lot a lot of guys go into fights with him bobby
00:41:20and they don't take him seriously and then they wind up in a bit of trouble
00:41:25you know what he's he's one of those guys that i like to say is effective in his awkwardness because
00:41:29sharifi is very awkward leans and bends a lot for us punches from some odd angles
00:41:33and more of a stand-up straight-up fighter is
00:41:36former well still junior middleweight champion
00:41:39inside you but it's just hard to judge it's really so hard to gauge i think that's what happened
00:41:45in the case of keith holmes the first time they met joppy of course took the
00:41:48the first time they met sharifi seriously
00:41:52referee has been taking a very close look at sharifi
00:41:56see i don't know if you noticed with that right hand the right hand he's not sitting on it's not
00:41:59turning his body in it's just forearm punching in there
00:42:03oh there's another slip it by uh
00:42:04three in his own corner that's his own fault because that's the moisture from his corner
00:42:13see there's nothing on his punches there's no body between any of his punches he's not really
00:42:18sitting he's sliding his feet everywhere the feet are up in the air he's throwing just on
00:42:24that's no way to hurt someone that's no way to hurt someone and we're getting showered
00:42:31step back come on step back
00:42:36really looking worn out now
00:42:39and sharifi if you look in his eyes too and you look at him as he takes into the punch
00:42:43he looks like
00:42:43he looks like he's at the end of his rope
00:42:49see that right hand that's not a right hand that's a pull
00:42:52truth it's hard i just don't understand why he's not from any authority whatsoever
00:42:57flicking left jab that uh
00:43:00that sent sharifi's head to the back
00:43:02snapped it right back maybe he's that tired of that hurt wind up with a throw haymaker take a shot
00:43:07and there's a left right combination as he gets hit with two haymakers simon
00:43:14reefy uh talking about the fact that he didn't think simon had the quality of opposition that he did but
00:43:22he's learning something here about simon tonight he can punch even at this weight moving up for the first time
00:43:31but he hasn't put him down
00:43:37he hasn't put him down
00:43:38you watch simon still bends his legs and digs in in the shots
00:43:55so he's still bending his leg turn that right hand over overhand right by
00:43:59inside of that sense and shariki reeling
00:44:04he's bouncing off the rope not where has he wants to be
00:44:07right now has he can't keep up the pace with the speed
00:44:11and i think they're saying that he's going to stay away
00:44:14he's deceiving isn't he uh has seen he hangs around he hangs around
00:44:20but he he really doesn't have much left
00:44:28and he doesn't have much behind those punches there's almost nothing behind those punches
00:44:33but he's game isn't he oh yeah
00:44:40only body punches they can do the work
00:44:43only body punches can do the work
00:44:46we're going to take a look
00:44:48on the left here he's going to throw a big looping right hand on the jaw over here and then
00:44:53he's going
00:44:54to come all the way back with the left hook and catch sharifi it just
00:44:57sharifi can't do anything steps right in big right hand and here wide left hook he should have saw that
00:45:03coming a mile away but he's tired and he's hurting but those wide shots the right hand's been landing
00:45:08all day but now the hook's starting to land as well hips and shoulders need it when you walk that
00:45:11body
00:45:12hips and shoulders need it you know how we work on the body okay you know how you work on
00:45:17the body okay
00:45:17i need to see you study with me i need to start walking
00:45:30simon in control and as we enter the championship rounds
00:45:34in control and as far as sharifi needs a knockout to win the vacant title for frank i clearly agree
00:45:40with that
00:45:42he has been slowed down methodically here and all that infighting i was talking about the rough
00:45:49housing the physical nature of that has made sharifi tired not a smaller man simon even though simon
00:45:55came in weighing more than sharifi came in as the wbo junior middleweight champion 154
00:46:08digging left uppercut to the body by simon debilitating shot
00:46:17right now simon can do whatever he wants for the last two rounds basically
00:46:21it's not always a smart move to just sit back and do nothing because we know how judges seem to
00:46:25see things differently from time to time but okay he has actually no danger of losing this fight
00:46:31i don't know that if he dropped his hands sharifi's got enough to knock him out
00:46:37well sharifi is trying he's fighting okay he's punching at least he's offering
00:46:45it's not as if he's totally giving up a hammering right hand of the head by simon
00:46:51no straight left hand that got through the defense and then a combination to the head by
00:46:56sharifi again nice combination but no real power on it and he's still trying hard though
00:47:18right now
00:47:29look cranberry
00:47:31great
00:47:31and some instinct, just survive, throw, swing at whatever's in front of me.
00:47:35I'm not even sure he's aiming punches anymore.
00:47:38Stay out the corner.
00:47:46Using everything he can, too.
00:47:48Elbows and arms.
00:47:49That's a little bit more.
00:47:51The right hand off the top of the head by Simon.
00:47:54Okay, break.
00:47:55Break.
00:47:57The second round 11 for the vacant WBO middleweight championship.
00:48:02Again, a problem with the tape.
00:48:05And I'm sure no argument from Sharifi as he gets a bit of a rest.
00:48:09It's academic at this point.
00:48:13Sharifi needs a KO.
00:48:18Simon over here by us in the neutral corner.
00:48:23They are ready to continue.
00:48:26The referee, Roberto Ramirez, from San Juan,
00:48:30his 110th world title fight.
00:48:32Sharifi got his head caught up in here and got hit with a good left hook.
00:48:35Simon pounded away.
00:48:38Simon the fresher of the two, so the rest helped him.
00:48:45Simon looked a little spin at some point in the spike midway point.
00:48:50Blood over the right hand of Simon, too.
00:48:51But good to recover the powers by Simon, as well.
00:49:06He's got his second win in great shape.
00:49:21He's got his second win in great shape.
00:49:23And now Simon looks like he's got his second win in great shape.
00:49:24Take him to the ropes, body work, hook up top.
00:49:28Pushing him back, pushing him back.
00:49:30Stepping in, another big hook.
00:49:31Sharifi, right hand glancing off his temple.
00:49:33Sharifi backing up without purpose.
00:49:38Simon comes in, the two body shots started, then the left hook up top.
00:49:42You can see his eyes didn't really roll back in his head, but that caught his attention pretty
00:49:45good.
00:49:46Then the right hand, and now you see the lace, a little wobbly.
00:49:48I'm sure he is not stirred.
00:49:50Don't walk on the board.
00:49:51You walk from the side, you step to the side.
00:49:55Don't move, don't move, Harry, please.
00:49:57Don't move.
00:49:57Don't move.
00:49:58Don't move, Harry, please.
00:49:59Don't move.
00:49:59Don't move.
00:50:02Don't move.
00:50:03Here it is, round 12, the final round for the vacant WBO middleweight championship.
00:50:12Sharifi very slow to get off of his chair.
00:50:15He is exhausted.
00:50:16A very cocky Harry Simon, believing that Sharifi just doesn't have the power to knock him out.
00:50:21He's just playing with him now.
00:50:24Clearly in command.
00:50:25Something that's been deceivingly effective for Harry Simon all night long.
00:50:29Good body punches.
00:50:30The right hand and the hook that uppercuts on the inside.
00:50:32You see more than once pin Sharifi over.
00:50:34Very deceptive.
00:50:36Not so blatant robbers, but very effective.
00:50:40Simon unable to put Sharifi down, but that is nothing unusual with Sharifi.
00:50:45He's got a great chin and a great heart.
00:50:48He is a survivor.
00:50:51Trying to turn the crowd on here, Sharifi.
00:51:00How many times have these guys gone into the club?
00:51:03Not many.
00:51:06Only Simon's third time.
00:51:08Sharifi's sixth.
00:51:11Sharifi's starting to land a little bit, but I think it's a whole lot, a whole lot, a whole lot,
00:51:14a whole lot, too much, too little, too late.
00:51:16Sharifi looking for high drama here.
00:51:20If he can knock Simon out.
00:51:25This is the only chance that Sharifi has, and Simon's giving him that chance rather than box one.
00:51:43Halfway through the final round, Sharifi's still trying, he never can pull this guy short on heart.
00:51:50He will give you all he has.
00:52:10With a minute left of the 12th round, what's your overall assessment of Simon's performance?
00:52:14You know, Steve, based on who he's fighting, based on Sharifi, I have to say it, the assessment of him
00:52:18was good.
00:52:19He was stronger than Sharifi.
00:52:20He punched harder than Sharifi.
00:52:21He was more accurate, more active.
00:52:23He outfied with Sharifi in every aspect of the game, inside and out.
00:52:26At the same time, my only reservation is that this did not appear to be the Sharifi we've seen in
00:52:31the past.
00:52:32How many times do you think he had Sharifi in trouble?
00:52:34I remember that one time early in the fight when he was really rocked.
00:52:38I think he maybe had him seriously hurt twice, but not to the point that he was almost going to
00:52:43go down or out.
00:52:45Just that he really caught his attention and shook him up.
00:52:48At one point, he did buckle Sharifi's knees.
00:52:51It looked like he might go down, but you know Sharifi.
00:52:54Well, I'll tell you, Simon Stock can only go up in his performance, so we'll see what's next one.
00:53:00As this fight is all but over.
00:53:03Final seconds.
00:53:10Oh, Sharifi almost went just before the bell.
00:53:15That's perhaps because feet were stepped on.
00:53:19But there was a punch involved as well.
00:53:21No knockdowns.
00:53:23Sharifi hearing it from the crowd, but I guess they like him, but they can't think he wants to.
00:53:30They can't think, not these knowledgeable fans.
00:53:32It has to be Harry Simon.
00:53:35He won almost every round.
00:53:40And looking to win his second world title.
00:53:43The obvious popular man here is this man, Hasim Sharifi.
00:53:47But it looks like Simon has made the successful jump in weight.
00:53:51And will give up his junior middleweight crown for this WBO middleweight belt.
00:53:56Not surprisingly, not surprisingly, at the expense of former champ, Hasim Sharifi.
00:54:02Simon looking to remain undefeated to 22-0.
00:54:10But will remain with 17 knockouts.
00:54:13And looking to join an elite club that includes Felix Pinedad and Bernard Hopkins.
00:54:19And there is Tito, the WBA middleweight champ.
00:54:30Sharifi in that last round doing his best to just get something done.
00:54:33There's a nice overhand right attempt, although it didn't land clean.
00:54:37He's coming in, and he's trying body shots, head shots.
00:54:40He's trying anything.
00:54:41He's desperate.
00:54:42I think even though he's got his hands up in the ring now, he does not believe he won this
00:54:46fight.
00:54:49Sharifi gets hit with a nice left hook.
00:54:53You can't hurt me.
00:54:55You've been hit enough.
00:54:55I don't think you need to hit any more.
00:54:58As the round winds down, Sharifi's taking his shot.
00:55:02But he slips again.
00:55:04That's not really a punch causing the legs to come out.
00:55:06That's a slip.
00:55:07And I think possibly the reason the crowd is cheering Sharifi so much is that he's not been outspoken about
00:55:13facing Trinidad, and Simon has.
00:55:16My best guess.
00:55:18I think Simon obviously outclassed Sharifi here tonight, outstrengthened, pretty much out everything.
00:55:25Haseen Sharifi.
00:55:27No question about that.
00:55:31And they are taking an inordinate amount of time.
00:55:34I never liked that.
00:55:36Yeah.
00:55:37It always calls for controversy or raises your eyebrows.
00:55:40And I think Jimmy's got the totals right now.
00:55:43Just about set to read it to the crowd.
00:55:46Almost set.
00:55:47The crowd reacting negatively to Harry Simon.
00:55:52I think he got a good point.
00:55:53He's been asking for Tito.
00:55:57And that's got the crowd going.
00:56:01Tito, I think he's giving him the sign here.
00:56:06I hate to see that sign.
00:56:07You know, you don't want to see anybody do that.
00:56:09But what sign was that?
00:56:11That's the slash sign.
00:56:12And that is, that's bad news.
00:56:14I don't like to see that.
00:56:15That's a little too much.
00:56:16Yeah.
00:56:16But he's just indicating to the crowd that he can handle Simon with no problem.
00:56:27And we're set to get it up.
00:56:35Ladies and gentlemen, after 12 rounds of action, we have a unanimous decision.
00:56:40Here are the score totals.
00:56:41Judge ringside, Dennis Nelson, tiene la pelea 117 a 110, 117 to 110.
00:56:52Judge Jose Torres, anota 117 a 111, 117 to 111.
00:57:03And Judge Salamon scores the bat 119 to 108.
00:57:10119 a 108 a favor del ganador in favor of the winner, Harry Simon.
00:57:24Well, Steve, I had it 118, 111, right in the ballpark with all the judges.
00:57:28They're 117, 111, 119, 108 or 109.
00:57:31And so it's, it's right there.
00:57:33A lopsided unanimous decision for the man from Namibia.
00:57:37As Sharifi drops to 32, five and one.
00:57:41Simon goes to 20, two and oh, the chance of bring on Tito to take care of business.
00:57:47One of the knocks on Simon has been inactivity.
00:57:49Will he look to stay sharp now and fight more frequently?
00:57:52And will his next opponent be former WBO middleweight champ Armand Crunch?
00:57:57Upsuite, the mandatory like.
00:58:01Coming up next, it's our main event, the WBO welterweight championship.
00:58:06Local favorite Daniel Santos puts his title on the line against number one, Antonio Margarito from Tijuana, Mexico.
00:58:14Into the dressing room with a champion, Daniel Santos.
00:58:18He hails from right here in Puerto Rico.
00:58:20His success, though, has come mainly in Europe, winning the belt in Germany, retaining it in Italy and England.
00:58:26Last title defense, a thrilling second round knockout over Northern Ireland's Neil Sinclair in December.
00:58:32Both were on the canvas in the first round, and Santos then ended it with a big left hook in
00:58:37the second.
00:58:38It was Sinclair's first shot at a title of any kind, and that is the same situation for Santos.
00:58:44Set for post-fight reaction for our opening bout.
00:58:47Let's go to Jim Gray in the ring.
00:58:48Jim.
00:58:49All right.
00:58:49Thank you very much, Steve.
00:58:51Harry Sharifi is a pretty tough guy.
00:58:53You couldn't put him away.
00:58:54Yes, he's a very tough guy.
00:58:56Very good fighter, good skills.
00:58:59I rate him.
00:59:00He's a good fighter.
00:59:01Were you surprised because when you talked to us before the fight, you felt you'd have very little problem?
00:59:07But really, I did have problems, but that's personal.
00:59:12Boxing, sports, and don't put it together with your personal stuff.
00:59:17Now, you had said before the fight you would like to fight Felix Trinidad.
00:59:21Do you want to stay at 160 and fight some of these guys?
00:59:24You know, to fight Trinidad for me is like a dream come true.
00:59:32You know, I really like to fight somebody who can fit my boxing style and destroy it.
00:59:39It doesn't matter if he's a double champion or what.
00:59:43He's just a human.
00:59:44You know, I really like to prove myself that I'm one of the best in the world.
00:59:48Well, Armand Crunch was the man who was the mandatory fight.
00:59:51He was the champion who was stripped.
00:59:53That'll be your next fight, correct?
00:59:56I don't know about that.
00:59:58I really don't know about that.
01:00:00I don't think Dream Sleeping, Armand Crunch.
01:00:03I just think about Trinidad.
01:00:05If not Trinidad, I'm going to go back to 54.
01:00:08Oh, you will.
01:00:08Okay.
01:00:09Well, congratulations to you on your championship.
01:00:11Thanks a lot.
01:00:12All right, Steve.
01:00:12Back to you.
01:00:13Thank you very much, Jim, as the fans now have high hopes of a hometown victory up next in our
01:00:22main event.
01:00:23And we'll check the scoring for you as Jimmy Lennon Jr. announced.
01:00:28There it is.
01:00:28Dennis Nelson.
01:00:29We'll see you next time.
01:00:29Bye-bye.
01:00:29Bye-bye.
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