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10/16/2008 Archived Entry: "Hasegawa-Valdez Title Fight Stopped Early!"
Hasegawa-Valdez Title Fight Stopped Early
Team Valdez provides fight fans with tape
Press Release
LOS ANGELES, October 16, 2008 -- World ranked bantamweight Alex Valdez and his team are furious at the decision over referee Mike Griffin’s decision to stop his title fight in the second round against World Boxing Council champion Hozumi Hasegawa in Tokyo, Japan today.
“Alex won the first round with his aggression, in the second round at about the two minute mark he gets hit behind the head by Hasegawa and tumbles against the ropes. He’s up at the count of eight without a problem, Hasegawa flurries and Griffin stops the fight. It was too early and fans can look at the tape and judge for themselves, said Frank Espinoza, manager of Alex Valdez.
At the time of the stoppage, 2:41 of the round, Valdez can clearly be seen moving off them ropes to avoid Hasegawa's flurry of punches, few of which hit the mark, none of which hurt the Mexican.
Fight fans can view Round 2 from this Youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMOHNHnh1Dg
Continued Espinoza “Fans and fighters deserve better than this. It’s very rare to see a world title fight stopped in this manner. Hasegawa is the # 1 ranked bantamweight in the world, if he can beat my guy that’s one thing but let them fight. If this stoppage had happened in Mexico or Los Angeles or Las Vegas , the fans and writers would have thought it was way too early.
I’m going to explore my options and may file a protest with the WBC to have a rematch here in the States. World title fights are not club four rounders. What if they had stopped one of Israel ’s fights against Marquez like this or the first Corrales/Castillo fight? Alex is a warrior and frankly he’s embarrassed to have the fight end like this.
I’m also concerned about the choice of referee Mike Griffin. Why didn’t they use Kenny Bayless, Vic Drakulich or Toby Gibson? They’re all very solid Nevada refs who have done Hasegawa fights recently in Japan. There’s no card in Nevada this week.
Why choose a guy with little experience in big fights who had never refereed a fight with either guy before? The one recent big fight he did have was the Mijares destruction of Arce last year. He let Arce take a frightful beating for the last two rounds.. My guy catches a couple of flurry shots and the fight is over like that?”
About a rematch, Espinoza said, “In Nevada or California absolutely. Let Keith Kizer or Armando Garcia choose the ref and we’ll be there.”
The ESPINOZA BOXING CLUB was started in 1991 by Los Angeles area businessman Frank Espinoza. Espinoza has earned numerous accolades for his management skills from many boxing newspaper and internet writers.
In 2006, Espinoza was awarded the Manager of the Year award from the World Boxing Hall of Fame and inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame.
In the September 2008 issue of Ring Magazine, Espinoza was praised for his outstanding handling of the career of junior featherweight world champion and “Pound for Pound” superstar Israel “EL MAGNIFICO” Vazquez.
Vazquez is currently ranked on numerous Pound for Pound lists including # 4 by Yahoo Sports, # 5 by Ring Magazine and # 7 by ESPN.
Espinoza also has managed retired former world champion Martin “EL GALLITO” Castillo and currently manages world ranked Alex Valdez and Miguel “EL ANESTESISTA” Huerta in addition to undefeated prospects Manuel “SUAVECITO” Roman, Jesus “POLLO” Hernandez, Luis Ramos, Carlos Molina, Abraham Lopez and Ronny Rios.
