Gurela Wins!

Photos : Mary Ann Owen
Olivia ” The Predator” Gerula won a 10 round majority decision against WBC Interim Champion Myriam Chomaz to unfy the WBC super feather weight title

Gerula & Chomaz went went toe to toe almost every round with Gerula winning most of the exchanges. Chomaz had swelling under the right eye and a big bruise on the left cheek. Gerula did not have any noticable abrasions.
Most ringside observers that the figt was not as close as the scores indicated, 95-95 , 96-94, 97-93

Togashi & Toda

Holm/Hernandez, 12/04/09

“The World Boxing Council was shocked to learn that the mandatory elimination bout in New Mexico on December 4 between Holly Holm (USA) and Melissa Hernandez (PR), did not happen due to the decision by Mellisa  Hernandez not to participate in the main event at the last minute. This is a total lack of respect to her opponent, the promoter of the event Lenny Fresquez, the rules and regulations of the WBC and the local commission, and of course the fans of boxing who paid to watch this event . The WBC accepted no sanctioning fee for this event.

Given her outstanding record, the situation, and the fact she was a former WBC Champion, the WBC is appointing Holly Holm as the mandatory contender for the WBC Welterweight Championship of the World, due to this unfortunate turn of events. Further the WBC will suspend Hernandez from the ratings of the WBC, and from challenging for any WBC related championship, pending a full and timely investigation of all the facts  and direct statements from miss Hernandez . The WBC, its President Jose Sulaiman, and the WBC Female Championships Committee is fully committed to fairness in boxing, and is saddened by this terrible situation, and will work very hard to resolve this issue.”
Ed Pearson
Chairman
WBC Female Championships Committee

Francisco Rodriguez: RIP

The slide show of Francisco “Paco” Rodriguez’s triumphs showed the glory of boxing. That the photos were on display next to his casket was a jarring reminder of the sport’s dangers.

In addition to grieving relatives, a steady stream of current and former boxers arrived at a Forest Park funeral home Monday to honor Rodriguez, a popular Chicago boxer known as “Kid Aztec,” who died last week at age 25 from injuries suffered in a bout in Philadelphia.

In the process of mourning, the boxers were forced to confront their own mortality and the sometimes brutal nature of a sport they love.

Louis Mateo, who fought against Rodriguez’s father and now works as a trainer, said every fighter realizes the risks of entering the ring. Even with Rodriguez’s death, Mateo said he would not hesitate to let his 14-year-old son, Louis Jr., continue in the sport.

“For me to see my son in the streets, with gangbangers, with drugs, I prefer to see him doing something right,” Mateo said. “If something is going to happen, it’s going to happen. I know that you could go home after a fight, lay down and — boom — you’re dead.”

Officials with the state’s boxing commission said they could not recall the last fatality in the state — Tribune accounts point to a fight in the 1940s — and only a handful of boxers die nationwide each year. But nearly every mourner from the local boxing scene seemed to know someone who had been badly injured. Just weeks earlier, local boxer Rita Figueroa had to undergo emergency brain surgery after a fight at the UIC Pavilion.

Fres Oquendo, a local heavyweight who once fought Evander Holyfield, joined other boxers in expressing respect for Rodriguez’s reputation as a “warrior.”

But he recognized that a lesser fighter would have likely succumbed before the final fatal punches.

“Francisco might have had too much heart for his own good,” said Oquendo, who trained with the Rodriguez family at a Hamlin Park boxing club.

The visitation drew not only boxers but referees, trainers, promoters and other figures from Chicago’s boxing scene.

Many knew Rodriguez’s father and trainer, Evaristo Sr., and brother Evaristo Jr., himself a national Golden Gloves champion

“Boxing is a one-man sport. It isn’t a team sport. So each and every fighter supports the other fighters from our community. When a tragedy like this happens, we take it to heart,” Oquendo said.

Many of the Mexican-American Rodriguez’s relatives wore T-shirts that showed an indigenous Mexican warrior representing “Kid Aztec.” Next to the casket was a red flower arrangement shaped like a boxing glove.

Rodriguez’s funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Chicago.

Jorge Pacheco, a former boxer and now a state boxing inspector, said he was sensitive to outside criticism that Rodriguez’s death illustrated the inherent savagery of the sport. The Chicago-based American Medical Association, for example, wants boxing banned.

“We’re not going to stop doing something that we love, but we can try to make it safer, make it better,” said Pacheco, who has known Rodriguez since he was a child.

Still, even defenders of the sport like Pacheco couldn’t help but be shaken up by Rodriguez’s death.

Pacheco’s own 4-year-old son is fascinated with the sport and occasionally joins him at the gym. Just a few weeks ago, Pacheco assumed he’d be the third generation in his family to pursue the sport.

“Now, I don’t know. It might end with me,” Pacheco said. “It takes a tragedy like this, sometimes, to open your eyes.”

oavila@tribune.com