November 10th, in Logan, West Virigina, “Iron” Dan Crabtree is slated to face Zach Kuhn of Madison, West Virginia in a 4-round, 147lbs, Welterweight bout. The fight will be held at the SaddleRidge Club, check back for more updates.

On Thursday, October 6th, at the National P.A.L tournament held in Toledo, Ohio undefeated fighter and tourney favorite Mikayla Nebel became the victim of an egregious disqualification at the hands of longtime controversial referee Jim Quigley, of Howell, Michigan that left a bad taste in the mouth of not only Nebel and her team but nearly everyone else in attendance. From the onset, MK ( as she’s affectionately called by those who know her) established her superior size and skill advantage by utilizing good movement, tight defense and a stiff jab with Pavone attempting to find work on the inside to no avail. Halfway through the first round, referee Jim Quigley warned Mikayla for “ducking” ( slipping below the waist ), but from where SS fight writers were sitting it appeared to be a legal maneuver. When the fight resumed, Nebel began to go to work again, only to be split up by Quigley and penalized for “ducking”, this time taking a point from the Hilliard fighter to the dismay of her corner and the spectators. The fight resumes again with MK picking up where she had left off, ripping 3 and 4 punch combinations with Pavone coming forward walking into hard shots and firing looping punches of her own that seemed to miss their mark due to the impeccable defense of Nebel and in the closing moments of the round Nebel slips a punch chest level ( a seemingly perfect defensive maneuver ) only to have Quigley stop the action a third time resulting in another point being taken. When the bell sounded to bring the first round to a close Nebel returned back to her corner and began to receive instruction from her Coach and Biz Partner Russ Niggemyer, “Gotta stop her. You have to go out and knock this girl out, the fix is in!” Nebel appeared charged and more focused than ever as the second round started and moments in MK lands a solid shovel hook to the body of Pavone that sounded reminiscent of the body shot Roy Jones delivered to the ribs of Virgil Hill in their ‘98 bout in Biloxi, Mississippi. Nebel picked up steam from there as Amanda Pavone seemed to be wearing down at a rapid pace only to have Mr. Quigley stop the bout a 4th time and disqualify Nebel for “ducking” thus ending her dreams of being an Olympic hopeful. When asked for his take on the matter Coach Niggemyer said the following, ” I am appalled at what I witnessed tonight and not only because I have a vested interest in Nebel but more so because I wouldn’t want to see this happen to any fighter. Everybody in the house knows what they saw, not one of the times Quigley Mikayla for “ducking” was legitimate. Clearly the forces that be wanted Pavone to win the bout and they probably figured they could’ve robbed us on the decision but then it became evident that this fight wasn’t going to decision and so he pulled the plug altogether. What he penalized her for is as much a legal part of boxing as dribbling is to basketball. We wonder why our Olympians are getting blown out of the water by the European eastern block fighters (and really the rest of the world for that matter) when we used to set the standard and the difference is our amateurs were trained to fight like professionals which is hitting without being hit. It’s astonishing that this young womans dreams of making the Olympics have been flushed down the toilet by such and insignificant and unimportant person like Jim Quigley. What’s more alarming to me is the possibility that this man doubles as a law enforcement officer by day (not confirmed,but a trusted source overheard him in his words,”bragging” about being a cop) and anyone that could take such liberty over the future of an individual in something as serious as boxing, but a sport nonetheless scares me to think of his mentality being applied to something a lot more serious like the mean streets of America given the immense power and influence police have to affect our lives, it’s imperative those holding the badge have an ingrained sense of fairness about them and I just didn’t get that impression from Mr. Quigley and having done my own research I found a newpaper article from 1991 about how Mr. Quigley disqualified a two-time National Champion from an Olympic qualifier ( of which Oscar De La Hoya competed) in Los Angeles, so evidently this man has been doing this for quite sometime. Ironically this incident happened the year Mikayla Nebel was born. I want it to be known we weren’t the only people that were wronged (understatement!) in this tournament, Mr. Quigley also double disqualified two fighters for innocently fighting after the bell sounded which is very easy to do when there is three rings going on at one time. The one boxer in particular I believe was from New York and they had paid $150/a night for lodging and had to stay from Saturday, Oct. 1st until his first bout on thursday Oct. 6th only to be sent home empty handed and in this economy, in my opinion these actions are inexcusable. But if there is one thing you can count on, is me putting forth maximum effort in bringing this ugly incident to the light. Stand for something or fall for anything.” Nebel had the following to say on her disqualification loss, ” It was truly devasting for me to train so hard and dedicate years to this great sport to have it all taken from me based on some back door deal or some political agenda that I’m unaware of but let me tell you, I’m undefeated, nobodys even come close to beating me, I’m on a whole different level than these girls and no offense to Amanda Pavone, she seemed like a nice enough gal, but she knows as well as I do, that this is the hurt business, I’ve stopped my last two opponents, and I had every intention on making her the third especially when I knew I was down on the score card so much because of the infractions. I fully intended to not only stop her, but to physically and actually knock her out but hey I’m a big girl and my futures bright regardless. Last weekend I was rubbing elbows in Atlantic City with the likes of Lou Dibella , Joe Quiambao , Emanuel Steward, Sergio Martinez , and Kevin Rooney to name just a few people I have the privilige to interact with and/or do business with. People are taking notice of me and I refuse to let this set back hold me down. Back to training.” What differeciante SS fight writers from say FightNews writers is not only the fact that our writers are all or have been competitive fighters that enables them to provide a unique and expert opinion on the action and high drama that unfolds in and out of the ring but also that we ask our readers to never simply take our word for it we almost always, when possible, provide footage of the bouts in question so you can judge for yourself. The cameras do not lie, people however do.

October 1st, 2011, BoardWalk Hall , Atlantic City , New Jersey , WBC Middleweight Diamond belt holder and universally recognized World’s best middleweight Sergio Martinez – Buenos Aires, Argentina needed 11 rounds to KO the undefeated European middleweight Champion “Dazzling” Darren Barker (23(14KO)-1)-London,England. Barker’s style and tight defense seemed to give the Argentine trouble early, but Martinez was able to make the necessary adjustments to break Barker down over the stretch, finishing him with a right hook placed perfectly behind the left ear of Barker, time was 1:29. In the co-main event, Andy “the Limerick assassin” Lee avenged the only loss of his stellar professional career with a one sided 10-round schooling of the awkward and always dangerous Brian Vera of Austin, Texas. Lee used his superior right jab and crisp hard straight lefts to keep his rival at bay and whenever Vera was able to close the distance Lee would stop him dead in his tracks with either a left uppercut or sharp right hook throwing the texas brawler off balance. All in all Vera definitely came to fight as expected. However a replay of their 2008 encounter was not to be. Lee improves to (27(19KO)-1) and Vera falls to (19-5). In a 6-round special attraction Russ Niggemyer (2(2KO)-3) of Hilliard, Ohio dropped a 6 round decision to White Plains, New York and West Pointe grad Boyd Melson (6(3KO)-0). Niggemyer used his superior size and strength advantage, coupled with slick boxing to give the former amateur stand out/Olympic alternate problems from the on set. Melson seemed to have trouble engaging the larger fighter with anything meaningful until about round 5 when Niggemyer appeared to tire. Melson had his moments through-out and apparently was enough to keep the Captain from getting his first loss near his Hometown. We had a chance to interview Niggemyer after the fight, here’s what he had to say , “I took the fight on 2 weeks notice as fighting on a Dibella Entertainment and World Championship undercard was an opportunity I wouldn’t have missed for anything! I had to make 154 lbs , which is probably 2 divisions below my ideal fight weight and I was battling a head cold so severe the ring doctor threatened to stop my fight because I was “visibly breathing hard”. The ref even came to my corner in between rounds and stated his was amazed I been medically cleared to fight. When you take all of that into account, plus factor in the world class opponent in front of me, I cannot be entirely upset with my performance.” We had asked what he thought about his first 6-round bout and he stated “Again, I was really worried about my conditioning due to the weight loss and sinus infection. Whenever I would land my combos, it seemed that I had him in trouble but then I would second guess myself by letting him off the hook in fear I would gas out. It was a great experience, besides losing (that’s never good) maybe I’ll get the rematch, I doubt it though, but Boyd’s a stand up gentlemen and he knows I wasn’t beaten by no means. I’m still waiting on the film footage to surface, as I’ve not seen the fight to critique myself. I’ll keep my finger crossed that it turns up though! Sorry to disappoint my supporters, but I’m not going anywhere and look forward to a long and prosperous career. I took a few losses this year, that’s okay, sometimes you have to lose to know how to win and I’m about to catch fire!”

Sergio Martinez vs Darren Barker Weigh Ins, Part 1

Sergio Martinez vs Darren Barker Weigh Ins, Part 2

October 1st – 8th , 2011, The 37th Annual National Police Athletic League tournament will be held this year in Toledo , Ohio. J’juan “Don Juan” Hamilton ( 132lb , 15, 40 fights ) and Mikayla “Too Slick” Nebel ( 119lb , 20 , 4 fights ) will be representing Sweet Science in the tournament. Stay tuned for results.

October 1st , 2011-Atlantic City, New Jersey , Russ Niggemyer (2(2KO)-3) will be taking on Boyd Melson (5 (3KO)-0) in a 6 round junior middleweight bout on the undercard of Sergio Martinez vs Darrin Barker. When asked about his preparation Niggemyer said the following, ” I took the fight on somewhat short notice( 2 1/2 weeks) so I’m training very hard to be at my best, to take advantage of this incredible opportunity. Fighting on a Dibella card and on the undercard of Sergio Martinez in Atlantic City is big time boxing at its best and I’m grateful. All Praise to the Most High! ” Be sure to tune in to HBO October 1st for the Sergio Martinez vs Darrin Barker fight !