A big mouth, a big mouth. There’s a rumor bein’ spread about me and the crew. About somethin’ we did or supposed to do. You might not have heard it or maybe you have, But when I first heard it all I did was laugh. I used to get angry and all uptight. But you could say what you want, just spell my name right.
Cause all I’m ever guilty of is rockin’ the house, but that’s not what the rumor was all about. And if you don’t wait until you see me again. This way I could hear it from the horses mouth, and right then and there we could straighten it out. Because I don’t get involved with he said, she said, so take my advice and quit while you’re ahead. Because one day I might not laugh, the day your mouth writes the check your behind can’t cash. (Excerpt from the hip-hop legendary song “Big Mouth” by Whodini)
Last Friday, Iron Mike Productions presented “The Pride of Pittsburgh II” at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. There were lots of pre-fight fireworks that may have caused a few of the participants to “blow their wad” before the event, or “someone may have lost body fluids before the first kiss.”
The evening before the fights, the pre-fight “festivities threatened to turn ugly as the exchange between the main event fighters, “Sensational” SAMMY VASQUEZ JR. and ANTONIO “Metraletta” MOSQUERA offered totally different predictions as to the possible outcome of the fight.
MOSQUERA: “I will beat you right here in your hometown, in front of all your fans I will knock you out and show that you are not on my level. You’re only undefeated because you’ve been fighting bums. I will show no mercy tomorrow night and I will destroy you.”
VASQUEZ JR.: “You’ve been knocked out before and you’ll be knocked out again tomorrow night. I’ve stopped my last seven opponents and you’ll be the eighth in a row. Come and get it pal.
As both men sat at the press conference table, prior to their war of words it appeared as if Mr. Mosquera had a nasty sneer on his face and exhibited unwarranted and disrespectful behavior. toward Mr. Vasquez Jr. Maybe he was trying to mask genuine fear, sort of like whistling while racing past the cemetery on the way home at 12 midnight.
Well whadda ya know? After all of that interpreter assisted chatter, Mr. Vasquez relieved Mr. Mosquera of his “faculties” midway through the first round. The only blows that I could discern that were landed by Mr. Mosquera were a few ineffective and harmless body shots.
Sammy Vasquez Jr. is a proud United States Armed Forces veteran and that happened to be very unfair because it almost appeared to the naked eye as if he hit Mr. Mosquera with a couple of “rocket propelled grenades” disguised as punches, knocking him out in the middle of the first round.
The semi headliner on the card featured local lightweights’ Monty Meza-Clay (Rankin, PA) and Rod Salka (Bunola, PA). Judging by the thundering ovation the he was given when he was introduced, there were a lot of “Salkies” in the house.
Both men fought their hearts out but Salka definitely out pointed Meza-Clay, Salka was aided by the fact that Clay received a cut over his left eye very early in the bout, hampering his effectiveness and accuracy in regards to both throwing and avoiding punches.
Throughout the bout, Meza-Clay stayed on the offensive but in the process took an enormous amount of punishment from Salka who had a decided advantage of both reach and height.
Salka won the 10 round fight by unanimous decision.
The third event from the top was middleweight Erickson Lubin from Orlando, Florida who entered his event 7-0-0 and was forced to turn on the heat after an early scare. He won his fight over Norberto Gonzalez from Monterey, TX in convincing fashion as well. With the cat like reflexes of a featherweight coupled with the power of a middleweight, look for Lubin to emerge as one of the top up and coming middleweights’ in the world.
Hey “yinz” guys’ and dolls’, Iron Mike Productions is not only “stoking” the fires of Pittsburgh boxing, he is helping to bring back “pride” in the sport in the Steel City and the surrounding region. However here is my advice, when it comes to self prophecies, sometimes it is better to keep your prognostications to yourself because if your name is not Muhammad Ali, maybe you had better put up or shut up.
Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412.583.6741 Follow him on Twitter @ultrascribe
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