Sun-Sentinel.com, FL
Sharon Robb
Miranda sick of waiting
Published September 17, 2006
Colombian middleweight Edison Miranda of Hollywood-based Warriors
Boxing was forced to wait an extra month for Saturday night’s title
fight and admittedly was getting a little "antsy" at his Puerto Rico
training camp.
Miranda, 25, (26-0, 23 KOs) was originally scheduled to fight Armenian
Arthur Abraham (21-0, 17 KOs) on Aug. 26, but a cold forced Abraham to
postpone the fight.
Abraham is healthy now and will defend his IBF middleweight title
Saturday night at Rittal Arena in Wetzlar, Germany.
Miranda left last week with his managers, Hollywood businessmen Steve
Benbasat and Greg Wantman and trainer Jose Bonilla to acclimate to
what’s expected to be hostile surroundings.
"I hope the medications he keeps referring to helped his cold and will
let him step into the ring like a man," Miranda said. "If I caught a
cold or even the flu, I am going in that ring and knocking him out.
"This extra time has made me an even more dangerous fighter. If he
thinks he was sick for the first fight just wait until Saturday."
INSIDE THE ROPES
The WBO elevated Russian Sultan Ibragimov of Hallandale Beach to the
No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger to fight WBO heavyweight
champion Sergei Liakhovich. Ibragimov (19-0-1, 16 KOs), a 2000 Olympic
silver medalist, most recently drew record ratings on ESPN2 while
battling to a controversial draw with fellow contender Ray Austin in
July at Seminole Hard Rock Live …
Another Warriors fighter, former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall
(48-9, 35 KOs) stopped Darroll Wilson (27-9-2, 21 KOs) 40 seconds into
the fourth round Saturday night at Louisville. McCall floored Wilson
in the second round and wobbled him again in the fourth round before
the fight was stopped. McCall, the WBC’s No. 5 contender, picked up
the vacant WBC Fecarbox title. … Another local heavyweight
contender, Shannon Briggs (47-4-1, 41 KOs) of Pembroke Pines, will
fight Liakhovich (23-1, 14 KOs) for the WBO title on Nov. 4 at Chase
Field in Phoenix. The card will be announced Monday at a Don
King-hosted news conference at Phoenix. "I am going to knock out
Liakhovich and then I intend to knock out Oleg Maskaev [WBC], Nikolai
Valuev [WBA] and Wladimir Klitschko [IBF] and take back all the
heavyweight championships of the world," Briggs said. … After a
20-year hiatus, Key West’s Mallory Square and promoter Richard Dobal
will stage his second pro card in four months at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Nigerian middleweight Eromosele Albert of Miami heads the
card. … October is a busy month for pro shows. Randall Bailey of
Fort Lauderdale Contenders Gym is the main event on the Oct. 13
Warrior’s Boxing card at the Hard Rock. The former two-time world
champion will fight former lightweight champion Cesar Bazan. The
following night Puerto Rican Kermit Cintron (26-1-0, 24 KOs) and Mark
Suarez (25-2-0, 13 KOs) will fight for the vacant IBF welterweight
title at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm
Beach. …
WBC middleweight champion Yvonne Reis of Dania Beach and Michelle
Linden of Deerfield Beach will be part of a historical all-woman
boxing card at Nairobi, Kenya on Dec. 2. Reis will fight Leaticia
Robinson for the WIBF world title at 160 pounds. The card features
five U.S. boxers against some of Africa’s top boxers.
Sharon Robb can be reached at [email protected].