January 13th, 2010
The toughest man in the building sat just a few short feet from the action. Late in last Saturday’s Caged Madness show he carefully walked up the steps and entered the cage. The sold out crowd watched as the man hoisted a title belt over his head. The man clearly wasn’t a cage fighter but he definitely was a fighter. He was a United States Marine, Lieutenant Charles McIntosh. I won’t even try to use words to describe the previous heroics of the injured Purple Heart recipient. I will say all of us were honored when he presented Nate Mango with the Caged Madness 145 pound title belt after Mango was successful in his first title defense. Mango improved to 8-2 after again displaying his earth shattering power. Previously undefeated Adam Bogle hurt Mango with his own powerful shots but could not withstand Mango’s pulverizing right-hand. The very talented Bogle appeared unsteady several minutes after the bout after suffering his first loss in dramatic fashion.
In the main event of the evening Akron’s Keith Shinn dominated a gutsy Nicholas Bell. Bell refused to be intimidated by Shinn and his frenzy of backers but was unable to avoid Shinn’s takedowns. The overwhelmed Bell tapped due to strikes which lead to a YouTube worthy stoppage by referee Jerry Krys.
Check back soon for info on the Caged Madness 14 DVD which includes 15 bouts that repeatedly brought the packed house to their feet including one of the most bizarre moments in Explosive Fight Promotions history.
Dates for the next Caged Madness and Pro boxing events will be announced next week!
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December 12th, 2009
As I attempted to mastermind a scheme to obtain freshly made Christmas cookies I was suddenly distracted by an email. It appeared to be from my 170 pound champion Travis Soto who will be defending his title on January 9th. I copy and pasted the completely unsolicited email exactly how it was received including any misspelled words below.
Subject: Ricky Sandlin catchin some z’s
Message: Just to let you know,im training harder,longer,stronger,and more than i ever have.Thats my title and anyone who wants it is goin to have to deal with the sledge hammers im sendin thier way. Sandlin does not have the power to hurt me or the chin for the power i am bringin. Thank you for the opportunity to defend my title and i do not consider myself to be a true champion until i do so. God bless
I’m confident Ricky will have a response in my next blog. I’m even more confident both guys will be ready to make a real statement January 9th in the cage.
(The wife made sure I never did get the Christmas cookies)
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November 24th, 2009
After a brief hiatus I’m back with my sometimes weekly blog (it was supposed to be weekly). Back by popular demand I am pleased to announce that we will kick off 2010 with a blockbuster Caged Madness 14 show on January 9th. The event will be taped for TV and take place at Pronio’s Sports, located at 2420 Wedgewood Dr. in Akron. We anticipate 15 competitive fights in the steel cage along with the unique ring announcing (actually cage announcing) of WNIRs Bob Early. More details on the event will be announced soon.
As the most multi-faceted sports promotion in the area, I must tip my hand and hint towards the return of Butterbean Conqueror, George “The Terminator” Linberger to the squared circle. Explosive Fight Promotions is in the preliminary stages of putting together a boxing event in Kentucky, featuring the Summit County Hall of Fame inductee, Linberger. A separate bout will feature the power punching Jason Freeman. As I write this I just heard Jimmy Kimmel say that NBA tough-guy, Ron Artest is looking to get into professional boxing. If he does I gladly will offer the invite for Artest to come down and get in the ring with me. If Artest accepts and I lose to him, I will eat my left boxing shoe (with my choice of condiments of course).
For those interested in participating in MMA, Team Vander from nearby Dover, Ohio will be hosting an MMA seminar on December 12th. Several top trainers will be on hand to instruct people of all ages. All proceeds from the event will go towards area youth boxing and Team Vander for training equipment. Dover is conveniently located off I-77, south of Canton. For more info contact Jason Freeman at 330-477-3370.
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November 2nd, 2009
Akron Police Officer Keith Shinn kept his undefeated record intact while his frenzy of backers nearly blew the roof off the building. The packed house of mostly Shinn fans were treated to the hometown kid winning the main event over a very game Carl Webb. Shinn’s win came via 1st round submission.
In the co-main event firefighter Brian Krebs was narrowly edged in a majority decision by Jesse Maloy. Krebs who also had a huge fan base in attendance dominated the 3rd round but came up shy on the scorecards. Maloy impressed on the ground winning the first two rounds and ultimately the 3 round contest.
Several others fighters stood out including Aurora Ohio’s Tommy Deroia who dominated a heavily muscled Eric Patray at 205 pounds.
Adam Bogle impressed at 145 pounds and appears ready to challenge for a title while
Jesus Santiago won the Bloodbath Of The Night Award. The standup slugfest with Josh Farley was almost hard to watch as both guys continuously landed big shots. Santiago got the better of the onslaught forcing referee Rich Fike to step in. The battered Farley showed heart and wanted to continue.
The biggest event of the night was going on outside of the cage as a community came together led by Brian Krebs to raise money for a young cancer victim named Shelly. Some of her pictures were on display at the event as several people worked to raise money in support of Shelly knocking out cancer.
Explosivefightpromotions.com
Posted in October | Comments Off
November 2nd, 2009
With an incredibly high level of interest we are doing everything we can to make this the best show of the year. We secured some of the toughest fighters from PA, NY, WV and of course the hometown boys. The event is featuring an unbelievably popular police officer as well as a fireman raising money with ticket sales for a cancer victim. We have several quality people competing in addition to a cop versus a convicted felon.
Those of you that were concerned about the guys that didn’t show at the last event I can happily report that they are fine. One kid said he got ran over by a tractor, another’s mom died again and it wasn’t actually the Swine Flu as originally reported by the other missing combatants. The mom that died twice. She is okay!
For more info checkout www.explosivefightpromotions.com
Tags: Caged Madness, Caged Mdness 13, Danon Svab, MMA
Posted in October | Comments Off
November 2nd, 2009
Posted in September | Comments Off
November 2nd, 2009
Hours before my scheduled MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) a Medina Ohio based imaging center sent me to a local hospital to have my eyes x-rayed. Weird. Apparently if there is any metal behind your eyes the strong magnetism when getting an MRI could do serious eye damage. My eyes were cleared for the MRI and after the mental challenge of not moving at all for 45 minutes while confined in a white tunnel I could see the images from inside my neck. The images were unrecognizable to my virgin MRI scan reading eyes but were helpful of course allowing my physician to see inside my neck. As I looked at the complexity of the images I thought to myself how intriguing it would be if we could see inside athletes minds and hearts. Not their actual brain and heart but some sort of reading on why they are the way they are. Imagine if we could see why the late legendary boxer Arturo Gatti fought despite being a millionaire many times with an immeasurable amount of heart while suffering such a severe amount of trauma in his off the charts boxing career. Imagine if we could see why some guys that throw a baseball 95 mph are collecting unemployment checks while other guys that rarely ever hit 90 mph hit the baseball lottery. Imagine if we could see why a great motivator such as Vince Lombardi always seemed to be motivated. “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” This is one of his quotes that still inspires the exhausted athlete that reads the words on a poster hanging in an area gym. The man still motivates years after his passing. Imagine if you had a financial interest in a particular player and there was a way you could tell if a guy would work his tail off to be the best and refuse to be denied. You could spot the guys early that have a ton of talent but little will to win. MVP 2ND baseman Dustin Pedroia is a great example.( ex of 2 sentences ago) Somehow a pro scout gave the 5-9 165 lb Pedroia a shot despite looking like a guy that would fall down if you bumped into him. Love him or hate him you have to respect his will to succeed. Obviously he wasn’t overly blessed physically but he was arguably overly blessed with guts and determination. Much like competitors scheduled to compete at Caged Madness 11 August 30th in Akron Ohio. Some guys undoubtedly will quit too soon. For the special ones a skilled referee will have to stop the action to protect the fighters who seemingly refuse to quit. When you see an exhausted, bloodied combatant show an indescribable amount of effort remember you are witnessing something special. You are seeing what the man (or woman) is made of. What’s inside.
Explosivefightpromotions.com
Posted in August | Comments Off
November 2nd, 2009
Go all-out. This was the title of one of my daily emails I receive from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. On this particular dreary northeast Ohio morning I was intrigued by the short story that followed. It was written by a young man that was entering his Freshman year of high school. This young man described how his football team had never won a game and even failed to score a point in one of the winless seasons. He described how he always went all-out in practice and games despite their continuous losing efforts. Finally in his last game in middle school his team actually won a game 64-0. He compared it to winning the Super Bowl. The young man referenced Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men.” I couldn’t help but think what if I had that attitude throughout. What if I always went all-out training for a fight? I then thought back to a retired amateur boxer who now is a well respected lawyer. The lawyer stopped in the gym one day and regretfully told me that if he could do it all over again he would go all-out in the gym. He continued that the guy that is in better shape often wins even if he has less talent. Looking back that seems to be in general an accurate statement. I guess the moral of my story to the fighters and to everybody in life is to be passionate always about what you do. Go all-out leaving no regrets. A fighter that just kind of goes through the motions training and never reaches his full potential will be haunted by that horrible “what if” feeling forever. Its kind of like a buddy of mine who is young entrepreneur that has a valuable idea but doesn’t use it. Without using that valuable idea it becomes worthless.
Upcoming events:
Aug 1st Crowtown Throwdown 2 in Coshocton
Aug 30th Caged Madness 11 in Akron
September 19 Caged Madness 12 in Akron
EXPLOSIVEFIGHTPROMOTIONS.COM
Posted in July | Comments Off
November 2nd, 2009
With a packed vociferous crowd chanting “RJ” Throughout the main event Saturday night the hometown favorite RJ Buck defeated Pennsylvania’s very game Matt Beitz. Buck valiantly fought with a broken nose and blood soaked face throughout. At the fights dramatic conclusion the crowd erupted as Buck excitedly raised his arms in victory. The win gives the undefeated Buck the 145 pound Caged Madness Title.
In the 170 pound title match Jason Freeman trained Travis Soto knocked out a very tough Wayne Lauvray. Unfortunately at the conclusion of this fight the raucous crowd exchanging pleasantries nearly over shadowed an impressive Soto victory. Fortunately after the Athletic Commission threatened to cancel the rest of the show we were able to get control of the jubilant fans.
Tyler Walker was the third Caged Madness champion crowned on Saturday by impressively defeating top area 135 pounder Adam Saal in a highly skilled contest.
We had 18 action packed fights with extremely positive customer feedback. I want to again congratulate our new champs RJ Buck, Travis Soto and Tyler Walker.
Also I would like to extend congratulations to Joey Hill for an impressive 3rd round win in his MMA debut. Hill who has had some legal troubles will continue to get my support as we focus on helping him reach his potential in the cage and out.
Posted in June | Comments Off
November 2nd, 2009
With just over two weeks remaining until the 10th installment of the wildly popular Caged Madness series the fighters appear to be training harder than ever before. With up to 20 fights scheduled including three EFP title matches we are expecting our best show to date. In general my conversations are usually short and business like with the fighters. Unlike previous shows many of the competitors have been adamant about how hard they are training. For example one fighter feels the need to text me every morning letting me know he is on his way to swim, run, and lift weights prior to his normal work day. One of the PA fighters was chopping down a tree with an axe when I called to inform him who his opponent would be. (it was a dead tree/ I asked) I’m sure we will have some “tough guys” that barely train and hop in the cage and get smashed. I’m just not sure who because everybody seems to be ready for high level action.
Tickets for the June 27th event can be reserved by calling 330-958-2233 or by email at dsvab@explosivefightpromotions.com. Chapperells is located at 2418 S. Arlington Rd Akron Oh 44319.
http://www.explosivefightpromotions.com/
Posted in June | Comments Off
