Monday, August 3, 2009 - Liv Boeree
So you may have heard about a certain little boxing match that happened a few of weeks ago called “Rumble near the Rio”. This came about when Pokernews approached me with the proposal that I box their presenter, Melissa Castello. Now I have never boxed before in my life, but it has always been something that I’ve wanted to try, and as I never like to turn down a challenge, I readily accepted. It then occured to me that maybe I should do some research into Melissa and her background, as knowing me it’ll turn out she was once an MMA champion or the like. The research unveiled the fact that yes, she had fought before. Fought significantly. Apparently she’d been quite the scrapper a few years back and had been in bar fights with bottles and broken noses and god knows what else. However, by the time this had come to light the PR ball had gotten rolling and turned the fun boxing match into quite the monster with press conferences, huge blow up posters boasting our vital stats and official boxing licences! Whatever cold feet I may have tried to get were basically nowhere near enough to stop the relentless march of the match, so I resigned myself to probably getting beaten. Even more so when I heard that Melissa had been training every day with a personal boxing coach and I only managed to squeeze in three training sessions due to playing poker each day.
The day of the fight was awesome. Pokernews had set everything up really well and a surprisingly large crowd turned up to watch and cheer on each side. I’d heard rumours of betting but it took a little while until the news filtered back to me that I was apparently the favourite despite the fact she’d been training way more! I was in the blue corner and before I knew it we were touching gloves and the bell was ringing for the first round. It started really well for me, I was able to land some decent punches without her really making any contact on me at all. By the second round we were already exhausted, a minute and a half of trying to beat someone up when you’ve never done it before is exhausting! The second round went by and Melissa fought back really well and it was a close call, but the third round was a definite win for me again so I felt pretty confident when they took us into the middle and announced the winner 
. I even got a medal! The best bit however is the 100% undefeated boxing record I now have to my name… can’t argue with those stats. Ahem…
Liv
Tags: Boxing, Liv Boeree, melissa castello, MMA, PokerNews, Rumble Near the Rio
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Yes fight fans, today was the day we’ve all been waiting for, the much-ballyhoold Boeree-Castello smackdown at Barry’s Boxing Center. According to a few handicappers I spoke to Melissa was the favorite among the punters, though the late money seemed to favor Liv. As I took up a spot along the apron and waited for the combatants to make their way to the ring I tried to decide once and for all who I thought was gonna win. But I didn’t have a coin handy to flip, so I tabled the question and waited for the contest to start.
Both fighters entered the arena to the Rocky theme, which either showed both Liv and Melissa have a taste for the classics or that there was only one tape awailable. Liv entered the ring first and whatever doubts anyone might’ve had about her focus or determination were erased right then and there:
Melissa entered soon after and after the two pugilists put their headgear on and mouthpieces in PokerRoad’s Joe Stapleton introduced them to the crowd, with Melissa getting her usual rowdy reception:
And with the introductions and instructions out of the way, it was time to get it ON:
The two fighters received some training before the bout and it showed–while their pugilistic form wasn’t the match of Floyd Maywether, they weren’t flailing about either. Liv and Melissa threw straight jabs and circled each other around the ring and traded short, quick punches. According to the tape Liv has three inches and five pounds on Melissa, but I didn’t think that would factor much into the fight. But it did–it seemed like Liv got the best from most exchanges because she was able to hit with full force while Melissa’s punches were a bit beyond full extention.
If the first round was a bit of a feeling-out time, in the second it seemed that Liv established that she was a bit bigger, a bit faster, a bit stronger, and she took control of the fight. And you could see in both their eyes that this was indeed a fight–they were throwing punches with bad intentions. It’s just that most of the really telling blows were landed by Liv:
When the bell rang at the end of Round 3 it came as both a bit of a relief (no one got hurt!) and a bit of a disappointment (hey, I was enjoying that!). And when the three judges were polled and they unanimously chose Liv as the victor, it looked like she was a bit relieved as well:
And then the two fighters congratulated each other for a good show, and judging from the shouts and cheers coming from the very vocal crowed they enjoyed it too.
Liv now holds an official 1-0 amateur boxing record (today’s bout was sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission) while Melissa falls to 0-1. Just a bit more importantly, Liv won $1,000 for the Marie Curie Cancer Trust, while Melissa raised $500 for the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California.
Now if we can just get Liv into the ring with Phil Hellmuth…I’m thinking a big pay-per-view audience. Big.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, boeree castello fight, Liv Boeree, liv boeree fight, melissa castello, melissa castello fight, rumble nowhere near the rio, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop fight
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Forgive me for not mentioning this earlier but today’s the day–the day of the big bout between UltimateBet’s Liv Boeree and PokerNews’ Melissa Castello. The two will step into the ring at 2pm at Barry’s Boxing Centre at 2664 South Highland Ave and decide once and for all…whatever it is that’s going to be decided. Well, one thing for sure is we’ll know which charity will receive the $1,000 donation–either Liv’s Marie Curie Cancer Trust or Melissa’s Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California (the loser’s charity will still receive a $500 donation).
Here’s the bad news–the bout is NOT open to the public. The good news is that there will be a lot of media covering the fight, including this intrepid reporter. I’ll provide a blow-by-blow recounting of the fight and links to video coverage and whatnot so you can see for yourself what happenened when these titans collided in the ring.
Who’s going to win? Well, who knows. Though I will say that Melissa slapped my arm last night at the party and the bruise is still purpling. I don’t see the fight going in the distance, though in truth I don’t know what the scheduled distance of the contest is. Suffice to say I’ll be a most interested party when the bell rings for Round One and Liv and Melissa advance toward the center of the ring.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, hemophilia foundation of southern california, Liv Boeree, marie curie cancer trust, melissa castello, melissa castello vs liv boeree, melissa vs liv, PokerNews, rumble nowhere near the rio, ub, ultimatebet, world series of poker, WSOP
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
In boxing it’s often the weigh-in where the most entertaining action takes place. Two warriors honed to the peak of physical perfection, two outsized and overamped personalities crammed into a tiny space, two fighters pledged to destroy the other who are supposed to limit their sparring to the verbal variety…you’d expect sparks to fly.
That’s not EXACTLY what happened during yesterday’s weigh-in for the Rumble in the Rio, the bout between UltimateBet’s Liv Boeree and PokerNews’ Melissa Castello. In front of a half-dozen video cameras the two very-lightweights got on the scale and talked a bit of smack. Liv was the first to emerge from the makeshift locker room, sporting some bright-gold boxing gloves and a…well, I was gonna say a “determined” look on her face but here she’s just plain ol’ smilin’:
Perhaps because she thinks she has little to fear from Melissa, who’s three inches shorter, eight pounds lighter, and with a three-inch shorter reach. But then Liv should perhaps take not of Melissa’s combative attitude:
The two stood face-to-face, the classic staredown, before the answered a few questions. “”I’ve broken my fist and broken my nose in a fight before,” Melissa said, and knowing her I can believe it. Always unruffled, Liv looked down at Melissa and said with just the proper amount of scorn, “”I have nothing to worry about.”
There’s a good bit of action going on amongst the media on the outcome of the fight–of course as UB’s blogger I’ve had to recuse myself for ethical reasons. And, truth be told. even though I outweigh the two combatents combined I don’t think I’d wanna get in the ring with either. Let’s just hope for a good, clean fight.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Liv Boeree, melissa castello, rumble in the rio, ub, ultimatebet, world series of poker, WSOP
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Friday, June 19, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
I’m not the teasing sort, really. That said:
UltimateBet’s Liv Boeree versus PokerNews’ Melissa Castello. Boxing. Sixteen-ounce gloves, headgear, mouthpieces. I’m sure over the next 11 days I’ll be writing a bit more about the upcoming bout. But I thought I’d get the news out early.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Liv Boeree, melissa castello, rumble in the rio, ub, ultimatebet, world series of poker, WSOP
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