MAXBOXING.COM

(This is an excerpt)

MON JUN 21 2010 -- As most of you know, I attended my first "Super Six" fight this weekend, which was held at The Oracle in Oakland, between hometown favorite Andre Ward and Allan Green- who was called out of the bullpen for Jermain Taylor. Like I have in the past, I flew in the day of the event and then headed back home in the early morning.

Here’s what took place this past weekend...

2:21 PM: I land in San Jose (another city with a better airport than Los Angeles) and I’m picked up by Darryl- AKA one of the guys who is the all-time Juan Manuel Marquez fan- and we start making our way. I hadn’t seen Darryl or his running mate, Kirk, since the Marquez-Mayweather fight in September. Kirk, unfortunately, would not be joining us, as he is back home in Arizona.

3:08 PM: Before we get up to Oakland, we hit the "Undisputed Boxing Gym," which is on the way in San Carlos. I’m there to meet up with "The Filipino Flash," Nonito Donaire, who faces Hernan "Tyson" Marquez on July 10th on Showtime and Victor Conte, whose SNAC offices are right down the street. Conte greets us outside. For all the times we’ve talked on the phone, I had never met him in person. Outside the gym is a van that advertises the gym and Donaire in bright, gaudy colors. You couldn’t miss it if you tried.

This "Undisputed Boxing Gym" is one of the best facilities I have ever seen. It’s a large, expansive building with rooms for MMA, martial arts and, of course, boxing. This is now Donaire’s home gym. As I walk in, I see a group of fighters doing abdominal work. This crew includes Donaire, Steven Luevano and their trainer, Robert Garcia. Nearest them is Donaire’s wife, Rachel, who is taking care of their puppy- I guess you can consider this their first child.

Undefeated World Light Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Brian “The Mad Stork” Schwartz (18-0) will step in the cage for the first time in his 16-year professional fighting career to face Lemont Davis (8-4) in a 175 lb. limit matchup during the Strikeforce “Four Men Enter, One Man Survives” mixed martial arts mega-card at San Jose’s HP Pavilion on Friday, November 16th.

“I’m really loving training right now, which is good, because, at the end of my (kickboxing) career, I was a little burnt out and wasn’t training like I should. Since I’ve been back, though, I just got that fire again,” said the 33-year-old Schwartz, who originally closed the book on his fight career after stopping New York’s Michael Corleone in the fifth round of their kickboxing matchup in San Jose on October 21, 2005.

According to the 6 foot 3 inch Foster City, California native, it was watching a number of young mixed martial arts contenders at work in Schwartz’s new Undisputed Boxing Gym that inspired him to take on a new challenge in the world’s fastest growing sport. “I’m training hard in the gym and my road work has been really good,” he said. “Everything it should be like when you train is happening for me right now.”

Opting to teach, he faces one more bout before bowing out

Friday, October 14, 2005 - In the world of professional kickboxers, Brian "The Mad Stork" Schwartz is somewhat of an anomaly. For one thing, the 6-foot-3 fighter's career nearly never happened. When he started martial arts training at age 6, he was one of the most uncoordinated students in the class. Plus, he admits to drinking his share of soda pop on a daily basis -- something he laughs about when admitting it is not healthy. He cuts back to a can a day when training for a bout so he can get to his 172-pound fighting weight.

Through the years, Schwartz, who grew up in a middle-class Jewish household in Foster City, persevered and eventually became so good that he toured the world as part of the U.S. karate team.

In 1999, after years of martial arts training, Schwartz took up professional kickboxing. The plan, he says, was to have just one fight. After he knocked out Ricardo Miranda in the first round, he upped it to five, and then 10. Before too long, the wiry boxer was fighting matches in venues such as Bellagio and the Mirage in Las Vegas. Last November, he took the super middleweight belt from four-time world champion Tom "The Bee" Bottone, after winning a match at San Jose's Civic Auditorium, and in June, Schwartz defended the title against Peter Kaljevic (91-28-3 with 46 knockouts), a six-time champ from New York City.

Oakland Tribune, Oct 11, 2006

SAN CARLOS -- Inside Undisputed Boxing Gym, women squeeze 10- pound medicine balls between their legs while holding another over their heads in an attempt to bring the two together. Abs and legs burning, sweat dripping off their brows, they struggle and force their bodies through dozens of push-ups, squats and finally what they came for -- boxing.

And after an hour and a half on a warm Monday night, they are winded and slumped over, but oddly enough, psyched. "I can't make it through the class without resting," said Michele Regalado, a 47-year-old from Belmont. "It's such a challenge, but it's so good."

Boxing has traditionally been associated with men such as Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, but just like rugby, women are starting to pick it up -- in droves. Bright and sleek on Industrial Road, Undisputed Boxing Gym's facilities belie the grimy, dimly lit stereotype of a testosterone- dominated boxing gym. The gym has two boxing rings, speed bags and punching bags suspended from the ceiling, but the intimidating, seedy side of the violent sport is softened. Those who take the classes wrap their hands and wrists and put on gloves, just like a fighter. But instead of a person, their opponent is a faceless moving bag.