Michael Reyes: I Got the No 1 Most Ducked Kid From Argentina
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Michael Woods
Michael Reyes sounded only mildly frustrated. He wasn’t really perturbed, he admitted, because he thought it quite possible that his kid Rodrigo Coria would not be accepted as a foe to up ’n coming 154 pounder Callum Walsh for a November gig.
“I got the most ducked kid from Argentina, Woodsy,” the Boston-based promoter told me over the weekend, after learning that yes, Callum Walsh (8-0, 7 KOs; age 22; from Cork, Ireland; southpaw) would not be fighting the 12-5 Coria, who holds the WBO Latino 154 strap, not for his next fight, anyway.
“Yeah, Rodi’s barely in the top 100, he’s smaller than Callum. But anyway…” Reyes’ voice trailed off. “From 147 to 154, he is somebody who nobody wants to fight.”
Michael Reyes asked the lefty Coria, a 24-year-old Argentine who is living and training in Marblehead, Mass, how he felt about it.
Rodrigo Coria and his promoter, Michael Reyes, happy about winning the WBO title
No, Rodrigo Corria, You Won't Be Fighting Callum Walsh Next
Rodrigo: “I’m ready to fight the best US has to offer,” he told NYF. “The US has best fighters, I want to showcase skills, I am a great fighter.”
No, he said, he wasn’t wicked frustrated, to use the Masshole parlance.
Him and Michael Reyes both know that he’s just 24, as long as he keeps staying focused, wanting to get better, larger opportunities will come. “I trust Reyes and the team. I train as hard as anyone in the game, so I will keep working.”
Rodrigo Coria To Top Reyes Boxing Promotions' next card, Saturday, Oct. 28, in Lowell, Mass.
“Yep, Rodi is definitely headlining,” Michael Reyes stated, now clicking in to what might be, not what might have been mode. “That WBO title will be up for grabs.” That title got taken off 12-0 Marco Garcia on 8-18-23.
I went back to Coria, seeing how he’s adjusting to the new locale.
Michael Reyes Contender Speaks on North Shore
Poor kid, Massholes during Patriots season, it can be harrowing for someone who didn’t grow up with a Tom Brady shrine….
“Marblehead, I love it, the “North Shore,” Coria said. “The sparring is good! I’ve enjoyed getting out, some. I’ve been to New York, Miami, Atlanta…and I like Marblehead. The culture is different.”
I noted that it can’t be easy leaving good friends and fam in Argentina…
“Yes, it’s out of my comfort zone,” Coria continued. “I’m here so I can focus, be in the zone. At home (Cordoba, Argentina) I have family, my girlfriend, etc.” He will post pics and videos here, he said, to help keep in touch with them.
So Coria went off, to do road work. Michael Reyes kept working, promoting his guy. He could have been offering reasons why Coria would be a good clash for Walsh, but instead, his take serves as a reason to keep an eye on a guy with a modest record which doesn’t indicate his actual skill set.
“He’s been on ESPN, proven it against Brian Norman, and the Pete Dobson fight, he was robbed,” Reyes shared.
“So, his time will come.”
And his time to chat ended there.
Michael Reyes said he was working on something for his heavyweight, Michael Hunter, who has been looking to shut up Andy Ruiz.
Ruiz has been incessantly lobbying for a marquee bout, despite a large portion of the fandom who thinks he's squandered his leverage after hitting the jackpot on the night of his life, against Anthony Joshua.
“Gotta work on the October 28 Down and Dirty card, Woodsy,” Michael Reyes said, signing off.
Founder/editor Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the then-impregnable Mike Tyson.
The Brooklyn-based journalist has covered the sport since for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, Bad Left Hook and RING. His journalism career started with NY Newsday in 1999.
Michael Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live, since 2017.