Vicente Escobedo, John Molina, Dominic Salcido: Trio he’s ready to fight!
Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis (8-1-2, 2 KOs) is quiet, unassuming and humble when we first make small talk at a sparring session yesterday afternoon in South El Monte, California.
The southpaw’s last fight was in October, a win against Sergio Joel De La Torre. Since then, the 22-year-old has stayed active in the ring, including a stint as one of Oscar De La Hoya’s main sparring partners for his fight against Manny Pacquiao last December.
When asked if he considers his next bout a comeback, the Los Angeles resident tells me, “I’ve always been here. It’s not a comeback. I was working as a sparring partner for Oscar De La Hoya and then Victor Ortiz.”
Mookie just got out of Ortiz’s (23-1-1, 18 KOs) camp in Oxnard, where he worked out with the fellow southpaw for his fight against Mike Arnaoutis on March 7 in San Jose. Mookie says of sparring with the NABO’s Junior Welterweight Champion, “It went well. He’s ready, and he should win.”
But when the conversation turns to future opponents he wants to battle, the likable young boxer suddenly takes a harsh stance, challenging several of the hottest prospects in his division to a fight–throwing down and calling them out!
Taking out his mouthpiece, the lightweight sounds off about several of L.A.’s top talents in the ring. Who are at the top of his list? The trio he wants are: John Molina, 26, recently signed by Goossen Tutor, who will be fighting March 27 at Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, Thompson Boxing’s Dominic Salcido, 24, and Golden Boy’s Vicente Escobedo, 27.
“I’ll stop all of them–they are one-dimensional fighters who have padded their records. I want to expose them, especially John Molina!” says Mookie. After some trash talking about Salcido’s flashy hair styles, he states that he’s willing and waiting to compete against any of the three, “I’m ready to make a move; they’re not ready for me!”
Addressing the other fighters’ camps, he continues, “Everyone says negative stuff about me. If they think they can beat me, why won’t they fight me? I’ll be a good name on their resume if that’s the case.
“But everywhere I go people tell me that I’m going to be the next World Champion. So I will fight anyone at 135 pounds!”
“His hand speed, power and knowledge of the sport still impresses me,” says former fighter Greg Barnes, his trainer of over two years. “I want to see him stay busy and get fights. That’s the name of the game.”
Barnes checks out Mookie’s moves in the ring as he goes six rounds with Pasadena’s Elliot Seymour (1-1) at Hall of Fame trainer Ben Lira’s gym in the L.A. area. Seymour was there with “Duke” Ellington, his plyometrics specialist. A former amateur standout, Seymour recently went pro and now trains at Wild Card. He’s getting ready for an upcoming bout next month.
Against separate opponents (that haven’t been officially announced yet), both Mookie and Seymour will be on All Star Boxing’s card on March 27 at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello. “We’ll have another action-packed night of boxing that’s always great for the fans,” said All Star’s matchmaker Pete Hironaka as he watched the two fighters slug it out in the ring.
Mookie’s looking forward to proving himself in any of his next matchups. He once again calls out Molina (15-0, 11 KOs), Escobedo (19-1, 12 KOs) and Salcido (17-1, 9 KOs), “I’ll fight any and all of them…Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday–any day of the week. I want to fight the best and prove that I can beat all these guys!”
There you have it. Mookie’s throwing down the gauntlet–we’ll see if he gets to lace up with any of these hot prospects in the future!
Photos by Michele Chong: Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis spars with Elliot Seymour; The southpaw with trainer Greg Barnes
all u guys are p*ssys cuz u know that u will never c mookie in real life and if u did he would kick ur ass
Looks like the haters on this board have optained all their boxing knowledge thru playing Playstation or Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots
I can’t believe the ignorance of people who just look at records and not at the boxers themselves. Judging a fighter based on numbers is just like those secretaries picking blindly on NCAA tourney brackets for March Madness office pools. I have been around the sport quite enough to know that any great prospect will fill their schedule with cream puffs and pad on their misleading records until a big payday. Look at Oscar and his awesome record with losses from his big paydays. Boxing is all about marketing.
Many people do not realize that Mookie was like 56-4 as an amateur and he was a brilliant prospect. While playing high school football, he was at 160, but he ran a 4.3, benched 250, and squatted 400. When he began his career, he fluctuated in his weight, but now that he is determined to fight at 135, that is going to be sick on how fast and untouchable he is going to be. If you ever have seen Mookie in action, you would realized his blinding handspeed and sniper accuracy with his punches.
I am not saying that I have ever seen the other three fighters Mookie has called out, so I am not going to go one way or another based on their records. What I do know is that now that Mookie appears to be refocused on his career, anybody who steps into the ring with him are in for a hell of a time.
So before you start to hate on Mookie, just know this: Nobody wants to fight him. He is too good of a fighter to be a scrub for fighters with better records to fight and jeopardize their career with and his record is not good enough for people to consider him in the upper echelon of the sport. Eventually, somebody will have to fight him and then the truth will come out.
Until then, fuck all y’all!!!
you all just hating on mookie! this boy is a great fighter and i respect what he has accomplished. he is young and still going to make something of himself in the sport…… watch out he will make it.
Mookie’s doesn’t dislike any of these guys, he just wants to fight them! He knows he’s gotta get his weight down, he knows he can’t fight heavier. The kid’s got a lot of talent. Mookie’s fighting Steve Quinonez on March 27th at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello. It’s a perfect matchup. If Mookie gets through this, it’s a step up for him. And if he doesn’t, it’s an eye opener for him. Quinonez is a journeyman who fought Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Micky Ward. And it’s gonna be a tough fight for both of them and it’s going to be entertaining for the public. So is he a “cookie” made out of dough or will he prove he’s really “Mookie”??? We’ll see next Friday.
I heard an announcement that Vicente Escobedo is now fighting Kevin Kelley, remember him? The veteran fighter. So it looks like young Mookie will have to wait his turn!
I am sitting here laughing my ass off with what this clown Cookie is asking for, believe me when I tell you this………. You will not see these individuals in the same ring with you. Lets see how you do in your next fight before you start calling out fighters ,and since your into the clown game get hold of Repo Man he will be happy to escort you into the ring for your next.
Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis (8-1-2, 2 KOs) who are you trying to kid? Let’s look at the facts here, starting with your record. Why in the world would any of the fighters that you have called out step into the ring with you? Speaking for most fighters that have reached the level where these guys are at in their career, why would they take steps back in their career and fight someone as unworthy as yourself? You are a welterweight that walks around as a light heavyweight (your last fight was at 147 and you had to dry out to make that) and you have the nerve to call out 3 accomplished fighters that are three weight classes below you? Either you are misguided or you didn’t have time to reflect on making good decisions when your ass was sitting in jail.
Are you bragging about being ODLH’s sparring partner? Who just got beat by an opponent originally 3 weight classes below him?
So just keep doing what you are doing and being a good sparring partner and give back to the sport that way.
I have even a better idea, why don’t you avenge your loss to Noel Rodriguez who is not even a prospect who beat your ass inside of one round and also examine your own record before going after other fighters records – by the way that is what happens to you when you try to even get close to the super featherweight division (you fought at 138 and got KO’d inside of one round) by Rodriguez.
You are a fool and I hope that this little article gets you no attention because you truly are a bum (but a good punching bag with arms).
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