The highlight of Friday nights boxing action was in America with the US hosting the semi-final's of the "Boxcino" Lightweight tournament. For those who haven't been following it, the "Boxcino" tournament is an 8 man competition being aired on ESPN and the hope is that a star will be born. Unfortunately that seems unlikely though the competition it self does seem to be genuinely interesting. The first of fights this Friday saw the hard hitting Fernando Carcamo Garcia (17-5, 13) claiming his position in the final as he defeated Miguel Angel Gonzalez (23-4, 16) majority decision. Some how one of the judges had the scores level at 76-76 and we've got to admit that that particular judge, Tocker Pudwill, probably needs to be brought in front of the commission to explain himself. Whilst the first semi final was highlighted by the awful scoring of Pudwill the second bout saw no judges needed as Russian born Spanish based fighter Petr Petrov (34-4-2, 16), pictured, dismantled the rangier Christopher Rudd (13-2, 8). Petrov quickly cut the distance, forced his fight on Rudd and forced the referee to step in in round 4. As well as the Boxcino competition their was also a number of notable female bouts across the globe The most notable of the female fights saw the legendary Marcela Eliana Acuna (41-6-1, 18) defended her WBO Super Bantamweight title with a 6th round stoppage of Mexico's Estrella Valverde (9-4-1, 1). Acuna, one of the true female legends of the sport, seems to be merely solidifying her reputation as one of the greats. Another female title fight in Argentina saw Mayra Alejandra Gomez (15-3, 4) defeat fellow Argentinian Carolina Marcela Gutierrez Gaite (21-3-1, 13) to claim the interim WBO Bantamweight title. It was a great day for the WBO who had yet another female world title fight as German Ramona Kuehne (22-1, 8) defended her belt. Unfortunately for the fans watching this bout, which was really good, the ending was a sad one with the previously unbeaten Gina Chamie (8-1, 4) being forced to retire with an injury to her elbow. (Photo courtesy of ESPN)
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Saturday's are usually the biggest day in Western boxing and that's exactly what's happening this weekend with notable bouts in Argentina, the UK and the USA. The first of the major bouts is in the UK as IBF Bantamweight champion Stuart Hall (16-2-1, 7) makes the first defense of his title. Hall will be hoping to defend against fellow Brit Martin Ward (18-2, 4). Hall won the title late last year by defeating South African Vusi Malinga and in all honesty it's very hard to see Ward beating him. Whilst the Hall/Ward fight isn't one we're a big fan of we're happy to know that the winner will be facing the winner of the up coming fight between Kohei Oba and Randy Caballero in what should be a much more interesting contest. On the same card in Britain the unbeaten Frankie Gavin (18-0, 12) will be fighting Sacky Shikukutu (18-2-1, 12) in what should be Gavin's final fight before heading towards a world title eliminator, then again some have been saying that for what feels like an eternity. On a separate show in the UK Rendall Munroe (27-4-1, 11) will be in action. Munroe, best known for his loss to Toshiaki Nishioka, will be fighting in what looks like a gimme as he fights against journeyman Youssef Al Hamidi (12-66-3, 1). Munroe is a faded fighter but for many British fans he's the key win for Nishioka who is sadly forgotten by many fans in the west. In Argentina the key fight is a female world title fight as IBF female Super Flyweight champion Debora Anahi Dionicius (15-0, 4) battles Neisi Torres (111-1-1, 7). We're strongly favouring Dionicius here though can't see anyway in which the Argentinian could beat fellow Super Flyweight champion Naoko Fujioka who is simply in a league of her own. In the New Jersey, alongside Sergey Kovalev's fight with Cedric Agnew, there are two other interesting looking bouts. One of those bouts will see Karim Mayfield (18-0-1, 11) battling Thomas Dulorme (20-1, 14) in a really good looking Light Welterweight bout. This bout surprisingly boiled over at the weigh in with both men wrapping their hands around the other's throat, as pictured above, and we're expecting a really nasty battle here. The other bout in New Jersey that caught our eye sees Lionell Thompson (15-2, 9) fighting the unbeaten Radivoje Kalajdzic (14-0, 10) in what should be a very interesting bout even if it's clearly the #3 bout on the show. On a separate US show fans will get to see the return to the ring of former world champion Brian Viloria (32-4-0-2, 19) who takes an easy return bout against Juan Herrera (9-7, 4). Viloria has been out of the ring for almost a year following his loss to Juan Francisco Estrada in Macau and it's expected that a win here will move him on to another bout in Macau. (Photo thanks to badlefthook.com) It's rare for Friday night boxing to be genuine disappointing but this weekend is a bit disappointing with the key fight of note being a female world title fight in Argentina. That fight will see female fighting legend Marcela Eliana Acuna (40-6-1, 17) defending her WBO female Super Bantamweight title against fellow Argentinian Estrella Valverde (9-3-1, 1). Acuna is a genuine legend of the sport and shouldn't struggle at all with beating Valverde who is no where near the level of Acuna. As well as the female world title bout we also get 2 bouts of interest in the US as the Lightweight "Boxcino" tournament continues to the semi final stage. The most interesting of those semi finals, according to boxrec.com, is between 28 year old American Miguel Angel Gonzalez (23-3, 16) and the big punching Mexican Fernando Carcamo Garcia (16-5, 13). In the quarter finals it was Carcamo Garcia that genuine impressed us and we're hoping to see his power come in to play again here. In the other semi-final we will see Russian born Spanish based Petr Petrov (33-4-2, 15) fighting against the tournaments surprise package Christopher Rudd (13-1, 8). Rudd upset the experienced Yakubu Amidu in the quarter finals though is still viewed as the big betting under-dog here. As for Petrov his quarter final was an impressive showing against the previously unbeaten Fedor Papazov and that result seems to have made him the tournament favourite. (picture courtesy of ESPN) Moreno retains as Galahad makes a statement, Solis fails and Estrada leaves us less than impressed3/24/2014 This past Saturday was a funny day in boxing because as far as American boxing went there was pretty much nothing of note. There was however plenty of action outside of the US including a male world title fight, a female world title fight and number ranked contenders in action. It was certainly a busy day even if it did take a hardcore fan to really take any notice. The most significant action was in Panama where WBA Bantamweight "super" champion Anselmo Moreno (35-2-1, 12) successfully defended his title with a clear victory over Argentina's Javier Nicolas Chacon (19-2, 4). Chacon went to win, of course he did, but Moreno was just far too good and it wasn't until "Chemito" went into cruise control that Chacon seemed to have any real success. The obvious bout from a fans point of view for Moreno is a clash with WBC champion Shinsuke Yamanaka but this seems highly unlikely with both men looking at completely different paths unfortunately. We'd love to see the bout though have come to realise that it's highly unlikely. The same card in Panama saw an exhilarating Minimumweight contest between teenage sensation Leroy Estrada (12-1, 5) and former world title challenger Edwin Diaz (16-19, 5). Estrada started the bout well and it was genuinely a great bout to watch, though by the end it was clear that Estrada doesn't really deserve his WBC #3 or IBF #7 rankings. He's more like the #14 type of challenger that both the WBA and WBO rank him as. Right now we'd happily put Kosei Tanaka in with Estrada despite the gulf in professional experience. Whilst Moreno's bout with Chacon was the only male world title bout there was actually a female world title bout in Belgium as Ivana Habazin (13-1, 5) claimed the previously vacant IBF Female Welterweight title. Habazain travelled to the homeland of co-challenger Sabrina Giuliani (12-2, 1) and put on a dominating display in the eyes of everyone, except for one official who some how scored the bout to Giuliani in what may end up being one of the most appalling scorecards of the year. Whilst we were less than impressed by Leroy Estrada there was, in Britain, another unbeaten youngster in action. That was Qatar born British fighter Kid Galahad (16-0, 8) who claimed the European Super Bantamweight title with a dominating performance against Spain's Sergio Prado (9-4-1, 3). Galahad showed impressive speed in making Prado look third rate. Although not yet world ranked Galahad does look like the type of fighter who will be on the world stage in the next year or two and could well end up being matched with someone like Shingo Wake somewhere down the line. One man who will be hoping to forget this past weekend will be Cuban Heavyweight Odlanier Solis (20-2, 13) who put on a very, very disappointing effort against the 42 year old Tony Thompson (39-4, 26). Solis, once touted as a future Heavyweight champion in the making, once again looked like he had no dedicated to the sport, put in next to no effort and was thankfully beaten in a manner that may shame him into fighting like his talent enables him to. In terms of skill Solis is superb but his attitude is so awful that his career is genuinely a write off, very disappointing. The final bout of note for us was in Puerto Rico where the exciting and talented Jose Pedraza (16-0, 10) claimed the IBO Super Featherweight title with a decision victory over Alberto Garza (26-7-1, 21). Pedraza is currently ranked by all 4 of the major organisations and could, somewhere down the line, be viewed as a possible challenger for Takashi Uchiyama or Takashi Miura, though we'd be shocked if he was put in with either of the Japanese punchers in the next year or two as he's simply not ready for a fight of that magnitude. (Picture courtesy of boxingnews.jp) The most significant fight of this past Friday night was in Argentina where WBA Flyweight champion Juan Carlos Reveco (33-1, 18) made the 6th defence of his title with a stoppage victory over the completely over-matched Manuel Vides (15-3, 9) of Panama. The fight looked uneven on paper and it proved just as uneven by the end of the opening round as Vides was dropped for an 8 count from a vicious body shot. Vides showed his heart to recover to his feet though was sent down again the following round, this time for the count. Reveco should now be looking for a major fight with someone of note though it does look like a lot of the other top Flyweights are getting tied up with big bouts before Reveco can get to them. At the moment it seems that Akira Yaegashi, Roman Gonzalez and Kazuto Ioka are going to be too busy to focus on Reveco who may find himself left out in the cold. It'd be a shame if Reveco is unable to fight one of the divisions top names, not just the 3 already mentioned but others like Giovani Segura, Hernan Marquez and Brian Viloria, though Reveco is to blame due to his willingness to fight opponents like Vides as opposed to accepting fights with the likes of Ioka who did offer the Argentinian a fight just recently. (Photo courtesy of boxrec.com) Although Friday night was a quiet night for boxing world wide things do come alive, significantly, on Saturday with notable bouts taking place around the globe. For us the most significant bout is in Panama where WBA Bantamweight king Anselmo Moreno (34-2-1, 12) defends his belt against Argentina's little known Javier Nicholas Chacon (19-1, 4). Chacon, for impressive record, really hasn't beaten any one and his #11 WBA ranking seems very general considering his competition. Although Chacon has an impressive record it's hard to see him giving the talented Moreno any sort of a test here. When it comes to Moreno he is the only man at 118lbs who could have a claim to be the best other than Shinsuke Yamanaka. A bout between the two would be great though we have a feeling that it will be another one that fails to come off with both men having their own plans that don't involve the other man. The Moreno/Chacon bout is the only male world title fight, as recognised by "the big 4" but in Belgium we get a female world title bout as Belgium's very own Sabrina Giuliani (12-1, 1) battles Croatia's Ivana Habazin (12-1, 5) in an IBF female Welterweight bout that looks very evenly matched contest. Arguably the best fights are in Mexico with the pick of them being between former multi-weight world champion Humberto Soto (62-8-2-1, 35) and the unbeaten Juan Carlos Abreu (16-0-1, 15). Whilst Soto is the more experienced fighter by quite a margin he is also a fighter who has had a hard career and Abreu does hit hard. Unfortunately for the Dominican visitor he was held to a draw last time out by the relatively unknown Puro Pairol and it's fair to say Soto should come out on top here if both men fight to the best of their ability. The other is a Super Bantamweight clash between former Koki Kameda foe Hugo Ruiz (33-2, 29) and fellow Mexican Ramon Maas (26-3, 15). Ruiz, who holds world rankings with the WBC and WBA, is a hard hitting, aggressive and fun to watch fighter who should really make light work of Maas in what looks to us to be a serious mismatch. Although the Moreno/Chacon bout is the only "big 4" world title fight Puerto Rico hosts an IBO Super Featherweight title fight as the unbeaten Jose Pedraza (15-0, 10) battles former WBA Featherweight title challenger Alberto Garza (26-6-1, 21). this is the toughest test for Pedraza so far though he should manage to over-come the more experienced Garza who didn't look very good when he fought Nicholas Walters. The final bout of note is a Heavyweight in Turkey between former world title challengers. This bout will see Cuban Odlanier Solis (20-1, 13) fighting popular American Tony Thompson (38-4, 26) in what really is a cross roads fight. The loser of this one will have a long road back to being significant whilst the winner will likely be moved to within a fight or two of a world title bout. This Friday night isn't a big one in the boxing world at large. There is no really major fights taking place in Europe or North America and it'd be easy to assume that all the action was a lower level, the "ESPN level" if you will. Thankfully however there is something worth tuning in for in Argentina where WBA Flyweight champion Juan Carlos Reveco (32-1, 17) will be defending his world title against WBA #12 ranked challenger Manuel Vides (15-2, 9). Reveco, known to Asian fans due to victories over Nethra Sasiprapa in 2007 and Masayuki Kuroda last year, is a top tier fighter in the amazing Flyweight division. Although he's perhaps not as well established with general boxing fans as Roman Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Estrada or Akira Yaegashi he's just as accomplished and is a 2 weight world champion. In Vides we have a much less accomplished and known fighter. The Panamanian is unbeaten in 2 years and is currently on a 5 fight winning streak although he has been fighting at a very low level so far fighting against limited Latin American opponents. Having never fought in a 12 rounder before it's difficult to see how Vides is supposed to compete with Reveco who is brutal to the body, well schooled and experienced at the highest level. This should be little more than a stay busy defense for the man who has been strongly linked to a fight, later this year, with Kazuto Ioka. Sadly this bout aside there is next to nothing to really keep an eye on internationally. (Picture courtesy of the 13th round) When boxing is at it's best it's one of the greatest and most honest sports the world has. It's one of the only sports that pits man against man in a true battle of skill, wits, strength and technique. Unfortunately at it's worst our sport leaves us with a bitter taste, a feeling of corruption and more anger than any other sport. It's one of the few sports where the "rightful winner" can be denied their day in the sun by officiating that leaves us with more questions than any sport really should. Sadly boxing, at it's worst looks like the only sport where the winner can lose and the loser can win.
The idea of a winner losing and a loser winner was shown perfectly on Saturday night in Puerto Rico where the unbeaten Danny Garcia (28-0, 16) was hugely fortunate to retain his WBC and WBA "super" titles in a Light Welterweight clash with Mauricio Herrera (20-4, 7). Garcia, a highly touted fighter who has been on a great run recently, was heavily favoured to beat Herrera with many asking why Herrera was picked as an opponent. The challenger, a relative unknown to many boxing fans, was written off before the first bell though proved that those who write fighters off do so at their peril. Herrera started well and found a home for his jab from the opening round. Garcia, well known for his timing, simply couldn't cope with the jab, movement and angles Herrera was giving him and it seemed like Garcia was amateur fighting a skilled professional. Herrera kept landing clean blows whilst Garcia looked lost trying to load up on his famed left hook and missing wildly as if he was doing something for the first time. Unfortunately the judges did what they could to keep the title in the hands of unbeaten man though many know that there was no way Garcia won the bout and the rightful winner, whilst dignified after the fight, has every right to question why he is in this sport. Whilst the controversy of the Garcia/Herrera fight was the big talking point of this past Saturday in Puerto Rico it was far from the only talking point. Another was the opening round "KO" scored by Deontay Wilder (31-0, 31) over close friend and seemingly happy victim Malik Scott (36-2-1, 13). Scott seemed to be caught by a slapping left hand and then a blocked right hand though was unable to beat the count in a fight many in the online community are calling suspect. It did seem like a very poor effort on Scott's part of trying to beat the count and it certainly didn't seem like Scott tried to win despite the fact he knew there was a big fight around the corner if he had won. A third controversy on the card was the stoppage in a bout between Puerto Rico's very own Juan Manuel Lopez (34-3, 31) and Mexico's Daniel Ponce De Leon (45-6, 35). The bout, a rematch of the contest that put Lopez on the map a few years back, saw both men knocked down in a thrilling second round though the referee did seem to jump in too early to "save" Ponce De Leon. The trio of questionable results in Puerto Rico certainly hasn't helped anyone to believe that Golden Boy Promotions are "the good guys" in the boxing world and instead has amped up conspiracy theorists who believe that the promotional outfit are hosting fixed fights. We'd not suggest that fights are fixed but the judging in the main event really was disgusting and it's little wonder fight fans are turning away from our sport. Thankfully not everything was questionable and in Nicaragua we saw former world champion Jose Alfaro (27-8-1, 23) completely dominate compatriot Marcos Mojica (13-2-2, 9) en route to a 7th round KO. Alfaro is best known to Asian fans due to his split decision victory over Thailand's Prawet Singwancha and his loss to Japanese pair Yusuke Kobori and Yoshiro Kamegai. Although unlikely to ever compete at the world level again we still felt this was a notable result. Another fight that saw little doubt over the winner was a contest between unbeaten Ukrainian Heavyweight Vyacheslav Glazkov (17-0-1, 11) and Polish veteran Tomasz Adamek (49-3, 29). Adamek, a great warrior and genuine tough guy, saw his face looking very swollen in a losing effort that could well be his swansong at the top level. It was a brave effort from Adamek but his age and natural size was clearly against him with Glazkov being a clear victor. In the UK we again saw some clear victors with the unbeaten Kell Brook (32-0, 22) dominating and later stopping Mexico's Alvaro Robles (17-3, 15). Whilst this was supposed to be a tune up for a world title fight for Brook we've unfortunately heard "Brook" and "Tune up" put in the same sentence too many times to know quite what to expect from Brook's next fight. On the same show in the UK Kevin Mitchell (37-2, 27) made light work of Mikheil Avakyan (21-12-4, 8) scoring a second round TKO. This bout, like Brooks, was supposed to be a prelude for a world title fight though it's hard to imagine Mitchell beating any of the current Lightweight champions. Although not a big bout we'd suggest that the best bout of the night was actually the British Light Heavyweight title fight between Bob Ajisafe (12-2, 3) and Dean Francis (34-5-1, 26). We hadn't expected much from this contest due to various issues, instead however the bout turned out to be genuinely brilliant and is well worth a watch. (Picture courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions) The Light Welterweight division has been one of the most interesting divisions in recent years. Whilst many fighters have used it as a stop gap before joining the always brilliant Welterweight division it has still given us some great fights such as the Mike Alvarado/Brandon Rios fights or Marcos Maidana's fights with Victor Ortiz and Amir Khan. This weekend promises us another notable contest in the 140lb division as the divisional kingpin Danny "Swift" Garcia (27-0, 16) defends his WBA "super" and WBC titles against the tough but limited Mauricio Herrera (20-3, 7) in Puerto Rico. In terms of boxing skills this shouldn't be a contest with Garcia being the much better fighter, however Herrera has got the toughness to give good fighters headaches and does hold a very notable victories over Ruslan Provodnikov and Ji-Hoon Kim. We have to strongly favour Garcia though we do expect the bout to be highly entertaining. Another bout on the same card is, arguably, the biggest all-American Heavyweight bout in a generation as Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30) puts his perfect record on the line against Malik Scott (36-1-1, 13). Wilder goes in as a notable favourite though this is a big step up for the unbeaten man and we're expecting to see him tested properly for the first time. Just a shame it's taken him almost 6 years to move up to this level. The card also features several other interesting contests. One of those is between big punching rivals as Juan Manuel Lopez (33-3, 30) faces Daniel Ponce De Leon (45-5, 35) for the second time. These two men first fought back in 2008 when Lopez announced himself on the world stage with an opening round KO over Ponce De Leon. Since their first fight however Lopez has taken a lot of punishment and Ponce De Leon has a solid chance at revenge. Another bout sees former Middleweight title challenger Daniel Jacobs (26-1, 23), a former Dmitry Pirog foe, fighting against Colombia's Milton Nunez (26-9-1, 24). Whilst Jacobs is best known for his loss to Pirog he has actually beaten some notable opponents, the same however cannot be said about Nunez who has lost to every of note, including Gennady Golovkin. With that in mind we're expecting Jacobs to win by stoppage. One more bout on this card features Lightweight hopeful Jose A Gonzalez (22-1, 17) who famously gave Ricky Burns, the then WBO Lightweight champion, a tough test last year. Gonzalez, fighting against Ramesis Gil (8-8-5, 5), will likely be hoping to get a second world title fight later this year and from what we've seen of him he could well be a nightmare for anyone else at 135lbs. In the US the most notable bout is another Heavyweight contest as Poland's Tomasz Adamek (49-2, 29) meets Ukrainian Vyacheslav Glazkov (16-0-1, 11) in what is a major bout for both. Both still have ambition to be be a Heavyweight world champion though both have seen their stock drop in recent fights and a loss for either man would effectively be the end of their dreams. Major bout and one that could force one of the men to retire. In the UK we have 2 bouts of note. The key one sees perennial Welterweight contender Kell Brook (31-0, 21) attempt to stay busy as he fights Alvaro Robles (17-2, 15) in what should be Brook's final bout before a world title contest. Then again every bout seems to be Brook's final bout before a world title fight. The other bout of note in the UK sees former 2-time Lightweight title challenger Kevin Mitchell (36-2, 26) fighting against Mikheil Avakyan (21-11-4, 8). Whilst this is a "gimme" for Mitchell the expectation is that a victory here will see him moved on to a world title fight with IBF champion Miguel Vazquez later this year. A loss here though and that'll be the end for the highly touted Mitchell. (Banner courtesy of http://www.goldenboypromotions.com) Most busy days in the boxing world have a world title fight as their signature bout. This weekend however the title fights took a back seat to an all Mexican clash between hard hitting fighters in a contest dubbed "Toe-to-Toe". There was title fights going on but they were ever so slightly in the background. The title major bout, the headline act if you will, saw former Light Middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (43-1-1, 31) score arguably his biggest victory as he stopped fellow Mexican Alfredo Angulo (22-4, 18) in what was an entertaining, though one sided, contest. Canelo took control from the onset with his superior speed and skills and although Angulo took the shots well early on they did began to damage up his face rather badly by the middle rounds. Canelo, after running up a clear lead on the scorecards, seemed to slow down in round 6 before turning on the style in round 9 to further punish Angulo who appeared to be building his confidence for one or two rounds. Unfortunately though the 9th round effectively finished off Angulo who took a huge uppercut early in round 9 before referee Tony Weeks stepped in. The stoppage, a controversial one for sure, seemed to come when Angulo was still fighting back and had his senses, even if he was badly marked up at the time. The victory for Canelo is likely to be his final one as a pseudo Light Middleweight and it seems almost certain that his next fight will be as a fully blown Middleweight. Earlier on the same card WBC Super Bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (27-0-1, 15) managed to make his second defence of the title as he easily defeated Cristian Mijares (49-8-2, 24). The bout, one sided through out, saw Mijares's ring craft keeping him up right but he was too small to ever really the champion who appeared to win every round with out many questions really being asked of him. Despite the clear victory we are starting to wonder if Santa Cruz is as good as we first thought. He no longer looks like a grinding machine but has been made to look somewhat light hitting by naturally smaller men in his last 2 fights. After that fight there were comments suggesting that Santa Cruz was likely to fight the unbeaten Carl Frampton next. There is a lot of talk in Japan about Shinsuke Yamanaka wanting a fight with Santa Cruz and on this performance we genuinely think that Yamanaka would take care of the Mexican without too many issues. In fact on this performance a fighter like Shingo Wake would actually give Santa Cruz a lot of problems. Also on this card we saw former WBC Super Featherweight title challenger Sergio Thompson (29-3, 26) manage to take a decision over Ricardo Alvarez (23-3-3, 14). Thompson, who fought Takashi Miura last year, twice dropped Alvarez and although he looked a clear winner the judges would have the bout a majority draw had it not been for the knockdowns. The action didn't stop there however and the card also saw Jorge Linares (36-3, 25) defeat Nihito Arakawa (24-4-1, 16) in a hard fought but clear bout and a notable upset as the world ranked Will Tomlinson (21-1-1, 12) suffered a hugely shocking loss. Tomlinson, who began the night as the WBC #7 and #8 IBF ranked Super Featherweight, was widely out pointed by the unheralded Jerry Belmontes (19-3, 5) in what was clearly the upset of the weekend. Aside from the Santa Cruz/Mijares bout there was only one other "world title" title bout as WBA interim Light Flyweight champion Alberto Rossel (31-8-0-1, 13) made the 4th defense of his title as he over-came the challenge of Gabriel Mendoza (19-3-2, 16). Mendoza was the WBA #15 ranked Light Flyweight coming in to this bout and was also the WBO #13 and IBF #15 ranked ranked Minimumweight meaning that we expect to see notable changes in the rankings of all three organsiations. Rossel was one of the 3 "WBA champions" at Light Flyweight a month or so or go but right now is the sole claimant after both Roman Gonzalez and Kazuto Ioka vacated their titles. This means that a number of Asian fighters, including Randy Petalcorin and Rey Loreto, could be looking at a WBA title fight in the near future. In the UK the stand out was the very promising Paul Butler (15-0, 8) who managed to dominate and then stop the completely over-matched Oreste Bernabe Nieva (15-3-2, 6). The bout never looked competitive and Butler just did as he wished before sending the Argentinian down for the count with a debilitating body shot. Ranked #6 by the WBO, #9 by the IBF, #10 by the WBC and #12 by the WBA at Super Flyweight Butler is a name who will be on the radar of Asian fighters such as Srisaket Sor Rungvisai though he does appear to need a stiffer test than Nieva before being ready for a world title challenge. Then again his natural talent is obvious and he's the sort of fighter who could make his name at either 115lbs of 118lbs and be a top challenger alongside the likes of Ryosuke Iwasa. (Picture courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions) |
InternationalWe know that not every fight involves an Asian fighter but a lot of fights do affect Asian fighter. As a result we've decided to add this new section to Asian boxing where we look at selected International bouts. Archives
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