This weekend is certainly not a busy one, but there some real highlights taking place through out Saturday.
For many hardcore fans the stand out fight comes from Sonora where WBA “interim” Super Flyweight champion David Sanchez (28-2-2, 22) defends his title against the always fun to watch Luis Concepcion (32-4, 23). Both men have the ability to put on thrillers so we're hoping that this one lives up to the expectation and delivers and all out war. The winner will be the top contender for the upcoming “regular” title fight between Kohei Kono and Koki Kameda, who fight next month in the US. Staying in Mexico there is brilliant female world title bout between the fantastic Arely Mucino (21-2-2, 10) and the equally brilliant Jessica Chavez (23-4-3, 4). On paper this is brilliantly matched, especially give their 2013 split decision draw, and we're expecting a lot of high paced action between these two. Coming in Mucino is the WBC female Flyweight champion and will be defending her title for the first time since claiming it from Shindo Go earlier this year. South African boxing certainly isn't thriving but with Rodney Berman they do have a promoter willing to really invest in their fighters and the national scene. Today Berman puts his Minimumweight world champion Hekkie Budler (28-1, 9) up against fellow South African Simphiwe Khonco (15-4, 7) in a WBA title defense for the “Hexecutioner”. On paper it looks like a mismatch but Khonco is better than his record suggests, and has won his last 9, whilst Budler may not quite be as good as the numbers suggest. Hopefully the winner of this will agree to a unification bout with one of the other champions, such as Kosei Tanaka or Wanheng Menayothin, or face WBA #1 ranked contender Knockout CP Freshmart. In England we get an excellent Super Featherweight bout as local favourite Stephen Smith (22-1, 12) faces Italian visitor Devis Boschiero (37-3-1, 19). Smith, the younger brother of 2-time world title challenger Paul Smith, is hoping to get a world title fight if he wins here and although he's a big betting favourite there are a number of fans picking the visitor. As for Boschiero the under-rated visitor has challenged for a world title, losing a very close one to Takahiro Ao, and lost twice in very close bouts to European champion Romain Jacob. Potentially this is the fight of the night and the winner is expected to face IBF king pin Jose Pedraza in 2016
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In the biggest fight of Friday night Frenchman Romain Jacob (21-0, 7) claimed the European Super Featherweight title with a hard fought, and thoroughly riveting, decision victory over Italian Devis Boschiero (34-2-1, 16). Boschiero, defending the European title for the 4th time, knew he was fighting on foreign soil though this was too close to call either way and was less of a "home town decision" than one may have expected. Boschiero, who started the day ranked in the top 4 of all 4 organisations will certainly fall down the ratings with this loss though hopefully he won't fall that far as he's an entertaining and talented fighter. A loss, on foreign soil, by split decision should never destroy a fighters rankings, especially not when the bout was this close. As for Jacob he'll certainly shoot up the WBO rankings, where he was previously #15, and should make a mark on the WBA, WBC and IBF rankings. The one interesting thing that comes out of this is that Boschiero will be unlikely to keep his #1 ranking with the WBC. This would mean he's no longer in the frame to be Takashi Miura's mandatory challenger. That fight would have been great fun to watch though with Miura having other options out there that look more interesting it may not be a huge shame for either the fans or Miura. There may not be much in terms of Asian action this weekend but there are bouts that will have an effect on the Asian fight scene. The most notable of those fights takes place in France as European Super Featherweight champion Devis Boschiero (34-1-1, 16) battles the unbeaten Frenchman Romain Jacob (20-0, 7) in a hugely important contest. On paper this is a major bout for European fans. For use however it has a knock on effect. Boschiero, of Italy, is best known to us for running Takahiro Ao incredibly close in a WBC world title fight back in November 2011. Since then Boschiero has remained a major title contender. He won the European title just 2 bouts after the loss to Ao and has since defended it 3 times against decent competition. The defenses of the European title by Boschiero have seen him acquiring very high rankings with all 4 major title bodies. He is currently WBC #1, WBO #2, IBF and WBA #3, this means that he is able to take is pick of champions to fight and could be eyeing up fights with Takashi Uchiyama or Takashi Miura. With those rankings of Boschiero's being put at risk Jacob will know that he has a lot to gain from a victory here and whilst his own WBO #15 is on the line it's a very good gamble from his side of things, especially when you consider he'll be the home fighter. Unbeaten in 20 professional contests since turning to the paid ranks in 2008 Jacob will know that this is the toughest test of his career. He'll also know that a victory will set him up to be with a few fights of a world title fight and he'll also claim the European title. It may not be an Asian fight but we are hugely interested in this bout. |
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
December 2015
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