On paper this coming Saturday is one of the biggest days in boxing this year. There are numerous world level fighters in action and several fighters who attract a lot of attention. In all honesty however we feel that the weekend is one full of style over substance and, as a result, we feel we've a point to make at a weekend where the action really could be lacking despite a host of big name fighters. The most notable action of the night comes from Las Vegas and whilst it is notable it is also, on the whole, rather disappointing and doesn't have a “big fight feel”. The main event will see the self-proclaimed “The Best Ever” Floyd Mayweather Jr (48-0, 26) put his unbeaten record on the line against Andre Berto (30-3, 23). The bout, for the WBC and WBA “super” titles at Welterweight is a bout that failed to get fan support, is expected to be a commercial flop and is shrouded in controversy with Mayweather having recently come under-fire for the use of an IV prior to his fight with Manny Pacquiao. Whilst we have often been in awe of Mayweather's in ring ability we must confess the act has gone stale and we're looking forward to his retirement which he has promise will come after this bout. Given that he's lied regularly in the past however we're expect he'll return in 2016, if he wins as expected here, to go to 50-0. In one of the chief support bouts Englishman George Groves (21-2, 16) will face WBC Super Middleweight champion Badou Jack (19-1-1, 12). Without trying to sound harsh Jack may well be the worst world champion in the sport and the way he won the title said more about Anthony Dirrell than it did about Jack. Groves, who has lost 2 of his last 4 to Carl Froch, once looked like the heir to the Super Middleweight throne but recent performances have been less than inspiring. Although they should match up well it's certainly not a top quality bout as some are trying to paint it. A third world title bout on this card, and probably the bout that will excite fans, is at Super Featherweight where Puerto Rican Roman Martinez (29-2-2, 17), a 3-time world champion, battles Mexican tough guy Orlando Salido (42-13-2-1, 29), himself a 4-time champion. These two met in a barn burner back in April, in Martinez's homeland, and although Salido was beaten he gave one of the year's most stirring efforts, getting up from several knockdowns to run Martinez close down the stretch. This bout has been widely over-looked though is probably going to have more action than the other 4 major bouts on the show, combined. In a non-title bout former world champion Ishe Smith (27-7, 12) battles against Vanes Martirosyan (35-2-1, 21). Both guys have got solid “name” value but it's hard to see this being anything but a dull contest as the talented, but tedious, Smith makes life difficult for the equally frustrating Martirosyan. Although both are skilled both have struggled to even be involved in “exciting” bouts and it's hard to see either changing that here. Yet another former champion is on this card, which has been stacked in terms of names even if the match ups have seriously lacked competitiveness, is Jhonny Gonzalez (58-9, 49) who will be facing Jonathan Oquendo (25-4, 16). For Gonzalez this is the next step towards a potential show down with a Super Featherweight champion, likely to be the winner of the recently announced bout between Takashi Miura and Francisco Vargas, but it's hard to see what Oquendo brings to the table, especially at 130lbs. Given the PPV price tag of the show it does seem like the card has been a case of “names above match ups” and we'll rarely support that, especially on PPV. There is another card in the US, which is scheduled to take place before the Mayweather show. Unfortunately this is just as uninspiring as the other show. In the most meaningful bout of the card fans will see veteran Cornelius Bundrage (34-5, 19) defending his IBF Light Middleweight title against Jermall Charlo (21-0, 16). The 42 year old Bundrage has had a fairytale career to become a 2-time world champion, claiming the first of those titles aged 37, but is a clear under-dog against the much touted, and much younger, Charlo who should claim his first world title fight. An intriguing 10 round bout will see former world champion Gabriel Campillo (25-7-1, 12) take on Marcus Browne (15-0, 11). For Campillo a loss here would likely spell the end of his career, which saw him holding the WBA title and earn a number of solid paydays, however Browne has failed to convince fans, despite having an Olympic pedigree and an unbeaten record. This could be one of the nights many possible gems, despite a lack of major build up. Another former champion on action here is former WBO Middleweight champion Peter Quillin (31-0-1, 22), who continues to destroy what good standing his career once had. The former champion will be facing little known Australian Michael Zerafa (17-1, 9) as he continues to tease a potential showdown with Daniel Jacobs. Quillin once looked like the man who could have given Gennady Golovkin problems but has since become boxing's version of a joke fighting Light Middleweights in title defenses, turning down a career payday and vacating the title then failing to make weight. This bout, win or lose, will do his reputation no good at all. Before the action Stateside British fans will get the chance to watch two of their Heavyweight hopefuls in action as well as a third meeting between two men who have given local fans two incredible wars already. The most notable of the men in action is 2012 Olympic champion Anthony Joshua (13-0, 13) who faces Scottish giant Gary Cornish (21-0, 12). On paper this looks a great bout but footage of Cornish has shown him to be rather uncoordinated and it's hard to see him providing any sort of a test to Joshua. This bout will be for the WBC International and Commonwealth Heavyweight titles and if Joshua he will likely face amateur nemesis Dillian Whyte in December. The aforementioned Dillian Whyte (15-0, 12) is also in action here as he takes on veteran Brian Minto (41-9, 26) in a bout for the WBC International Silver Heavyweight title. In the amateurs Whyte scored a win over Joshua and will be hoping to do the same when the two men meet. This is a tougher assignment than Joshua's but should still be a simple win for the Englishman. Arguably the highlight of the show however will be the third meeting between Dave Ryan (17-8, 4) and John Wayne Hibbert (15-3, 9). The two men are fighting for the unified WBC International and Commonwealth titles, just as they did back in May, and will be hoping to put on another thriller. The two men first met back in 2013 in a thrilling back-and-forth war but it was their bout this year that really captured the attention of fans and stole the day with 4 knockdowns and gritty come from behind win for Ryan. This really has the potential to be the sleeper fight of the weekend.
0 Comments
The final Saturday of March gives us a number of really good bouts, both in Asia with an ALA show and around the globe with interesting bouts in Mexico, the US and the UK. In the UK, where we get the first of the big international bouts, fans will get the chance to see the unbeaten Kell Brook (32-0, 22) defend his IBF Welterweight title for the first time and make his first return to the ring following his stabbing last year. The talented Brit, dubbed “The Special One”, will taking on mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan (34-2, 18). The match up is a mandatory but still a good test for Brook, especially given the stabbing incident. If Brook is the same fighter he was when he won the title then he wins this easily, if he's not the same movement then he may well be dragged into a very tough contest. Another bout on this card worth noting is a Middleweight bout between the promising Adam Etches (18-0, 15) and the always testing Sergey Khomitsky (29-11-3, 12). Etches is a fantastic prospect but this is his first real gut check and it's a fantastic time to find out if he's as good as hopes. An interesting Flyweight bout will see the touted Khalid “Kal” Yafai (13-0, 9) put his unbeaten record on the line against Cristofer Rosales (10-1, 7). Yafai is dropping to Flyweight for the first time and although talented he looks like he'll need a lot more seasoning before being ready for a title fight in boxing's toughest division. A bout with relevance to Asian fight fans comes at Super Featherweight where the world ranked Stephen Smith (20-1, 12) battles Jacek Wylezol (11-8, 6) in a stay busy fight. We want to see Smith testing himself against the best in the world, such as Takashi Miura or Takashi Uchiyama, but bouts like this really do leave us wondering what Smith and his team are playing at. In the US fans will see a number of notable bouts, the most notable of which is a WBC Featherweight title bout which sees monster puncher Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48) defending his title against once touted American Gary Russell Jr (25-1, 14). Russell Jr is getting his second shot at a world title, after being beaten by Vasyl Lomachenko last year, whilst Gonzalez looks to record the 3rd defence of the title he won back in 2013 with an upset win against the then unbeaten Abner Mares. Really interesting fight and one we've seen opinions being split on. In an excellent co-feature bout fans will see the talented Jermell Charlo (25-0, 11) battle against Vanes Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21). The fighters involved in this bout should have styles that make for an interesting fight, though we're unsure how exciting it will end up being. Both are talented fighters and both are in the hunt for a Light Middleweight title fight later in the year so both will fight for the win. Jermell's twin brother Jermall Charlo (26-0, 16) will also be inaction on this card as he takes on Michael Finney (12-2-1, 10), who has gone 0-2-1 in his last 3 bouts. Although Finney is a good test for prospects we do think Charlo, both of them in fact, have progressed to contender status and this should be a mismatch in the ring. In Mexico the bout of interesting will see the heavy handed Miguel Berchelt (24-1, 21) fighting against Rene Gonzalez (31-7-1, 23) in a potentially explosive clash between two men who can be hurt and can do the hurting. Neither man afford a loss here and both know that they will have to perform at their best is they are to remain relevant in the under-rated Super Featherweight division. The division looks set to change a lot in the coming 12 months and the loser here will unfortunately miss out on any coming opportunities. The winner however will find themselves put forward as a serious contender later in the year. (Image courtey of www.notifght.com) This past Saturday may not have been one of the best weekends in the sport this year but it was certainly still an interesting one with a number of notable fighters in action, ranging from champions to former champions, prospects to men looking to save their careers. The first notable action was in Europe as Olympic champion and Cruiserweight sensation Oleksandr Usyk (7-0, 7) kept alive his chase to win a world title in double quick fashion. Usyk claimed the WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title as he stopped the much more experienced Daniel Bruwer (24-6-1, 21) in 7 rounds. Although we know Usyk is on the fast track to a world title he is still amazingly impressive and there is little doubt that he can compete with anyone in the division already. Although some were disappointed with Usyk taking his time it seemed clear to us that he wanted some rounds under his belt before moving towards a world title bout. On the same card fans also saw former world champion Andriy Kotelnik (32-4-1, 13) take an 8 round decision over Alexander Benidze (13-15-2, 6). Although not a major bout it was Kotelnik's first contest in over 4 years and we were big fans of him when he was an active fighter. Another former world champion who picked up a win in an 8 rounder was Britain's Ricky Burns (37-4-1, 11) who beat Alexandre Lepelley (17-2-1, 3) in what was his first win since losing his WBO Lightweight title to Terence Crawford earlier this year. Although Burns failed to shine we were very impressed by Josh Warrington (19-0, 3) who claimed the European Featherweight title with a fantastic performance against Italian veteran Davide Dieli (15-4, 5). Warrington stopped Dieli in 4 rounds to record his 3rd stoppage in 4 bouts and it seems perfectly clear that he is finding his "man strength". Whilst Burns and Kotelnik both kept their careers alive with wins it wasn't a great day for former world champions in American and Mexico. In the US fans saw former Light Heavyweight kingpin Chad Dawson (32-4-0-1-1, 18) suffer a huge shock loss to Tommy Karpency (24-4-1, 14). Dawson, who has now won just 1 of his last 4, must be considering his future. This was a close loss but he's not the fighter he once was, in fact he's not even close to being the fighter he used to be. Dawson's loss was on the same card an a solid bout between Vanes Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21) and Willie Nelson (23-2-1, 13). What made the bout enjoyable was the fact Nelson did almost nothing a boxer should do. Nelsons' flaws were exploited time and time again by Martirosyan who looked far from special himself. It was a strange but engaging bout between two fringe contenders in the Light Middleweight division, though neither look like they are real world class. The main event on the US card was a real dud as IBF Super Featherweight champion Rances Barthelemy (21-0-0-1, 12) took a clear but dull victory over the light punching Fernando David Saucedo (52-6-3, 8). The bout was a world title fight and whilst Barthelemy is world class he's also very dull to watch when he can't impose himself early. We wish that Barthelmy had been in with someone with some power and bite though we suspect he'll be doing what he can to avoid a real fight as opposed to fighting a feather fisted but tough survivor like Saucedo. Another world title bout took place in Mexico as WBC Featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48) stopped Jorge Arce (64-8-2, 49) in a disgusting mismatch that really left no one looking good. Arce looked like an old an broken man whilst Gonzalez looked like someone who should have been fighting a much better better opponent. It really was disgusting that the WBC allowed this one. On the same card in Mexico we saw Adrian Estrella (19-0, 17) boost his growing reputation as he took a dominant win over former world champion Celestino Caballero (37-6, 24). Caballero was dropped hard several times as Estrella strolled to a dominant decision. Caballero did well to see out the distance but was never really in the bout and it would seem plausible for Estrella to be put in line to fight the winner of the upcoming WBC Super Featherweight title fight between Takashi Miura and Edgar Puerta, a bout that will take place in November. (Image courtesy of Notifight.com) October 4th-Barthelmy and Gonzalez go into title defenses whilst Caballero fights for career10/2/2014 It appears after a few slow weeks of fights that we are now set to get things kick started once again and this coming Saturday is a great example of what we have to look forward to through the coming month, a month that genuine looks to be an amazing one. One of this weekend's upcoming bouts attempts to take out one of the contenders from the Super Featherweight division as unbeaten IBF champion Rances Barthelemy (20-0-0-1, 12) attempts to defend his title for the first time. The Cuban "Kid Blast" may have had to win two fights to win the belt, follow a controversial ending to the first contest, but now seems set to make up for lost time and will be taking on the highly regarded and very experienced Fernando David Saucedo (52-5-3, 8). We'll admit we did hope that it would be Barthelmy against Michael Farenas, though this bout isn't a terrible even if the winner is a very predictable one. Saucedo isn't a bad fighter but he doesn't have the tools to bother Barthelemy who should be too rangy, too fast and too power for the challenger. Hopefully Farenas will get the winner of this one in early 2015. A second world title bout takes place in Mexico as WBC Featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (56-8, 47) defends his belt against legendary warrior Jorge Arce (64-7-2-1, 49). It's almost 2 years ago that Arce was battered, beaten and destroyed by Filipino star Nonito Donaire and to think that Arce has managed to get another world title bout says more about his name, especially with the WBC, than his performances since. At his peak Arce was one of the sports great action men and his wars will long live with fans whether they remember him losing to Michael Carbajal or defeating Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Sadly Arce's peak was years ago and he's now a shadow of what he once was. Gonzalez, who famously stopped Hozumi Hasegawa, may not be a truly sensational boxer but he's as heavy handed as they come and shouldn't need long to finish off Arce's dreams and career. At least we hope it'll end Arce's career that probably should have ended several years ago. On the show as the Gonzalez/Arce bout is a possible "breaking out" bout for the unbeaten and very heavy handed Adrian Estrella (18-0, 17). Estrella is seen as one of Mexico's most promising young prospects and he'll be hoping to announce himself on the world stage as he battles against former world champion Celestino Caballero (37-5, 24) in a battle for the WBC FECARBOX Super Featherweight title. The bout is an incredibly significant one and winner here will move incredibly close to a WBC world title shot with Takashi Miura whilst the loser could well find themselves tossed on the boxing scrap heap. For Caballero this is a must win bout, a loss here and his career is effectively over. One other bout we want to make a note of is in Ukraine where the fast rising Oleksandr Usyk (4-0, 4) battles against Daniel Bruwer (24-5, 21) in a bout for the interim WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title. A win here would shoot Usyk in to the WBO world rankings and his dream of setting a Cruiserweight record fro fewest fights to become a world champion would become a clear possibility. The Ukrainian looks like a sensational fighter and we'd tip him to easily claim a Cruiserweight world title and he shouldn't struggle with Bruwer here. (Image courtesy of our friends at www.notifight.com) It's not often that we get Saturday's that are busy but low profile. Days that look like total mismatch but yet deliver some good back and forth action and days that end with us all viewing fighters different to how we began the day, whether that's for better or for worse. The fighter who took the biggest "hit" in terms of what we think of them was Adonis Stevenson (24-1, 20) who retained his WBC Light Heavyweight though looked like a totally different man who had impressed so many fight fans last year. In 2013 Stevenson blasted opponents away for fun mowing through 4 fighters in a combined 20 rounds. Those victories had seen him becoming "Fighter of the Year" and being viewed as potentially the best Light Heavyweight on the planet and one of the sports biggest punchers. The reputation of Stevenson didn't scare Poland's Andrzej Fonfara (25-3-0-1, 15) who twice pulled himself off the canvas to give Stevenson his toughest bout in years and in fact dropped Stevenson in round 9. Although Fonfara did lose he seemed to come out of the night as a man heading upwards whilst many will be questioning what Stevenson really has in the tank. From this performance it was little wonder Stevenson wanted nothing to do with Sergey Kovalev who would have to be favoured if the two men did in the next year or two. Fonfara wasn't the only man to impress on the show in Canada as the much touted, and very exciting, Middleweight contender David Lemieux (32-2, 30) put on a stunning performance. Lemieux was fighting recent world title challenger Fernando Guerrero (26-3, 19) and made Guerrero look like a 4th round fighter. Lemieux battered, bruised, cut and broke up Guerrero in 3 vicious rounds that left Guerrero being bounced off the canvas and badly cut before finally being stopped. It was genuinely sensation from Lemieux who appears to want a WBO world title fight later this year. Stevenson wasn't the only world champion in action as Mexico's Jhonny Gonzalez (56-8, 47) successfully defended his WBC Featherweight title with a technical decision over the previously unbeaten Clive Atwell (12-1-1, 7). Atwell was taking a huge step up in class and did, at times, manage to make life difficult for the big punching Gonzalez though the Mexican's experience helped him through any issues thrown his way as he built up a big lead on the score cards. Unfortunately the bout failed to reach a natural conclusion after Gonzalez was cut from a clash of heads sending us to the scorecards which all had Gonzalez comfortably in the lead. On a second Mexican we saw a new "world champion" crowned in the Super Flyweight division as Mexico's talented David Sanchez (25-2-2, 19) claimed the WBA "interim" title. Sanchez was given a tougher than expected contest with Venezuela's Breilor Teran (13-10-1, 6) who proved to be much better than his record indicated despite losing a unanimous decision to Sanchez. As with the Stevenson/Fonfara bout the loser here probably came out with enough confidence and credit to feel like they could well give anyone in the world a hard night's work. With the victory for Sanchez he becomes the top contender to the WBA Super Flyweight and could well emerge as the next man on the radar of current world champion Kohei Kono of Japan. Despite a Kono/Sanchez bout being one we'd love to see there are some murmurs out there that a Sanchez/Koki Kameda fight is more likely, at least for now. Given the promotional issues with the Kameda clan a bout against Sanchez in Mexico could well take place later this year as Koki Kameda looks to re-establish himself as a force on the world stage. On the same card as Sanchez's win fans also got to see the triumphant return to action for the very popular Jackie Nava (29-4-3, 13) who stopped Alys Sanchez (12-2-1, 4) and claimed the WBA female interim Super Bantamweight title. This was Nava's first fight since 2012, after having had a child, though her class was on show as she faced a woman who simply wasn't in her league. We'll say that Alys Sanchez was lucky in the fact Nava was coming back from a break or this could have become rather nasty. Nava was down herself in the opening round and we'd hasten to suggest that wouldn't have happened had it not been for the long break. Also on this show former world champion Edgar Sosa (50-8, 30) made his return to the ring following his loss to Akira Yaegashi last year. Sosa was triumphant here as he defeated Omar Salado (24-8-2, 15), who retired at the end of round 4. Sosa now looks likely to campaign at Super Flyweight and whilst he's certainly got the skills to hold his own we do wonder if he has the size needed to really compete at the top level at 115lbs. (Image courtesy of groupe Gvon Michel) Some days just look like they will be fun. The days may be full of mismatches but they look like fun mismatches with fighters we don't mind watching. This Saturday is likely to be one of those days. The biggest fight, by far, this weekend will see the big punching WBC Light Heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (23-1, 20) defending his title against Polish challenger Andrzej Fonfara (25-2-0-1, 15). Stevenson is a man who was being lined up to fight Russia's Sergey Kovalev though it appears that bout is now off the table after a lot of disagreements from the promotional teams of the two men. Instead it appears that Stevenson will be looking for Bernard Hopkins, if he's successful here. Stevenson is a monster puncher and was one of the revelations of 2013. Sadly for Fonfara he's probably on to a hiding to nothing, albeit a high profile hiding. With the power of Stevenson it's hard not to image that this will be fun. On the same Canadian card we're expecting an enjoyable clash between fringe contenders David Lemieux (31-2, 29) and Fernando Guerrero (26-2, 19). Both men are flawed and very limited but together they should manage to put on an entertaining, albeit shot lived, Middleweight scrap. Also on this same card is a clash between the world ranked Eleider Alvarez (14-0, 8) and the once beaten Alexander Johnson (15-1, 6). Alvarez made some enemies last time he was in the ring by acting like a spoilt brat. We're hoping that Alvarez doesn't just retain his unbeaten record but also shows some new found maturity. Whilst the most significant show of the day is in Canada it's not the only show with some bouts of interest. In fact we have two other notable shows in Mexico. The most significant single bout on those show's is in Acapulco convention center as WBC Featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (55-8, 47) makes the first defence of the title he won from Abner Mares last year. Gonzalez is facing the unbeaten but unknown Clive Atwell (12-0-1, 7) from Guyana. Atwell is ranked #12 by the WBC and is on an 11 fight winning streak though his competition to date has been obscure to say the least and it's hard to imagine anything but a Gonzalez victory here. On the other Mexican card of note, in Baja California, we get two world title bouts. The most interesting of those is, oddly, a female bout as the returning Jackie Nava (28-4-3, 12) battles WBA female interim Super Bantamweight champion Alys Sanchez (12-1-1, 4). Nava hasn't fought in well over a year, having had a child in that time, though will be favoured to over-come Venezuela's Sanchez, who actually lost in a non-title bout last time out. This is a bout that looks interesting due to Nava's long lay off, though if "La Princesa Azteca" is half the fighter she was back in 2012, she wins this bout with out any major issues. On the same card is a WBA interim Super Flyweight bout that sees the talented David Sanchez (24-2-2, 19), no relation to Alys, taking on the limited Breilor Teran (13-9-1, 6). The "vacant" interim title is almost being gift wrapped for the WBA #3 ranked Sanchez here with Teran somehow holding a #9 ranking. We'll be honest and say we'd rather have seen Sanchez battle the WBA regular champion Kohei Kono than cheapen the WBA belts with this mismatch though with a strong rumour that we;ll be seeing Kono defending against WBA's top ranked challenger Koki Kameda we do understand why Sanchez is being given a WBA title fight, even if we do view it as a mismatch. (Image courtesy of Groupe Yvon Michel) |
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
Categories
All
|