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)
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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) In a night dominated by world cup football it was easy to overlook the boxing that took place around the world. Thankfully the fighters themselves didn't forget about their jobs and a number of them put on genuinely sensational performances as they showed that, even when boxing takes a back seat, it's still the live action theatre of dreams, excitement and action. Of course not all dreams end with a fairytale ending and for Englishman Brian Rose (25-2-1, 7) he got a very painful lesson as he fought in his long awaited WBO Light Middleweight world title fight against the unbeaten Demetrius Andrade (21-0, 14). Rose was made to look like one of the weakest mandatory challengers in a long time as he was battered from pillar to post. Although brave Rose had nothing to trouble the American who teed off at will with power shots before referee Michael Griffin stepped in to save the out matched Brit. Although Rose failed in his dream of becoming a world champion the fight was on the same show as Chris Algieri's fight with Ruslan Provodnikov which saw Algieri's dream of becoming a world champion and, with the performance he gave, becoming one of the few guys who is must watch despite lacking real power. Staying on the subject of WBO title fights there was also one in Mexico as Alejandro Hernandez (28-10-2, 15) upset the much touted and highly entertaining Daniel Rosas (17-2-1, 11) to claim a WBO title at Bantamweight. Sadly we're confused as to what what title Hernandez actually won as it appears to have been the "vacant" WBO Bantamweight title, according to the WBO's own website, yet the WBO have also got a listed mandatory title fight between Tomoki Kameda and Pungluang Sor Singyu. Tomoki is still listed on the WBO's "our champions" page though that's little help to us given that Provodnikov is also listed. We were assuming that the bout was an interim title fight but will be awaiting verification one way or another from the WBO. As for the actual bout it was Rosas's second loss in succession, having previously been stopped in a thrilling encounter with Rodrigo Guerrero in what is still one of the best fights of the year so far. Sadly that fight appears to have left Rosas looking like half the fighter he once was. As for Hernandez this was a great win and his second notable win this year having previously beaten Marvin Mabait. On the same show as Hernandez's win there was also a foul filled victory for Mexican legend Jorge Arce (64-7-2-1, 48) who defeated Jorge Lacierva (41-10-6, 27). From what we understand Lacierva damaged his clavicle and was forced to retire in the corner, prior to that the bout was a street fight and looked more like pub brawl than a boxing contest. The victory for Arce should lead him to a fight with WBC Featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez and if that fight is made it really won't be a tough one for Gonzalez who should flatten Arce with ease. The best performance on the same Mexican show wasn't a title fight but was instead an IBF Super Flyweight title eliminator between former world champion Hernan "Tyson" Marquez (37-5, 26) and former world amateur champion McJoe Arroyo (15-0, 8). Arroyo, stepping up in a big way, dominated Marquez who was dropped 4 times before eventually being stopped in round 11 as Arroyo confirmed his potential in a big way. This was MArquez's 3rd stoppage loss in 5 fights and it appears his wars have caught up with him. Arroyo's next assignment will be watching his twin brother McWilliams Arroyo battle against unbeaten Filipino Froilan Saludar. Following that McJoe will be turning his attention too Japan ahead of Teiru Kinoshita's bout with Zolani Tete for the vacant IBF Super Flyweight title. The winner of that bout, at the Portopia Hotel, will have McJoe as their mandatory challenger and that's a daunting proposition for which ever man wins the title on July 18th. One other bout of note took place on a second Mexico card and saw former multi-weight world champion Humberto Soto (64-8-2, 35) out point Wilfrido Buelvas (15-2, 9). Buelvas was dropped in the opening round and never really managed to make the bout look competitive as Soto took a clear decision victory. To go full circle Soto continues to chase his dream of claiming a world title at Light Welterweight and appears likely to get an opportunity sooner rather than later. (Image courtesy of notifight.com) Whilst the highlight of the weekend is clearly the WBO Light Welterweight bout in New York between Ruslan Provodnikov and Chris Algieri we do actually get several very interesting bouts in Mexico and the US The most exciting looking of the Mexican bouts will see the always fun to watch Hernan Marquez (37-4, 26) battling against the unbeaten, but untested, McJoe Arroyo (14-0, 7) in an IBF Super Flyweight title eliminator. Effectively the winner of this bout becomes the top contender to the excellent match up between Teiru Kinoshita and Zolani Tete on July 18th and would make for another very interesting match up no matter who wins. On the same show as the Marquez/Arroyo bout we get another interesting looking bout as Alejandro Hernandez (27-10-2, 15) battles against Daniel Rosas (17-1-1, 11) in a bout that looks likely to be very entertaining. Rosas will be looking for a bounce back win following his loss to Rodrigo Guerrero in what was one of the best fights of the year whilst Hernandez will be looking to build on his victory, last time out, against Marvin Mabait. This has the potential to be the fight of the weekend. There are conflicting reports as to how significant this bout is with reports that it's a bout for the WBO Interim Bantamweight title, whilst the poster it's self states it's only a 10 round contest. If it's a WBO interim title bout then the winner will be set to face the winner of the upcoming Tomoki Kameda/Pungluang Sor Singyu contest. This same Mexican card also features the return to the ring of the always entertaining Jorge Arce (63-7-2-1, 48) who will be fighting against Jorge Lacierva (41-9-6, 27). Although not a great bout it is one with real star power courtesy of Arce and, as is always the case when "Travieso" steps in the ring, this should be entertaining. On a separate show in Mexico fans will get the chance to see the highly regarded Humberto Soto (63-8-2, 35) battle against Wilfrido Buelvas (15-1, 9) in what will be Soto's 3rd defence of the WBC International Silver Light Welterweight title. Over in the US, on the same show the Provodnikov/Algieri bout we get another world title contest as WBO Light Middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade (20-0, 13) defends his belt against mandatory challenger Brian Rose (25-1-1, 7). We'll admit it's hard to see Rose winning but we've also got to concede we don't rate "Boo Boo" Andrade particularly highly and think this is a "second tier" world title bout due to the fact the WBO want a champion at the weight. Should be a decent contest but nothing compared to the Provodnikov which has the potential to be a really fun to watch contest. (Image courtesy of notifight.com) |
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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