The most significant fight for us on Friday was in Argentina as Juan Carlos Reveco (34-1, 18) successfully defended his WBA Flyweight title with a very, very hard fought victory over Felix Alvarado (18-2, 15). The bout was almost everything we enjoy, it had action, it had both men unloading, it had exchanges and it had momentum shifts that saw the bout swinging one way and then the other.
Unfortunately for Alvarado he wasn't quite able to over-come Reveco's home field advantage and, after having 2 points deducted, he fell just short of the victory that would have boosted him into the mix at the top of the division. Alvarado, who had previously lost in a world title fight last year to Kazuto Ioka, looked an improved fighter to the one who fought Ioka. Whilst still overly aggressive Alvarado seemed more refined here as he took the fight to Reveco and hurt him several times in a fight that will see some Nicaraguan fans calling for a rematch. For Reveco however a rematch will be the last thing on his mind and he has already been linked to fights with Kazuto Ioka, Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep, Noknoi Sithipraset and Suguru Muranaka. Certainly some options out there for the defending champion. Whilst the Flyweight title bout was the most significant it was far from the only on of note with a notable Heavyweight bout taking place in France. This bout, for the WBC Heavyweight Silver title, saw the French based Carlos Takam (30-1-1, 23) announcing himself on the world stage with a very impressive victory over former 2-time world title challenger Tony Thompson (39-5, 26). Takam should the advantages of youth and aggression as he out worked Thompson who really did look his age for the first time. Thompson, who came into this bout on the back of a victory over Odlanier Solis, will now likely forget his dream of having another world title fight and instead look to get the best paydays before he waves good buy to the sport. One other bout that caught our eye was in the US as former amateur stand out Ievgen Khytrov (5-0, 5) stopped Chris Chatman (12-4-1, 5). The knockout was a thing of beauty from the highly Khytrov, though we can't help but think he's regressed since turning professional. He still appears to be a very physically strong fighter but his skills have certainly gone backwards since his days of winning the 2011 World Amateur Champions, incidentally beating Ryota Murata in the final. We hope his team can work on his defensive flaws which are becoming more apparent after every fight.
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Weekends in boxing are often strange things. Sometimes, as with last week, they are packed with more fights than we can possibly remember. Other weekends only a few bouts stand out as being genuinely significant. This weekend certainly falls between the two with very little of note on Friday and only one or two really interesting bouts on Saturday. The only world title bout on Friday night takes place in Argentina as WBA Flyweight champion Juan Carlos Reveco (33-1, 18) takes on the exciting Felix Alvarado (18-1, 15). Reveco, who is somewhat known to Asian fans due to his victories over Nethra Sasiprapa and Masayuki Kuroda. Although not one of the elite Flyweights he is a very capable fighter with a nice body attack and he does a lot of things well without being exceptional at many things. As for Alvarado he's well known to Japanese fans for his loss, late last year, to Kazuto Ioka in a bout that was thoroughly compelling viewing. Of the two we tend to feel Reveco is the better all round boxer but Alvarado has the style in which he could make life difficult for the champion in what could be a thrilling contest. As well as the world title bout we do have some very interesting contests, including a Heavyweight bout in France that will see the promising Carlos Takam (29-1-1, 23) taking on former 2-time world title challenger Tony Thompson (39-4, 26). Thompson is going though a bit of an Indian summer in his career with victories over David Price and Odlanier Solis in the last 18 months. As for Takam he proved his skills when he fought Mike Perez last year and was very unfortunate not to come away with a victory. With the merits of both men we cannot disagree with the way the WBC have put their "Silver" title on the line for this bout and we hope it will create a genuine contender for the WBC title. In South Africa we get two IBF international title bouts with some significance. One of those bouts will see former IBF Super Featherweight champion Malcolm Klassen (27-6-2,14) battling against compatriot Jasper Seroka (23-4, 10) whilst the other will see emerging Cruiserweight contender Thabiso Mchunu (16-1, 11) fighting against Brazilian Julio Cesar Dos Santos (26-2, 23). Whilst Klassen has to be favoured over Seroka we think this should be the more competitive bout and with the winner likely to get a fringe world ranking the bout could prove to be significant to a number of Asian fighters in and around the 130lb weight class. As for Mchunu and Dos Santos it's hard to see Dos Sanots winning but he'll likely throw plenty of shots playing into the counter-punching ability of Mchunu who many are tipping as a future world champion in the Crusierweight division. We do like Mchunu a lot and think this really is little more than a showcase bout for him. One bout in the US that we're interested in will be a Middleweight contest between former world amateur champion Ievgen Khytrov (4-0, 4) and Chris Chatman (12-3-1, 5). We were big fans of Khytrov when he was as wrecking ball amateur and he looked sensational when he beat Ryota Murata in the 2011 World Amateur Championships but we feel he has regressed since turning professional. This bout however is his first real test as a pro and should tell us a lot about where he's going in the future. He should beat Chatman but it's a very credible step up in class. (Image courtesy of boxrec.com) 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) 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) |
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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