This past weekend wasn't just a busy one in Asian boxing but also international boxing with Saturday having a number of very interesting contests.
For us the pick of those contests came from Germany as former world champions collided in what turned out to be a thrilling contest between two men who had contrasting styles that jelled wonderfully. That bout saw former multi-time Middleweight champion Felix Sturm (39-4-3-1, 18) fighting to a split draw with former Super Middleweight title holder Robert Stieglitz (47-4-1, 27). The bout seemed to be an unofficial eliminator to fight WBO Super Middleweight champion Arthur Abraham but on this performance no one would mind at seeing a rematch instead considering how great the action was in what was probably the fight of the weekend. Although the Sturm Vs Stieglitz bout turned out to be a genuine thriller that wasn't the biggest shock of the weekend, that came in the USA as "World Kid" Sadam Ali (21-0, 13) scored a highly unexpected stoppage victory over Argentina's heavy handed Luis Carlos Abregu (36-2, 29) and claimed the WBO Inter-Continental Welterweight title. Going in it was expected that either Ali would boxing to a decision or Abregu would score a stoppage, instead Ali did it all and dominated the boxing in the early moments before dropping Abregu in round 6. Abregu tried to fight back after the first knockdown but was stopped in the 9th as Ali made a statement and genuinely announced himself on the world stage. In Poland fans saw former 2-weight world champion Tomasz Adamek (49-4, 29) suffer his second loss this year as he was out pointed by compatriot Artur Szpilka (17-1, 12). Szpilka, a much younger and fresher man, appeared too fast for Adamek who's age and long career has simply caught up on him and we suspect retirement looms for the likable and always entertaining Polish fighter.
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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) |
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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