Boxing still seems to be relatively quiet at the moment with very little in terms of notable action really taking place. Thankfully this weekend does have some fights of note in both the US and the UK. For us the most notable of the bouts takes place state side with the highlight being that of Brazilian Esquiva Falcao (0-0), pictured. The Brazilian, who won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic games before losing in the final to Ryota Murata, kicks off his professional by fighting against Joshua Robertson (5-4, 1) in a 6 rounder. If Esquiva adapts to the professional ranks like Murata did then it's hard to see him struggling at all. Staying in the states we have 2 other interesting bouts. One of those sees Diego Magdaleno (24-1, 9) fighting against Jorge Pazos (14-6-1, 8). Diego Magdaleno, who fought in Macau last year, is world ranked by both the IBF and WBO and may be looking for a world title fight by the end of the year. We'd be shocked by anything but a Magdaleno victory, especially when you consider that Genesis Servania completely dominated Pazos just a few fights back. Diego's young brother Jessie Magdaleno (17-0, 13) will also be on the card as he takes on the big hitting Roberto Castaneda(20-5-1, 15). On paper this looks like a really explosive contest though unfortunately Castaneda has been stopped 4 times in his 5 losses including 3 times in his last 4 bouts. On paper it looks great but in reality it seems to be very much a one-sided contest. Over in Britain it's the Heavyweight division that stands out with 2 notable Heavyweight contests. One of those will see the ever-entertaining Dereck Chisora (19-4, 13) fighting against America's very frustrating Kevin Johnson (29-4-1, 14) whilst the other will see the gigantic Tyson Fury (21-0, 15) attempt to over-come the huge hitting Joey Abell (29-7, 28). For Chisora we're expecting to see him just simply out-work Johnson who is best known for being "lazy" in the ring, despite actually being very talented. As for Fury however he's had a lot going on in his life recently that could well have thrown him off this fight mentally and as a result it's a highly interesting bout and a potential banana skin. We'd be shocked by the upset but can sort of see it coming. Last, but not least, is a bout in Mexico that as caught our eye. This bout sees former Minimumweight and Light Flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez (37-0, 31) in a stay busy contest against Juan Kantun (21-5-3, 15). It's expected that Gonzalez will take care of Kantun quickly before fighting on April 6th in Japan and then fighting later in the year against Akira Yaegashi in a WBC Flyweight title fight. This fight could well be a mismatch but it's always a joy to watch Chocolatito and if he's going to have a busy year then it's hard to complain with an easy bout here.
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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. With the winder Olympics kicking off it's obvious that boxing isn't the top of many people's agenda right now. Thankfully though there was a trickling of interesting bouts from Mexico this past weekend with several having potential knock on effects to Asian fighters. The most notable bout of the weekend saw WBC Light Flyweight champion Adrian Hernandez (29-2-1, 18) scoring an expected victory over the over-matched Janiel Rivera (10-2-2, 6). We couldn't understand what Rivera had done to deserve a title fight and the class difference between the two was obviously despite the fact Janiel did try. With the victory being a relatively easy 3rd round TKO for Hernandez it wouldn't be out of the question for him to return to the ring in April or May in either a voluntary defense against Naoya Inoue or a unification bout with WBA champion Kazuto Ioka, both of whom are desperate for a big bout to start 2014. We dare say that it goes down to who will offer Hernandez a better deal between those two men though we do fancy both to beat Hernandez who is pretty decent but nothing spectacular, despite this performance. On the same show as Hernandez's title defense we also saw the very promising Julio Ceja (26-1, 24) in action. As with Hernandez, Ceja did as expected as he recorded a 4th round stoppage over Jesus Acosta (14-3-2, 10). Ranked by the WBC, IBF and WBO Ceja is a serious title threat and could well find himself in the ring with Shinsuke Yamanaka, Ryosuke Iwasa, Tomoki Kameda or Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat somewhere down the line and we'd certainly not complain about most of those bouts. Whilst both Ceja and Hernandez did what was expected of them, the biggest story of the night was that Miguel Beltran Jr (28-3-0-1, 18), a top ranked Super Featherweight, failed to do what was expected of him. In 2012 Beltran gave Roman Martinez a genuinely tough contest, this time around however he was stopped by teenage sensation Carlos Diaz Ramirez (13-0, 7) in a bout that has likely ended Beltran's title dreams whilst shooting Ramirez into title contention. Before the stoppage Beltran was dominant and and looking at this contest Ramirez doesn't have the experience to really compete with the likes of Takashi Uchiyama, Takashi Miura or Daiki Kaneko. Saying that though he will certainly be in at least 1 world ranking when they are next updated. When we think of the Light Flyweight division we think about the way Asia are dominating it. It may sound silly but 3 of the 4 major title holders are Asian and most of the top contenders are as well. The one champion who isn't from Asia is of course Mexican Adrian Hernandez (28-2-1, 17), the WBC champion. Hernandez is certainly a man who is being targeted by numerous Asian fighters but unfortunately this weekend he won't be fighting one of those but will instead be taking on unheralded Puerto Rican Janiel Rivera (10-1-2, 6). Hernandez, best known to us for his two bouts with Kompayak Porpramook, is a decent fighter but looks like the weakest of the champions at 108lbs. Even though he's far from the best champion we still imagine he'll manage to get past Rivera who is yet to score any sort of a notable victory. The winner of Hernandez/Rivera will be targeted by the likes of Naoya Inoue, who is wanting a world title in his 6th professional bout, and Kazuto Ioka, who is hoping to unify belts this year. The Hernandez/Rivera bout is one of two world title bouts on this show with the other one, a WBA female Bantamweight, looking just as much of a mismatch as Irma Garcia (8-1-1, 1) defends her belt against the very limited Nazly Maldonado (1-3). We've got to say that this is one of the most disgusting world title bouts in history and it really can't be defended in any which way. One other bout on this same Mexican card that is worth noting is one between the highly ranked Bantamweight Julio Ceja (25-1, 23) and Jesus Acosta (14-2-2, 10). It's hard to see Ceja losing but we would advise keeping an eye on him. Ceja is a genuine Bantamweight contender with serious power and at just 21 years old he seems like a guy who could be around for a while. He's younger than the likes of Suriyan Sor Rungvisai, Ryosuke Iwasa, Pungluang Sor Singyu and Tomoki Kameda though he will likely have to face one of those fighters if he's to ever become a world champion in a division that Asia does seem to be on the verge of dominating. This biggest fights this past weekend, not involving Asians, took place Denmark and the UK and with out trying to sound harsh, most of the boxing world missed them due to the lack of wider coverage. For us the biggest fight took place in Denmark as Female boxing queen Cecilia Braekhus (24-0, 7) continued to dominate. Braekhus, widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in female boxing, schooled French challenger Myriam Lamare (22-4, 10) as she retained her WBA, WBC and WBO Welterweight titles in impressive fashion. Unfortunately for Braekhus her victory will do little to get her competitive fights with the "First Lady" having seemingly beaten everyone in and around her weight. Whilst Braekhus was the stand out fighter there was some interesting action in the UK where we had two bouts of real note. The first of those two contests was a domestic title eliminator in the Lightweight division between former world title holder Gavin Rees (37-4-1, 18) and fellow Welshman Gary Buckland (28-3, 9). The fight was as pulsating a war as we've seen this year with both men giving their all in the first "Fight of the Year" contender. Unfortunately the decision went against the popular opinion and many, including ourselves, feel Buckland was very lucky to get the nod. The other bout saw world ranked Featherweight Lee Selby (18-1, 7), pictured, stopping former world title challenger Rendall Munroe (27-4-1, 11). Munroe, best known to us for his decision loss to Toshiaki Nishioka, wasn't at the races at all and although the stoppage was a poor one by referee Ian John-Lewis there only ever looked like one man was going to win this one. Interestingly Selby is ranked by all 4 world bodies and has his pick of choices as to which to pursue, unfortunately though none are going to be easy to win and it could be 12-18 months before he even gets a world title fight. |
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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