We'll admit we sometimes get over-excited about things. Boxing is one of those sports that really can get exciting just because of the anticipation of an event. Unfortunately this past weekend saw our hopes and dreams fall down to earth with an almighty crash and our realisation that this is boxing and things never go as we hope they do. On Saturday morning British Heavyweight giant Tyson Fury (22-0, 16) was forced to pull out of his clash with fellow giant Alexander Ustinov (29-1, 21) following a family member falling "gravely" ill. This should have for told the weekend really because it was disappointment, after disappointment for the most part. The Fury/Ustinov fight had been one of two Heavyweight clashes that we were excited about. The other was a WBC eliminator between Bryant Jennings (19-0, 10) and Mike Perez (20-1-1, 12). Unfortunately this potentially exciting bout turned into a bit of a damp squib after an out of shape Perez blew himself out after about 6 rounds and spent half the fight holding, spoiling and generally doing all he could to prevent an exciting contest. Perez was eventually punished for breaking the rules with a deduction in round 12 that sealed the fight in favour of Jennings by split decision. One thing that was clear from this result is that neither man should be thinking about getting in the ring with Wladimir Klitschko or Bermane Stiverne, at least not for the time being. On the same card as the Jennings/Perez bout we did get some excitement as Anthony Caputo Smith (15-4, 10) took the fight to Ola Afolabi (21-3-4, 10) in an exciting but one sided bout. Smith came out with the intention of forcing Afolabi to work and that's what he did eventually busting up the face of Smith to the point of the Dr stopping the bout. In fairness there was also a good bout in the UK as Billy Joe Saunders (20-0, 11) claimed the European Middleweight title with a stoppage against Emanuele Blandamura (22-1, 5). It was a competitive fight and a good win for Saunders and following the bout it seemed to be strongly hinted that British fans would be getting a bout between Saunders and Chris Eubank Jr. The bout is likely to sell to the British public though we've not been that impressed by Eubank who scored an easy win on the under-card against a totally mismatched opponent. Whilst the disappointment of the Heavyweight bouts would usually have stuck out as the lowest part of the weekend we need to admit that we actually had something even worse in Germany. Manfred Kuechler. The German referee appeared to make 2 very poor and highly controversial calls to help protect home fighters on a card that perhaps threw German boxing back in to the dark ages. The first poor call came in a female bout between Christina Hammer (18-0, 8) and Sophie Anne Mathis (27-4, 23). Mathis appeared to knock out Hammer with a series of shots whilst Hammer was holding her arm though the referee decided the shots had been illegal and awarded Hammer the victory by DQ in a result that sent the French boxing press into a frenzy. Unfortunately for Mathis her misfortune was hidden behind another poor decision from Kuechler who awarded a TKO victory to Robert Steiglitz (47-4, 27) in his bout against Sergey Khomitsky (29-11-2, 12). Khomitsky had problems with his tape and the referee, knowing Steiglitz was struggling, seemed to take the opportunity to stop Khomitsky rather than risk Steiglitz suffering a major loss. (Image courtesy of SES)
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This coming Saturday is a day that has some really interesting action with some very notable bouts in both the UK and the US. One of the most notable bout which was scheduled for the weekend was to be a Heavyweight rematch between the unbeaten Tyson Fury (22-0, 16) and and Dereck Chisora (20-4, 13). Sadly Chisora has suffered an injury however Fury will fight on the card and will battle man mountain Alexander Ustinov (29-1, 21) in what looks like a genuine clash between giants. In another interesting bout on the UK card fans will get the chance to see unbeaten Middleweights colliding as Billy Joe Saunders (19-0, 10) fights Emanuele Blandamura (22-0, 5) in a European title fight. The contest is an interesting bout on paper though we tend to feel that Blandamura is up against it here considering that he's travelled from Italy, though he did win in Germany last time out. Whilst Britain's card is long, and interesting, the card of the day is in New York. The main event on this card is the WBA Middleweight "super" title fight between Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Geale. The Middleweight title fight is great though the support bouts are equally as interesting. One of the support bouts is a Heavyweight clash between unbeaten fighters as Bryant Jennings (18-0, 10) battles against Mike Perez (20-0-1, 12) in what appears to be a very good fight. Not only is this good on paper but it's also meaningful and the winner will be set for a WBC Heavyweight title fight giving a extra motivation to both men. Another of the bouts will be at Cruiserweight as former world title challenger Ola Afolabi (20-3-4, 9) takes on American Anthony Caputo Smith (15-3, 10). This bout, a 10 rounder, won't have a title or even a big opportunity on the line but will a must win for both men who will be aware that a loss could be the end of their title dreams. A third interesting card takes place in Germany where we have a very interesting male bout and a potentially thrilling female world title bout. The male bout will see former WBO Super Middleweight world champion Robert Steiglitz (46-4, 26) taking on the under-rated Sergey Khomitsky (29-10-2,12) in a bout for the WBO Inter-Continental Super Middleweight title. Steiglitz is hoping to secure another world title fight somewhere down the line whilst Khomitsky is looking to build on his big upset win over Frank Buglioni last time out. We have to favour Stieglitz on paper but Khomitsky is certainly a live under-dog. In a female bout the sensational Christina Hammer (17-0, 8) will be attempting to claim a 3rd divisional title as she takes on hard hitting French woman Anne Sophie Mathis (27-3, 23) in a battle for the vacant WBO female Light Middleweight title. Many seem to feel that a win here for Hammer could help us move towards a European female super fight between Hammer and Cecelia Braekhus, a bout that is effectively a dream fight and the female version of Manny Pacquiao Vs Floyd Mayweather. (Image courtesy of boxnation) |
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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