The one big show this coming Friday comes from Illinois and features a host of notable fights. The most significant of the bouts will see WBA Light Middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (20-2-2, 12) defending his title against the popular, but fundamentally limited, Delvin Rodriguez (28-7-4, 16). Lara, who was widely criticised for his style against Canelo Alvarez, is likely to try and make a statement here and may well set off with bad intentions against Rodriguez who is exciting but several levels below Lara. There is guaranteed excitement at Light Heavyweight as the big punching Artur Beterbiev (8-0, 8) takes on Alexander Johnson (16-2, 7). Johnson may not be a big name but he has gone the distance with Luis Garcia and Eleider Alvarez and may well be the toughest test that Beterbiev has faced so far. Saying that we do expect the Russian destroyer to get his 9th straight stoppage win. Another Light Heavyweight bout will see rising contender Eleider Alvarez (16-0, 9) take on Anatoliy Dudchenko (19-3, 13) in what should be a straight forward win for the Canadian based Colombian. An interesting Heavyweight bout will see Poland's popular Artur Szpilka (18-1, 13) battle against veteran Manuel Quezada (29-9, 18). Szpilka is continuing his rebuilding following a loss to the talented Bryant Jennings and although the win here should be a formality it's still a good step in the right direction for the exciting Polish fighter.
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This past Saturday was an amazing day for boxing fans with a fantastic show in the US. The show, one of the best of the year, at least on paper, was thoroughly interesting but sadly not always the most entertaining. The show, at least the televised portion of it, kicked off with an enthralling WBO Bantamweight title fight that saw Tomoki Kameda successfully defending his title and leaving an excellent impression on US fans. The fight, which ended when Tomoki landed a brutal body shot to Pungluang Sor Singyu, should have been impressive enough to impress US audiences in to wanting to see more of Tomoki. Following the all-Asian show starter we then had the fight of the night as Mauricio Herrera (21-4, 7) took a majority decision over Johan Perez (19-2-1, 13) and claimed the WBA interim Light Welterweight title. The fight, which was action packed through out, swung several times as the two men unloaded shots on each other in a high paced and highly skilled contest that was genuinely enjoyable. The action from the Herrera/Perez was great to watch but neither guy had the power to really hurt the other and as a result it never looked like we were going to get a stoppage, though Perez was rocked very late in the fight. In the contest that followed however there was no chance the contest was going to go the distance as all action Francisco Vargas (20-0-1, 14) stopped the hard hitting but very shop worn Juan Manuel Lopez (34-4, 31). Lopez was rocked hard in the second round before being dismantled in round 3 by a very sharp Vargas who seemed to announce himself on the world stage. Sadly for Lopez this was another painful loss and it seems time that he called quits on his career before he ends up with serious long term health issues. Sadly the excitement all vanished in the very next fight as Abner Mares (27-1-1, 14) put on a controlled but dull performance to over-come Jonathan Oquendo (24-4, 16). This was Mares first bout since being blasted out in a round by Jhonny Gonzalez and although that set back was a bad one the tactics Mares used in this fight really were disappointing for the most part. In the main event of the show fans saw the hugely popular though very divisive Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (44-1-1, 31) take a highly disputed split decision over Cuba's Erislandy Lara (19-2-2, 12). The bout saw Lara boxing and moving for vast parts of the fight whilst Alvarez stalked with mixed results. The men both felt their tactics had seen them controlling the bout though in all honesty no one truly "controlled" it with plenty of rounds that could be debated. Sadly one judge managed to see the fight 117-111 to Alvarez, a result that simply didn't make sense, despite the numerous close rounds. Each man seemed to clearly win 4 rounds with their tactics whilst the remaining 4 were up for debate. The only thing that the fight really told us is that whilst both men were evenly matched Canelo struggles with movers and Lara struggles with body shots. Sadly the 117-111 card in the Alvarez/Lara fight as well as the draw card in the Herrera/Perez fight and a card of 58-56 to Pungluang, prior to the stoppage, all leave major question marks about judges and we wonder if they were watching the same fights as our selves Prior to the American card fans also had the chance to watch some fights from the UK. These including a bout with Super Featherweight contender Stephen Smith (20-1, 12) who looked terrible against journeyman Pedro Navarrete (28-19-3, 17). Navarrete is better than his record indicated but Smith really was awful and if he's thinking about fighting Takashi Miura he probably needs to think again or he'll end up badly beaten. On the same British card we had a trio of Olympic medal winners including Super Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (7-0, 7), who stopped veteran Matt Skelton (28-9, 23) in a bout that saw Skelton looking his 47 years of age, and Luke Campbell (6-0, 4) who sadly looked lacking in his decision victory over the brave Craig Woodruff (5-4, 2). The main action on the British show was in the Cruiserweight as we had two bouts of note. The first saw former WBO Light Heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (28-1, 14) make light work of the limited but fun Alejandro Emilio Valori (15-5, 11) whilst the second saw the big mouthed Tony Bellew (22-2-1, 14) stopping Brazil's Julio Cesar Dos Santos (26-3, 23). Both the visitors came with the intention of scoring a KO but neither had the ability against the more well known British fighters who are now set to face each other, in fact they almost had an impromptu fight last night, suggesting that neither man had had to work hard enough to score their wins. (Image courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions) One thing boxing is lacking right now is a number of real stars in the sport. Sure we have some international names such as Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao but it's hard to argue that there is a lack of them. On man who is hoping to become the next megastar of the sport is Mexico's Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (43-1-1, 31) who looks to re-establish his claim as one of the most exciting men in boxing this weekend when he takes on WBA Light Middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12) in a non-title fight. Alvarez is a Mexican icon but one who seems to really split the general fan base of the sport with many feeling he has been given opportunities based on his marketability as opposed to his actual talent. This bout however could prove he is as talented as he is marketable and could convince many that he is as good as people say. A win for Lara however will see the "American Dream" likely becoming the man fans will be demanding to see fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. For a non-title fight this is a major contest for both men involved in the bout. On the same card as the Alvarez/Lara bout we find several other interesting contests. One of those is the WBO Bantamweight title bout between Tomoki Kameda and Pungluang Sor Singyu whilst another is a WBA interim Light Welterweight bout between Johan Perez (19-1-1, 13) and Mauricio Herrera (20-4, 7). Perez, a skilful Venezuelan, was the first man to defeat Japanese slugger Yoshihiro Kamegai whilst Herrera, a skilled American, recently schooled Danny Garcia in one of the most controversial bouts of the year and holds a win over Ruslan Provodnikov. Although the bout is likely to be a very technical affair both guys can be fun to watch and do throw plenty meaning this could be an entertaining high speed chess match between two practitioners of boxing and moving. Whilst the Perez/Herrera bout will be technical the same cannot be said for the bout between former 2-weight world champion Juan Manuel Lopez (34-3, 31) and Francisco Vargas (19-0-1, 13). Puerto Rico's "Juanma" is a crude, hard hitting and exciting fighter but is also a man on a serious downslide in regards to his ability to take a shot. Vargas, an unbeaten Mexican, is stepping up in class for this fight but has looked excellent in recent contests and will be viewed by many, including ourselves, as a very live under-dog. One more bout on this card features former 3-weight world champion Abner Mares (26-1-1, 14). Mares, who was linked to Takashi Miura earlier this year, will be facing Puerto Rico's Jonathan Oquendo (24-3, 16) in what should be a comfortable return to action after a notable lay off following his first career defeat, an opening round stoppage to Mexican puncher Jhonny Gonzalez. Whilst the card of the day is in the US there is also a show in the UK that is being viewed as a "set up" card as opposed to one with any sort of competitive match up. The idea seems to be to match former WBO Light Heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (27-1, 13) and Tony Bellew (21-2-1, 13) up against each other, as long as they both get past their tests here. For Cleverly his test comes in the form of Argentina's Alejandro Emilio Valori (15-4, 11) and from what we understand Valori isn't a tough guy and even the light hitting Cleverly should be able to see off his challenge inside the distance. For Bellew the challenger is 36 year old Brazilian Julio Cesar Dos Santos (26-2, 23) who, unsurprisingly, has been beaten by his only "name" opponent. (Image courtesy of http://www.goodrichqualitytheaters.com and Golden Boy Promotions) |
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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