Whether you like him or hate him, WBO Super Flyweight champion Omar Andres Narvaez (43-1-2, 23) is an extremely talented and skilled fighter who has remained a world champion constantly over the last 12 years. That is despite the fact that the Argentinian is now 39 years old, in Super Flyweight terms that makes an antique. 

Narvaez retained his title once again this past Friday night with an excellent victory over Mexico's young, bigger and fresher challenger, Felipe Orucuta (29-3, 24).

The men were meeting for the second time after Orucuta had given Narvaez an incredibly tough test back in 2012, pushing Narvaez to a controversial split decision. This time however the only controversy was whether or not Pat Russell had been wearing classes or had a drink prior to the fight.

Narvaez started well and seemed to be clearly in charge through 5 rounds as he used his speed to gain a notably lead on the scorecards. Orucuta, to his credit, was trying but seemed to be well out classed by the talented and diminutive Argentinian who used his high guard and counter left hands to great effect. At many times early in the bout it seemed the men were in different leagues.

Through the middle rounds Orucuta managed to put his foot on the gas and for a few rounds managed to do enough enough to silence the champion who was put under serious pressure and seemed to struggle to reply. For a few moments it looked like the 39 year old champion was struggling with the pace, much like he had in their first meeting. The comeback looked possible all of a sudden.

Orucuta's success however was short lived and in round 10 Narvaez took over again winning the final 3 rounds clearly as a tired looking Orucuta struggled to mount any sort of a sustained attack. On our card it was a clear, though well fought, win for Narvaez though somehow all 3 judges had it as a thoroughly competitive bout with scorecards of 116-112 to Narvaez, twice, and a frankly laughable 114-114 scorecard from the previously mentioned Pat Russell who appeared to have been watching something different to everyone else.

Although this was a majority decision in the record books it really wasn't that close and Narvaez didn't deserve to have anything but a unanimous decision.

It's worth noting that Narvaez looked much better than Srisaket Sor Rungvisai did some 20 or so hours earlier. Srisaket, a former WBC champion at Super Flyweight, looked somewhat rusty in his bout with Zoren Pama. Although we'd like to see the Thai battle against Narvaez, today's performance would suggest that the Argentinian would be a clear favourite.

(Image courtesy of the 13th round)

WBO Super Flyweight champion Omar Andres Narvaez (42-1-2, 23) has held world titles for well over a decade. He's now 39 but he is still one of the sports most hidden fighters, despite a high profile, though dull, loss to Nonito Donaire back in 2011. In his long reign as WBO Flyweight and Light Flyweight champion very few fighters have managed to really test the Argentinian who is often a wonder to watch, especially given his age.

The one man who has ruffled Narvaez's feathers and given him a very tough night in the ring is Mexico's big, strong and heavy handed Felipe Orucuta (29-2, 24). 

The two men met back in May 2013 and for one of the first times in his career Narvaez was forced to really dig deep to retain his title. He was pushed all the way by a hungry young lion ready to take his crown.

This Friday the two men meet for the second time in what is the day's stand out bout, by a huge margin. 

Since their first fight Narvaez has gone 3-0 (3), including a victory over Japan's Hiroyuki Hisataka. Despite being 39 he does look a "young" 39 in the ring, still capable of throwing sharp and long combinations with blurring speed. As for Orucuta he has gone 2-0 (1) and although his wins have lacked any sort of name value he will still be the younger, bigger, fresher fighter. At 28 he is more than a decade younger than the champion and he will have several inches of height and reach advantage over over Narvaez.

Whilst we won't pick a winner for this one we do need to say that this looks like a great fight and if you can watch it, we advise you do. It may be the end of Narvaez or further proof of what the "Hurracan" can do, and just how much he deserves a place in the HOF after he retires, it may be the crowning glory of a fun to watch Mexican warrior or it may be the last stand of an aging great. Fantastic bout, just a shame there are no other bouts of note.

(Image courtesy of http://fecorbox.blogspot.co.uk)

This past Saturday was one of the most interesting days so far this year in terms of scheduled fights. Unfortunately however the day proved to be better on paper than it was in reality with very few fights living up to their promise and very few fighters really shining like they could have done.

The biggest disappointment of the night came in Quebec, Canada in easily the most anticipated fight of the year so far. In one corner there was Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17), a Haitian born Canadian based fighter who had been the WBC Light Heavyweight champion, whilst in the other corner was Lucian Bute (31-2, 24) a Romanian based in Canada who had previously held the IBF Super Middleweight title. The fight, viewed as potentially the biggest Canadian fight in history, was disappointing from the off with both men looking nervous and struggling to get in to any sort of a groove. Unfortunately the nerves took a long time to wear off and this meant there was very little clean action from either man for long swathes of the fight.

The fight was meant to set up an opponent for a bout with for Adonis Stevenson though Pascal, who took the victory, looked unwilling to commit to that bout and instead seemed to hint at a rematch. Unfortunately after this stinker we can't imagine fans wanting to see a re-do. Interesting we also can't see either man wanting to be the next victim of Russian puncher Sergey Kovalev who, on this showing, would dismantle either man.

The same card also saw a disappointing Heavyweight performance from Mike Perez (20-0-1, 12) who gave a lackluster performance in a draw with Carlos Takam (29-1-1, 23). The bout was supposed to be a chance for Perez to build on his victory over Magomed Abdusalamov, unfortunately however it appears that that bout took it all out of Perez who looked mentally done as a fighter. The Perez/Abdusalamov fight, late last year, left the Russian in a coma and it seems that Perez has been seriously effected by that which is a shame considering how great he had looked in that fight.

Staying with the Quebec card for just a moment a moment longer. There was another televised Light Heavyweight contest. This one saw Canadian based Colombian Eleider Alvarez (14-0, 8) take a hard fought decision over the tough Andrew Gardiner (10-1, 6). This bout was meant to be a show case for Alvarez though unfortunately for the Colombian he failed to really impress and actually managed to turn fans against him by the end of the contest. Considering his potential and skills this was highly disappointing from Alvarez.

Outside of Canada we had 2 fights, not involving Asian's, that were of interest in Mexico. One of these saw the highly ranked Felipe Orucuta (29-2, 24) defeating Gabriel Pena (5-5-1, 2), who retired at the start of round 10, whilst the other saw female starlet Yazmin Rivas (29-8-0-4, 9) dominate Calixta Silgado (11-3-2, 8). For Orucuta the fight was likely about staying active and little else, though he certainly didn't impress as some, including ourselves had expected. Rivas however wasn't just out to stay busy but was fighting to force a rematch with Jessica Gonzalez who claim an absolutely robbery against her last year. On her performance Rivas is a fighter that isn't to be messed with in her current mood.

Staying with female action there was a major upset in Argentina as Ana Laura Esteche (10-3-1, 2) ripped the WBA female Light Welterweight title from the previously unbeaten Monica Silvina Acosta (19-1-2, 5). This was probably the shock of the night and one of the biggest shocks of the year so far. One result that wasn't a shock however was in Chile was the wonderfully talented Carolina Rodriguez (11-0, 1) dominated Simone Da Silva Duarte (14-5, 6) to defend her WIBA Bantamweight title.

Whilst we weren't impressed by the fighters in Canada we need to admit that Yazmin Rivas, Carolina Rodriguez and Ana Laura Esteche all deserve a good mention for their performances.

With a number of Asian fighters fighting on Asian soil this weekend we may have been forgiven a little for forgetting about this weekend's international action. Instead however we've actually become rather excited about it and more interestingly is the fact it takes place over several countries, proving that boxing is starting to really get underway for the new year.

For most boxing fans the key fight is in the Light Heavyweight division where we get 3 really interesting bouts all on the same card in Quebec, Canada.

The biggest of those Light Heavyweight bouts is a brilliant match up between Jean Pascal (28-2-1, 17) and Lucien Bute (31-1, 24). Although the bout has the NABF title on the line it's actually a bout that doesn't need any belt at all to sell it with it being the biggest bout one could make in Canada. The fighters have shown a dislike of each other, their fans have shown a general resentment of the other man and the fight it's self is as close to a 50-50 contest as we could have. To be frankly honest this is what domestic level boxing is all about and we really appreciate the promoters for putting it together.

On paper the winner of Pascal/Bute should walk in to a bout with WBC champion Adonis Stevenson, though we'd not be hugely shocked if WBO champion Sergey Kovalev managed to get one of the two men in his next fight as well.

The other Light Heavyweight bouts on the card include 3 very interesting unbeaten fighters. The most notable unbeaten man is Russian's Artur Beterbiev (3-0, 3) who takes on the tough Gabriel Lecrosnier (16-25-3, 1) in what should be a bout to get rounds under Beterbiev's belt. The other bout, an all-unbeaten clash between Eleider Alvarez (13-0, 8) and Andrew Gardiner (10-0, 6) is a bout we love the look of and should be a thriller for as long as it lasts.

One final bout from this Canadian card that we want to talk about is a Heavyweight bout between Cuba's Mike Perez (20-0, 12) and the once beaten Carlos Takam (29-1, 23). Perez, who fought in a tragic bout with Russian Magomed Abdusalamov late last year, will be hoping that that bout doesn't have lingering effects on him, though if it does he could well find his career unwinding here against the dangerous Takam in a bout that does scream "must watch".

Outside of Canada we have a several female bouts that interests us. The most notable is the Super Bantamweight bout in Mexico between Yazmin Rivas (28-8, 9) and Calixta Silgado (11-2-2, 8). This bout, which shares the headline of the card in Jalisco alongside Fernando Lumacad's bout with Horacio Garcia, is only a secondary title bout though really it should be for a world belt with Rivas having been cruelly robbed of her title late last year.

In Chile we have another female Super Bantamweight bout with the unbeaten Carolina Rodriguez (10-0, 1) defending her WIBA title against Brazil's Simone Da Silva Duarte (14-4, 6). Rodriguez, Chile's first ever world champion, is unlikely to really have the big bouts her talent deserves but will be happy in being a national boxing hero.

The final interesting female bout is in Argentina where Monica Silvina Acosta (19-0-2, 5) defends her WBA Light Welterweight title against Ana Laura Esteche (9-3-1, 2). This should be a very easy bout for the highly talented Acosta, though unfortunately she doesn't have too many options in her division and this bout may well be as good as it gets for 2014.

Back to the men, the most interesting bout, other than the ones in Canada, is in Hermosillo, Mexico, as the very highly regarded Felipe Orucuta (28-2, 23) takes on Efrain Perez (16-4, 11). Orucuta, the WBO #1 at Super Flyweight, will be eying up a potential rematch with Omar Andres Narvaez, the WBO champion who beat him via a split decision last year. Of course Orucuta isn't the only man looking to fight Narvaez with Daiki Kameda said to be angling for a fight with him and a loss for the Mexican puncher would see him falling from graces with the WBO and a door being left open to various Asian fighters.

Of course we believe a few Asian fight fans will be tuning in to the Hermosillo show to see the potentially explosive encounter between Marco Demecillo and David Sanchez in what is potentially the best fight of the weekend.

We believe that's all the big international bouts for this weekend and hopefully we'll see a few of the bouts living up to their potential.