This coming Saturday sees a number of great fights in the US with 3 world title bouts and and another really mout watering match up.
On paper the bout of the night is to take place in California where power punching Argentinian Lucas Martin Matthysse (37-3-0-1, 34) takes on unbeaten Ukrainian boxer Viktor Postol (27-0, 11) in a bout for the WBC Light Welterweight title. This is a puncher Vs boxer bout and really could see both men go through some spells, however the result really depends on whether Postol can make Matthysse respect him or not. If Postol's jab can be effective then he could well claim the title here, if not Matthysse will likely score a late stoppage again the talented, but light punching, Ukrainian. On the same card in California fans will see the all action Antonio Orozco (22-0, 15) take on Mexican veteran Humberto Soto (65-8-2-1, 35), who is fighting for the 77th time! Whilst we've loved following Soto's career we're expecting his 35 year old body to simply wear away here against the very aggressive Orozco who will be hoping to announce himself on the world stage with a win here. A second US show, in Ohio, features a couple of world title bouts in what could end up being a very entertaining show. The main event sees local enigma Adrien Broner (30-2, 22) take on Russian fighter Khabib Allakhverdiev (19-1, 9) in a bout for the vacant WBA Light Welterweight title. Both men come in to this one following a loss last time out but should make for a good match up together. Broner, looking for a 4th divisional world title, will likely need to let his hands go more than he has in recent bouts, whilst Allakhverdiev will be looking to become a 2-weight world champion but will know that he needs to dominate to win. This really could be something brilliant to watch. In the co-feature IBF Super Featherweight champion Jose Pedraza (20-0, 12) will be defending his belt against the in form Edner Cherry (34-6-0-1, 19). On paper it's hard to bet against the wonderful Pedraza who can box, brawl, fight or move however if there is a weakness it could be his chin and Cherry, who has won his last 6, can certainly punch at 130lbs. This could be a shut out for Pedraza or it could be a knockout for Cherry, it really is one of those bouts where one punch could see the title change. Saying that however we're expecting to see Pedraza retain his title.
0 Comments
This Saturday is a really exciting day for fight fans with notable bouts taking place on both sides of the Atlantic.. Much of the action comes from the US with the first really exciting bout Stateside coming from Hidalgo, Texas where former Lightweight champions collide as Omar Figueroa (24-0-1, 18) takes on Ricky Burns (37-4-1, 11). Coming in to this bout Burns looks like he is on the downlide whilst Figueroa looks like he's a very dangerous fighter but one who is set to be plagued by serious hand issues in the not so distant future. We suspect Figueroa runs over burns but we're not sure how far he'll go at Light Welterweight. In Houston, Texas, we have more notable action with a mouth watering main event bout between Saul Alvarez (44-1-1, 31) and James Kirkland (32-1, 28). Alvarez is widely tipped as the favourite for the bout though Kirkland has the power to potentially test the Mexican star in what should be a brilliant contest. In the co-feature the unbeaten Frankie Gomez (18-0, 13) battles against veteran Humberto Soto (65-8-2-1, 35) in a real cross road fight for both men. Gomez is stepping up in a big way though Soto knows a loss will be the end of his dreams of becoming a 4-weight world champion. Really good match up. In Germany we have an interesting double header. The main event there will see Felix Sturm (39-4-3-1, 18) battle against heavy handed Russian slugger Fedor Chudinov (12-0, 10) for the vacant WBA Super Middleweight title. The 36 year old Sturm is in a must win situation whilst Chudinov, the younger brother of Dmitry Chudinov, knows a win will help him break out into being a serious threat at 168lbs. The co-feature will see Jack Culcay (19-1, 10) battle against Maurice Weber (21-1-1, 8) for the WBA interim Light Middleweight title. Culcay was a notable amateur though has frustrated since turning professional we do however understand Culcay getting this level of opportunity. Weber on the the other hand has achieved very little and it's difficult to see how he's getting this shot. In the UK fans get a disappointing card that features some notable names in serious mismatches. Among those is a contest between Olympic champion Anthony Joshua (11-0, 11) and Raphael Zumbano Love (36-10-1, 29), with Heavyweight hopeful Joshua expecting to get a 12th straight stoppage, fellow Olympic champion Luke Campbell (10-0, 8) battling against Aboubeker Bechelaghem (9-6-1) and the very promising Callum Smith (15-0, 11) battling against Olegs Fedotovs (19-21, 13). Notably Kal Yafai (14-0, 9), who was originally announced to be fighting Rey Megrino, has remained on the card though will be fighting the tough but very limited Isaac Quaye (27-10-1, 18). It's very rare in boxing that we see the fighters regarded as the male and female pound-for-pound #1's in action on the same day though that's exactly what we got this Saturday and although both won their bouts they each did so in distinctly different ways. The first pound-for-pound ruler to be in action was boxing queen Cecilia Braekhus (26-0, 7) who made history by becoming the first ever female fighter to unify the so-called "Big 4" world titles. Braekhus's was as dominant as they come as she thoroughly out boxed, out punched and out classed Ivana Habazin (13-2, 5) to add the IBF female Welterweight crown to her collection of the WBA, WBC and WBO belts. Whilst we know female boxing is the "second class citizen" of the boxing world Braekhus still deserves full credit for achieving something only previously done by Bernard Hopkins, who did the same in the Middleweight division. Universally regarded as the #1 pound for pound fighter without a "Y" chromosome Breakhus is a genuinely special fighter who really has no equal in, or around, her division. Several hours after Braekhus had shown off her skills to her loyal Scandinavian fans we then got the chance to see the male pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather (47-0, 26) in action. Mayweather was fighting just his second ever rematch as a professional and was battling against Argentina's Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31). The first fight between the two had been great, competitive and exciting with both showing their dirty sides in what was a genuinely good bout. This time around however the fight lacked something as referee Kenny Bayless became too involved, breaking the men repeatedly through the course of 12 rounds. The breaking was not only killing any chance of Maidana making the bout competitive but also breaking any flow of the bout which was haunted by holding throughout. Over the course of the 12 rounds Mayweather did more than enough to retain his WBA and WBC Welterweight crowns and even hinted at a Pacquiao bout next time out, it was clear however that he is not the fighter he once was. We'll be controversial and state that we don't think Mayweather actually is the #1 any more, in fact we tend to feel that Nicaraguan sensation Roman Gonzalez is the top fighter irregardless of weight. If you've not seen the little Nicaraguan terror you're really missing out on one of the sports truly terrific offensive fighters. Prior to the Mayweather bout there had been 4 televised bouts, 3 of which were part of the pay-per-view broadcast. The first of the televised bouts from the card saw the show's most exciting bout as former world champion Humberto Soto (65-8-2-1, 35) out pointed the all-action John Molina (27-5, 22) in a thoroughly fun, though foul filled, bout. The fight saw Soto using his experience and edge in skills to clearly win a number of rounds against the one dimensional Molina however the bout also saw numerous low blows. The low blows saw deducted 2 points and Soto deducted 1 point. Despite the low blows and deductions the bout was really good and a brilliant way for Soto to prove he is still relevant on the world scene. The first of the PPV bouts again saw low blows as James De la Rosa (23-2, 13) scored a career defining victory over the now shot looking Alfredo Angulo (22-5, 18). We loved watching Angulo in the past though he looked a shadow of his former self and was dropped in round 2 by De la Rosa en route to a relatively one sided loss. Angulo was deducted a point for low blows in round 7 and although he made a strong comeback in the final rounds he was a clear, clear, loser of the 10 round non-title bout. Although we did love watching Angulo in his prime we really wish to see him, and for what it's worth Juan Manuel Lopez, retire before taking more punishment. "El Perro" is no longer a marauding beast of a man and is actually going to take a lot of damage if he continues to get in the ring, even against limited fighters. Sadly the second bout on the PPV was among the worst bouts we've seen this year. The bout saw Mickey Bey (21-1-1-1, 10) take a very controversial split decision win over Miguel Vazquez (34-4, 13) to claim the IBF Lightweight title. The bout a real stinker and we'd suggest using it as a cure for insomnia, or a torture method for captured enemy spies, trust us they would break if you showed them this fight on a loop. Although the bout was a stinker it's action, or rather lack of, was massively over-shadowed by the frankly disgusting card of Robert Hoyle who awarded the bout to Bey with a score of 119-109. The bout had been close and although we felt Vazquez had won it was close. To hand in a score of 119-109 for the bout isn't just questionable but it looks as close to corrupt as any card in recent memory. Genuinely atrocious bout with an atrocious score card. The penultimate PPV bout, prior to the Mayweather/Maidana bout, saw WBC Super Bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (28-0-1, 16) make very light work of the over-matched and under-sized Manuel Roman (17-3-3, 6). Roman was stopped in the second round of what was really a farce. For those who paid the PPV price for the Mayweather show, we feel really sorry for you and hope that the American scene will wake up and realise it's killing it's own fan base. PPV it's self isn't terrible but a poor quality product at an over-inflated price, as we had tonight, is awful for the sport and we'd not be surprised if this PPV seriously failed to deliver the numbers hoped for. Hopefully a poor number of sales will help either reduce the cost of the sport or even help move bigger fights back to the cable networks, afterall the sport is growing in countries where the fights aren't on PPV, countries like Germany and Japan being notable examples and both being able to interest a huge fan base. As well as the action in Denmark and the US we also had action from the UK as WBA Super Bantamweight champion Scott Quigg (29-0-2, 22) successfully defended his title with a 3rd round stoppage of Belgium's Stephane Jamoye (26-6, 16). Jamoye, known for his relatively recent loss to Shinsuke Yamanaka, took the fight to Quigg though was out muscled, over-powered and eventually stopped with a sickening body shot. On paper a 3rd round TKO over Jamoye does look impressive for Quigg, though Jamoye was a late replacement for Paulus Ambunda and got only around 3 weeks notice for the fight. Quigg seemed to hint at a possible clash with Carl Frampton though in all honesty we'd steer Quigg away from that fight as we'd strongly favour the Northern Irishman who looks the more complete fighter by far. Saying that there are plenty of interesting fights Quigg could have, such as a battle with Leo Santa Cruz, Chris Avalos or Shingo Wake, all of which would be very good bouts. (Image courtesy of Badlefthook.com) Some days are marked on your calendar weeks, if not months, in advance. It's fair to say boxing fans world wide marked September 13th on their calendars weeks ago due to the day being one of the most important boxing days of the year. The importance of the day can be summed up in one word. "Mayweather". That's because American mega-star Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26) returns to the ring to defend his WBA Welterweight title and his WBC titles at both Welterweight and Light Middleweight against Argentina's big punching Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31). The fight is a rematch from their contest this past May, a bout that saw Mayweather narrowly beating Maidana in one of the toughest bouts of Mayweather's career, and although many Mayweather to win it's obvious that Maidana has the ability and attitude to make life difficult for the American fighter. Whilst the main event is well worth getting excited about the rest of the show looks lacklustre to say the least. One of the chief support bouts will see the talented and unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz (27-0-1, 15) defending his WBC Super Bantamweight title against the limited and much smaller Manuel Roman (17-2-3-1, 6). Roman is a capable fighter but not a world class one and he has gone 3-2-2 in his last 7 bouts with only Randy Caballero really being a notable opponent during that stretch of bouts. With sounding harsh really expect Santa Cruz to mow Roman down inside 7 rounds and it's a huge shame Santa Cruz couldn't get a more notable opponent in the ring such as Shingo Wake or even Shinsuke Yamanaka who was talking about a bout with Santa Cruz earlier this year. Another world title bout on this show will see the talented but frustrating Miguel Vazquez (34-3, 13) defending his IBF Lightweight title against the well schooled but unexciting Mickey Bey (20-1-1-1, 10). Bey, for all his skills, lacks power and has serious question marks over his chin. Vazquez also lacks power but has the ability to neutralise opponents strengths. With the fighters involved we expect this one to be a sleep inducing contest so if you're staying up for the main event you may want a few coffees prior the Vazquez/Bey bout which we think could cure insomnia. Although the main support bouts are disappointing we are looking forward to an under-card bout between Mexican veteran Humberto Soto (64-8-2-1, 35) and the limited but fun John Molina (27-4, 22). We had hoped to see Molina fight a rematch with Lucas Martin Matthysse though this isn't a bad alternative given the styles of the two men involved. The Santa Cruz/Roman bout isn't the only Super Bantamweight title bout of the day and in the UK British fans will get the chance to see WBA champion Scott Quigg (28-0-2, 21) defend his belt against Belgian fighter Stephane Jamoye (26-5, 16). Jamoye, who recently fought Shinsuke Yamanaka, will be moving up in weight for this bout though we do actually expect an interesting bout here. Quigg is naturally bigger that Jamoye though the Belgian is rarely in a bad fight and there is a chance these two will go toe-to-toe for a few rounds of real excitement before Quigg's natural strength over-comes Jamoye. In a female bout in Germany fans will get the chance to see an historic contest as the great Cecilia Braekhus (25-0, 7) attempts to add the IBF female Welterweight title to her collection of belts and complete the set. In the opposite corner to Braekhus will be current IBF champion Ivana Habazin (13-1, 5) who will be looking to score the biggest win of her career. With the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF titles all up for grab here this bout is arguable as important to female boxing as the Mayweather/Maidana bout is to boxing in general. (Image courtesy of http://www.mydish.com) In a night dominated by world cup football it was easy to overlook the boxing that took place around the world. Thankfully the fighters themselves didn't forget about their jobs and a number of them put on genuinely sensational performances as they showed that, even when boxing takes a back seat, it's still the live action theatre of dreams, excitement and action. Of course not all dreams end with a fairytale ending and for Englishman Brian Rose (25-2-1, 7) he got a very painful lesson as he fought in his long awaited WBO Light Middleweight world title fight against the unbeaten Demetrius Andrade (21-0, 14). Rose was made to look like one of the weakest mandatory challengers in a long time as he was battered from pillar to post. Although brave Rose had nothing to trouble the American who teed off at will with power shots before referee Michael Griffin stepped in to save the out matched Brit. Although Rose failed in his dream of becoming a world champion the fight was on the same show as Chris Algieri's fight with Ruslan Provodnikov which saw Algieri's dream of becoming a world champion and, with the performance he gave, becoming one of the few guys who is must watch despite lacking real power. Staying on the subject of WBO title fights there was also one in Mexico as Alejandro Hernandez (28-10-2, 15) upset the much touted and highly entertaining Daniel Rosas (17-2-1, 11) to claim a WBO title at Bantamweight. Sadly we're confused as to what what title Hernandez actually won as it appears to have been the "vacant" WBO Bantamweight title, according to the WBO's own website, yet the WBO have also got a listed mandatory title fight between Tomoki Kameda and Pungluang Sor Singyu. Tomoki is still listed on the WBO's "our champions" page though that's little help to us given that Provodnikov is also listed. We were assuming that the bout was an interim title fight but will be awaiting verification one way or another from the WBO. As for the actual bout it was Rosas's second loss in succession, having previously been stopped in a thrilling encounter with Rodrigo Guerrero in what is still one of the best fights of the year so far. Sadly that fight appears to have left Rosas looking like half the fighter he once was. As for Hernandez this was a great win and his second notable win this year having previously beaten Marvin Mabait. On the same show as Hernandez's win there was also a foul filled victory for Mexican legend Jorge Arce (64-7-2-1, 48) who defeated Jorge Lacierva (41-10-6, 27). From what we understand Lacierva damaged his clavicle and was forced to retire in the corner, prior to that the bout was a street fight and looked more like pub brawl than a boxing contest. The victory for Arce should lead him to a fight with WBC Featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez and if that fight is made it really won't be a tough one for Gonzalez who should flatten Arce with ease. The best performance on the same Mexican show wasn't a title fight but was instead an IBF Super Flyweight title eliminator between former world champion Hernan "Tyson" Marquez (37-5, 26) and former world amateur champion McJoe Arroyo (15-0, 8). Arroyo, stepping up in a big way, dominated Marquez who was dropped 4 times before eventually being stopped in round 11 as Arroyo confirmed his potential in a big way. This was MArquez's 3rd stoppage loss in 5 fights and it appears his wars have caught up with him. Arroyo's next assignment will be watching his twin brother McWilliams Arroyo battle against unbeaten Filipino Froilan Saludar. Following that McJoe will be turning his attention too Japan ahead of Teiru Kinoshita's bout with Zolani Tete for the vacant IBF Super Flyweight title. The winner of that bout, at the Portopia Hotel, will have McJoe as their mandatory challenger and that's a daunting proposition for which ever man wins the title on July 18th. One other bout of note took place on a second Mexico card and saw former multi-weight world champion Humberto Soto (64-8-2, 35) out point Wilfrido Buelvas (15-2, 9). Buelvas was dropped in the opening round and never really managed to make the bout look competitive as Soto took a clear decision victory. To go full circle Soto continues to chase his dream of claiming a world title at Light Welterweight and appears likely to get an opportunity sooner rather than later. (Image courtesy of notifight.com) Whilst the highlight of the weekend is clearly the WBO Light Welterweight bout in New York between Ruslan Provodnikov and Chris Algieri we do actually get several very interesting bouts in Mexico and the US The most exciting looking of the Mexican bouts will see the always fun to watch Hernan Marquez (37-4, 26) battling against the unbeaten, but untested, McJoe Arroyo (14-0, 7) in an IBF Super Flyweight title eliminator. Effectively the winner of this bout becomes the top contender to the excellent match up between Teiru Kinoshita and Zolani Tete on July 18th and would make for another very interesting match up no matter who wins. On the same show as the Marquez/Arroyo bout we get another interesting looking bout as Alejandro Hernandez (27-10-2, 15) battles against Daniel Rosas (17-1-1, 11) in a bout that looks likely to be very entertaining. Rosas will be looking for a bounce back win following his loss to Rodrigo Guerrero in what was one of the best fights of the year whilst Hernandez will be looking to build on his victory, last time out, against Marvin Mabait. This has the potential to be the fight of the weekend. There are conflicting reports as to how significant this bout is with reports that it's a bout for the WBO Interim Bantamweight title, whilst the poster it's self states it's only a 10 round contest. If it's a WBO interim title bout then the winner will be set to face the winner of the upcoming Tomoki Kameda/Pungluang Sor Singyu contest. This same Mexican card also features the return to the ring of the always entertaining Jorge Arce (63-7-2-1, 48) who will be fighting against Jorge Lacierva (41-9-6, 27). Although not a great bout it is one with real star power courtesy of Arce and, as is always the case when "Travieso" steps in the ring, this should be entertaining. On a separate show in Mexico fans will get the chance to see the highly regarded Humberto Soto (63-8-2, 35) battle against Wilfrido Buelvas (15-1, 9) in what will be Soto's 3rd defence of the WBC International Silver Light Welterweight title. Over in the US, on the same show the Provodnikov/Algieri bout we get another world title contest as WBO Light Middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade (20-0, 13) defends his belt against mandatory challenger Brian Rose (25-1-1, 7). We'll admit it's hard to see Rose winning but we've also got to concede we don't rate "Boo Boo" Andrade particularly highly and think this is a "second tier" world title bout due to the fact the WBO want a champion at the weight. Should be a decent contest but nothing compared to the Provodnikov which has the potential to be a really fun to watch contest. (Image courtesy of notifight.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
December 2015
Categories
All
|