So far the "PBC" has been a mixed bag. It's given us big name fighters in relatively uneven match ups and lesser name fighters in some brilliantly matched bouts. There has been a huge wave of support by fans of the project and massive damnation by those who are against. Whilst both sides have their merits we've got to say that we've really enjoyed the "B level" action, the bouts with out the bigger names. We get one of those later today as well as a bout with a big name in what appears to be another mismatch. The mismatch in question will see Britain's Amir Khan (30-3, 19) take on Chris Algieri (20-1, 8). On paper it looks an interesting bout, especially with both men having been former world champions at 140lbs. However fans and the bookies have viewed this as a mismatch with Khan a 1/12 favourite. In all honesty that seems about right with Khan being a more skilled, bigger punching, faster fighter. Algieri is a big and tough fighter but one who has to be considered as the big under-dog coming in to this bout. Then again he usually is the under-dog when he faces a "name" fighter. For us the much, much, better bout is a WBA "regular" Super Featherweight title bout between the once beaten Costa Rican Bryan Vasquez (34-1, 18) and heavy handed Dominican Javier Fortuna (27-0-1, 20). This bout looks like it really could be something special with the explosive Fortuna up against a technically sound, tough and hard working foe. On paper we favour Vasquez who has mixed with better company, and holds a win over Sergio Thompson, though the bookies have really struggled to split the two men in what looks to be a possible contender for fight of the weekend. Interestingly the winner of this will sit behind Japan's Takashi Uchiyama on the WBA's list of champions, and could be a potential opponent for "KO Dynamite" later in the year. Vasquez however has been beaten by Uchiyama already in his career and would likely not be in a rush to rematch the Japanese puncher.
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This past Saturday didn't feature much in terms of interesting international action but did feature two bouts of note, both on the same show.
The first of those was a Super Featherweight contest between explosive Dominican Javier Fortuna (26-0-1-1, 19) and frustrating Puerto Rican Abner Cotto (18-3, 8). On paper it looked interesting though in the ring it became a calamity as the referee simply lost the plot. He ruled Fortuna down from a clear rabbit punch and deducted Fortuna a point for missing a punch after the bell-that forced Cotto to dive to the canvas with a major delayed reaction. It farcical and a comedy of errors that eventually came to an end in round 5 when Fortuna took out Cotto in eye catching style to maintain his unbeaten record. There is hope that Fortuna will meet one of the top Asian guys at 130lbs next year though the odds are that he'll continue to frustrate us all with fights like this as opposed to "real" fights. The more interesting bout on the show was a Light Heavyweight bout between former world title challenger Andrzej Fonfara (26-3-0-1, 15) and the tough Doudou Ngumbu (33-6, 12). The bout may not have been a classic but it was really solid with Fonfara trying to break his tough opponent through the 10 rounds which were well fought though relatively 1-sided with Fonfara just having too much of everything for Ngumbu. All the big fights this weekend seem to be coming from the same show as the boxing world turns it's attention to Chicago for a Warriors Boxing card that could very easily be mistake for a UN meeting of various nations. The card, which features two Japanese fighters, has a genuine host of international talent. Of course our primary interest in the show is the WBO Bantamweight title bout between Tomoki Kameda and Alejandro Hernandez whilst Koki Kameda's US debut is also a major talking point. Aside from those two we do still feel excited about the show. The main bout of note is a Light Heavyweight clash between Chicago based Polish fighter Andrzej Fonfara (25-3-0-1, 15) and unknown Frenchman Doudou Ngumbu (33-5, 12), who is originally from the Congo. Fonfara should be a recognisable fighter courtesy of his world title bout earlier this year against Adonis Stevenson, a bout that saw Fonfara giving Stevenson a real test but coming up short. Whether he can perform equally as well here against a lesser known opponent is a big question though the show does seem angled towards giving him a hero's return to his adopted home town. Ngumbu will be attempting to play the role of the party pooper, just as he did last year when he upset Vyacheslav Uzelkov in Ukraine. This is a tough ask for Ngumbu but it's likely an opportunity that he knows could open major doors for him in 2015. Another really interesting bout on this card will see the unbeaten Javier Fortuna (25-0-1-1, 18) of the Dominican Republic battle against Puerto Rican hopeful Abner Cotto (18-2, 8) in a promising Super Featherweight bout that could decide which of the men becomes a world title challenger in 2015. Fortuna, a former WBA interim champion at Featherweight, has gone from looking sensational to awful. In bouts against Yuandale Evans and Cristobal Cruz he looked sensation whilst against Patrick Hyland he Luis Franco he looked frustrating. We're unsure how he would fit into the title picture though we suspect that he's the type of guy who will likely be splattered when he fighters a genuine strong Super Featherweight. As for Cotto his career has been a bit of a roller coaster recently with losses to Omar Figueroa and Francisco Vargas both being serious set backs that have been wiped over by a recent win over Jerry Belmontes. It's real cross roads fight and the loser may be need to give a serious consideration to where they stand in the sport. (Image courtesy of http://www.warriorsboxing.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
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