Boxing regularly gives it's self a black eye with poor matches, crazy officiating and awful world rankings. Sadly this week we saw Fox Sport 1 in the US give it's self a black eye as it shamefully dropped a world title fight from it's schedule at late notice leaving fans who had expected to see the fight unable to watch it. What didn't help matter was the fact that the bout would then end in controversy leaving us all wondering what exactly went on.
The bout in question was the WBA Bantamweight "super" title bout between long time champion Anselmo Moreno (35-3-1, 12) and unbeaten challenger Juan Carlos Payano (16-0, 8). On paper it was a really interesting bout, in fact it was up there with the most significant bouts Fox would have covered this year. Sadly due to Panamanian TV channel PRC TV not streaming the fight live it left many unable to watch the fight, compounding the issue Fox Sports had caused. The major talking point occurred in round 2 when a clash of heads in round opened up a cut over Payano, a cut that ultimately ended the bout after round 6. The cut wasn't the most fight threatening and it seemed even Payano knew he was going to need to fight to win the title. The challenger showed his fighting spirit in round 3 and 5 as he put his foot on the gas and clowned the champion who had taken rounds 1 and 2 with out too many problems, and round 4 with his body shots. The 6th round however was competitive and left some debate on whether the bout looking interesting as we thought we were set to enter the second half of the fight. Sadly Payano made an issue of the cut, which had worsened as the fight had gone on, and the doctor bought it calling the fight to a halt to the contest and ruling the bout a technical decision. Amazingly all 3 judges had given it to Payano who was crowned the new champion much to the disgust of Moreno who we suspect may appeal the decision or attempt to get a rematch. Sadly whilst Fox Sports gave it's self a black eye, boxing didn't help it's self either. Very disappointing night for all concerned, including Mike Tyson and his "Iron Mike Productions" who were the promoter of the card and of course managed to have their TV date fall through very late on.
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The Bantamweight division is one of the most interesting in Asia right now with the likes of Shinsuke Yamanaka, Tomoki Kameda, Suiryan Sor Rungvisai and Ryosuke Iwasa. Sadly outside of Asia it's not a great division with only a small handful of fighters really worthy of attention. Of that hand there is one man that really, really stands out. Anselmo "Chemito" Moreno (35-2-1, 12) the current WBA "super" champion and one of the truly elite boxer in the sport today. Moreno will be defending his title this coming Friday when he takes on unbeaten Dominican challenger Juan Carlos Payano (15-0, 8) in what looks to be a very good bout on paper. Moreno is a pure boxer with fantastic movement, a brilliant judge of distance and timing and a sharp and busy jab that keeps opponents at bay whilst also opening up opportunities for his heavier shots. Although not a puncher Moreno is sharp enough when he connects to keep opponents honest and he does connect a lot. As for Payano he's a less known and less respected fighter though is talented, an intelligent boxer and when he connects clean, as he did against Filipino Jundy Maraon last year, he can render opponents unconscious. Sadly for him though he's not shown the skills, class or anything else that would make us favour him over the slippery Panamanian champion who is probably the only man in the division who could could give Yamanaka and Tomoki a competitive contest. The bout will be televised in the US and we suggest that if you enjoy pure boxers you should tune in for this one, it's certainly the biggest fight of the day and one that could help shape the Bantamweight division over the next few years. (Image courtesy of http://www.ironmikeproductions.com) It's rare to say this but this past Saturday saw the most interesting international bout of the day being between two females as opposed to their male equivalent. Although it's rare for female boxing to be one of the true highlights of the weekend it did come with a good reason. That's because the bout in question featured former world champion, and Mexican boxing goddess, Mariana Juarez (39-7-3, 16), pictured, fighting against American buzzsaw Melissa McMorrow (9-4-3, 1) in a Super Flyweight contest. The bout, a hard fought one to say the least, saw Juarez just coming out with a narrow unanimous decision in a bout that could easily have gone either way. What it set up for Juarez was a WBC title fight with fellow Mexican Zulina Munoz though with McMorrow retaining her high standard she may be viewed as a potential opponent for another champion possibly even Naoko Fujioka who surely has to be looking to her next fight having taken the WBA belt at 115lbs late last year. As well as the female contest we also saw a few world ranked men in action. The two notable ones were both Dominican. These saw Featherweight hopeful Claudio Marrero (15-1, 11) take an expected decision victory over veteran Jose Angel Beranza (36-29-2, 28) whilst Juan Carlos Payano (15-0, 8) took a decision over the stubborn German Meraz (46-30-1, 25). Unfortunately, as you can tell from the records, both contests were mismatches and between them the Dominican's lost just a round or two. Payano, a Bantamweight prospect, will need to fight top Asian's to get to a world title whilst Marrero, a good Featherweight, will likely have a number of Asian's aiming for his head and the world ranking he holds. (Picture courtesy of boxrec.com) Whilst much of Saturday's important action is in Macau there is a small number of notable bouts taking place elsewhere. The stand out bout, from where we're sat, is in Mexico as Mexican female fighting icon Mariana "Barbie" Juarez (38-7-3, 16), a former Riyo Togo opponent, takes on the excellent little American Melissa McMorrow (9-3-3, 1). This bout might not be one that registers in the mind of many boxing fans world wide due to the general view on female boxing but this is as close to a female super fight that you can get. Whilst the Juarez/McMorrow is a big fight on it's own it's a bigger fight for us when you consider it's in the Super Flyweight division, the same division that currently has Japanese sensation Naoko Fujioka as one of the champions. Although the Juarez/McMorrow fight is effectively an eliminator for the WBC title we'd certainly not mind either of the women challenging Fujioka for the WBA belt. In the US we get two other bouts of note, both on the same card and both featuring world ranked Dominicans. One of those fights sees the unbeaten Juan Carlos Payano (14-0, 8) fighting against the experienced German Meraz (46-29-1, 25). Ranked #2 by the WBA and #10 by the WBC at Bantamweight Payano is certainly a contender that Asian fans should be making a note of. His WBA ranking sits him a place ahead of Tabtimdeang Na Rachawat (#2) whilst his WBC ranking sees him sandwiched between Petch Sor Chitpattan (#9) and Kohei Oba (#11). It would seem very likely that if he wants a Bantamweight title he will need to fight at least 1 top Asian opponent in the near future and that could make for an interesting contests. The other bout on the show sees Payano's compatriot Claudio Marrero (14-1, 11), ranked #10 by the WBA at Featherweight. Marrero, like Payano,is in easy against an experienced but limited Jose Angel Beranza (36-28-2, 28). Although Marrero is coming in after his first loss, he should still have a field day with Beranza who is tough but very limited and has been collecting a lot of losses in recent years. |
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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