 This past Saturday was the biggest day in boxing so far this year. It may not have been the greatest day of boxing but it was certainly full of notably fighters.
For us the most interesting contest was the WBO Super Featherweight title fight between the very highly regarded Mikey Garcia (34-0, 28) and Mexican veteran Juan Carlos Burgos (30-2-2, 20). Garcia, although dominant over-all, wasn't as impressive as we'd have expected. Fair enough it was partly due to Burgos knowing how to survive though on this performance any dreams that Garcia has of fighting Pacquiao are a long way from reality. Garcia's talented for sure but we're not sure if he's actually one of the top 2 guys in his division. He looks small at Super Featherweight and his punch resistance doesn't seems that impressive. Another champion who retained his title was WBO Cruiserweight kingpin Marco Huck (37-2-1, 26) who stopped the tough Firat Arslan (33-7-2, 21) in very impressive fashion. Arslan had controversially been beaten by Huck last year but this was a much better showing from Huck who has now requested to be considered a WBO super champion, an honour rarely bestowed on a fighter. The final world champion who retained his title was Lamont Peterson (32-2-1, 16) who retained his claim as the IBF Light Welterweight champion. Peterson, one of the most fortunate fighters on the planet, managed to over-come the previously unbeaten Dierry Jean (25-1, 17). This bout certainly had it's entertaining moments early on but Jean's lack of world class power gave him little chance to beat the well schooled Peterson, who was fighting for the first time since being steam rolled by Lucas Martin Matthysse. As well as the trio of title bouts there was also a selection of other interesting bouts. These included Jermell Charlo (23-0, 11) dominating former Gennady Golovkin foe Gabriel Rosado (21-8-0-1, 12), British Heavyweight David Price (16-2, 14) stopping late replacement Istvan Ruzsinszky (12-10-1, 8) inside a round, Bryant Jennings (18-0, 10) stopping Artur Szpilka (16-1, 12) and most notably Brazilian Olympian Yamaguchi Falcao (0-0-0-1) being involved in a double disqualification with Martin Fidel Rios (10-0-2-1, 4).
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 Courtesy of Top Rank As with most weekends the most notable action is in the US this Saturday, though it's given a good run from a show in Germany and there's also notable action in Brazil and Italy as we get a day to remember, thankfully hiding the fact that Asian action is quiet still.
The most notable single bout is in New York as WBO Super Featherweight champion Mikey Garcia (33-0, 28) looks to make the first defense of his title. The unbeaten Garcia, who some regard as the best fighter at 130lbs, will be taking on the very talented Juan Carlos Burgos (30-1-2, 20). To many Burgos is the man who should have the WBO belt around his waist though he was robbed by judges when he faced Roman Martinez, the man eventually dethroned by Garcia. To us this is a significant bout though unfortunately it sounds like it will be Garcia's last one at 130lbs. On the same card as the Garcia/Burgos bout is a big Heavyweight clash between Poland's unbeaten Artur Szpilka (16-0, 12) and highly touted American Bryant Jennings (17-0, 9). Whilst the Garcia/Burgos is the main event we thing this Heavyweight clash has the potential to be the better bout to watch. On a separate US card we get another world title fight as IBF Light Welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (31-2-1, 16) takes on the unbeaten Dierry Jean (25-0, 17). Whilst we will admit that Peterson is the luckiest champion on the planet he should still have a bit too much experienced for Jean, however a victory for Jean would see him throw his name into the big conversations at 140lbs. A secondary bout on this card sees the unbeaten Jermell Charlo (22-0, 11) take on former Gennady Golovkin victim Gabriel Rosado (21-7, 3). Rodado, dubbed a "good boy" by Golovkin, is the toughest test on paper for the young Charlo who some stateside are tipping a future world champion at either Light Middleweight or Middleweight. As well as the two world title bouts Stateside there is also one in Germany as WBO Cruiserweight kingpin Marco Huck (36-2-1, 25) looks to defend his title against Firat Arslan (33-6-2, 21). This is a rematch of a controversial contest from last year in a bout that many felt Arslan deserved to take the victory in, though Huck retained with somewhat "nice" unanimous decision. This promises to be a really entertaining battle, as every Huck bout is, though it's going to be something that cuts his career short. Staying with the German card there is another interesting Heavyweight clash as Britain's David Price (15-2, 13) returns for the first time since back-to-back losses to Tony Thompson. Price will be expected to score an easy victory over Konstantin Airich (19-7-2, 15) but he will know that if he loses again that's his career over. Not far from Germany, in Italy, there is a very good looking European Lightweight title fight between Emiliano Marsili (27-0-1, 12), the defending champion, and Pasquale Di Silvio (17-5-1, 5). Although this bout is only for the European title it's fair to suggest that the winner will feel that they deserve a world title fight and in a division that features Masayoshi Nakatani and Masao Nakamura it's fair to suggest that these two will also feel that they are deserving of a world title fight in the near future. We think we're on the verge of a very interesting period in the Lightweight division. In Brazil fans get the first chance to see the very talented Yamaguchi Falcao (0-0) fight as a professional. The former amateur standout will be fighting unbeaten Argentinian Martin Fidel Rios (10-0-2, 4) in what will serve as an excellent introduction to the professional ranks for one of the two Falcao brothers. Yamaguchi's brother Esquiva, best known for fighting Ryota Murata in the 2012 Olympic final, is set to make his debut in just as few weeks as well. |
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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