November 22nd-Cleverly Vs Bellew II, McDonnell defends Bantamweight title and a huge female clash!11/20/2014 This coming weekend is a huge one with major fights taking place one after another, after another, after another. It's great to see so many good fights in such a short span of time and even better than a bunch of them feature Asian fighters. Outside of the Asian fighters there are still a lot of great fighters out there. One of the big headline bouts of the weekend comes from the UK in a bout that is being advertised as a grudge bout with real needle. That contest will see former WBO Light Heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (28-1, 14) battle against former 2-time world title challenger Tony Bellew (22-2-1, 14). These two have fought before with Cleverly winning a narrow decision over Bellew in what was one of the best British fights of 2011 sadly however both men have fallen from what they were back then and both have moved from Light Heavyweight to Cruiserweight following stoppage losses. The winner here will likely be moved towards a Cruiserweight title fight however the loser is likely to find themselves being questioned on their future. Another man hoping a win will move him onto a world title bout on this show is Olympic champion James DeGale (19-1, 13) who will be fighting former world title contender Marco Antonio Periban (20-2-1, 13). It's though that if DeGale wins he will get a world title fight in 2015 with a British super fight against Carl Froch being mooted by some whilst a win for Periban will put him back in the mix for a world shot. DeGale isn't the only Olympic champion fighting on this card as Anthony Joshua (9-0, 9) battles veteran Michael Sprott (42-22, 17) in a WBC International Heavyweight title fight. Joshua is very heavily hyped by the British fans and press though we're still awaiting to see him step up, something he's not doing here against a man who really is shot. Sprott at his best would have been a good test for Joshua but Sprott's a shell of the man he once was. One man who is taking a step up on this show is the promising Callum Smith (14-0, 11), a man we feel may be the best prospect in the UK. Smith will be up against former world title contender Nikola Sjekloca (28-2, 8) and whilst this is the biggest test so far for Smith it's also a test he should come out on top in given that Sjekloca is better known for his toughness than anything else. This will be Smith's third defense of the WBC International Super Middleweight title. Another Super Middleweight bout will see WBC silver champion George Groves (20-2, 15) battle against the horrifically over-matched Denis Douglin (17-3, 10) in a bout that is unlikely to go more than 3 or 4 rounds. In a world title bout fans will get the chance to see In a world title bout fans will see the talented Jamie McDonnell (24-2-1, 11) defending the WBA Bantamweight title against Javier Nicholas Chacon (20-2, 5). Chacon is a late replacement after Walberto Ramos was unable to take part in the fight and we suspect Chacon will be no match at all for the British fighter who is said to have lined up a unification bout with Tomoki Kameda for next year. It's a real shame that McDonnell is making the first defense of his title against such a poor foe given the fact there is some quality in the division though it does appear that Eddie Hearn is playing safe with McDonnell courtesy of the Kameda bout. This bout is one of two world title bouts on the show alongside the WBA Super Bantamweight title bout between Scott Quigg and Hidenori Otake. In Mexico we have a great female bout as WBC female Light Flyweight champion Ibeth Zamora Silva (20-5, 8) and former world champion Jessica Chavez (21-3-3, 4). This is a genuinely great female bout and one that fans should be very excited about, though we know that female boxing is ignored by many fans who miss out on great contests like this as a result. (Image courtesy of Sky Sports)
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This past Saturday was an amazing day for boxing fans with a fantastic show in the US. The show, one of the best of the year, at least on paper, was thoroughly interesting but sadly not always the most entertaining. The show, at least the televised portion of it, kicked off with an enthralling WBO Bantamweight title fight that saw Tomoki Kameda successfully defending his title and leaving an excellent impression on US fans. The fight, which ended when Tomoki landed a brutal body shot to Pungluang Sor Singyu, should have been impressive enough to impress US audiences in to wanting to see more of Tomoki. Following the all-Asian show starter we then had the fight of the night as Mauricio Herrera (21-4, 7) took a majority decision over Johan Perez (19-2-1, 13) and claimed the WBA interim Light Welterweight title. The fight, which was action packed through out, swung several times as the two men unloaded shots on each other in a high paced and highly skilled contest that was genuinely enjoyable. The action from the Herrera/Perez was great to watch but neither guy had the power to really hurt the other and as a result it never looked like we were going to get a stoppage, though Perez was rocked very late in the fight. In the contest that followed however there was no chance the contest was going to go the distance as all action Francisco Vargas (20-0-1, 14) stopped the hard hitting but very shop worn Juan Manuel Lopez (34-4, 31). Lopez was rocked hard in the second round before being dismantled in round 3 by a very sharp Vargas who seemed to announce himself on the world stage. Sadly for Lopez this was another painful loss and it seems time that he called quits on his career before he ends up with serious long term health issues. Sadly the excitement all vanished in the very next fight as Abner Mares (27-1-1, 14) put on a controlled but dull performance to over-come Jonathan Oquendo (24-4, 16). This was Mares first bout since being blasted out in a round by Jhonny Gonzalez and although that set back was a bad one the tactics Mares used in this fight really were disappointing for the most part. In the main event of the show fans saw the hugely popular though very divisive Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (44-1-1, 31) take a highly disputed split decision over Cuba's Erislandy Lara (19-2-2, 12). The bout saw Lara boxing and moving for vast parts of the fight whilst Alvarez stalked with mixed results. The men both felt their tactics had seen them controlling the bout though in all honesty no one truly "controlled" it with plenty of rounds that could be debated. Sadly one judge managed to see the fight 117-111 to Alvarez, a result that simply didn't make sense, despite the numerous close rounds. Each man seemed to clearly win 4 rounds with their tactics whilst the remaining 4 were up for debate. The only thing that the fight really told us is that whilst both men were evenly matched Canelo struggles with movers and Lara struggles with body shots. Sadly the 117-111 card in the Alvarez/Lara fight as well as the draw card in the Herrera/Perez fight and a card of 58-56 to Pungluang, prior to the stoppage, all leave major question marks about judges and we wonder if they were watching the same fights as our selves Prior to the American card fans also had the chance to watch some fights from the UK. These including a bout with Super Featherweight contender Stephen Smith (20-1, 12) who looked terrible against journeyman Pedro Navarrete (28-19-3, 17). Navarrete is better than his record indicated but Smith really was awful and if he's thinking about fighting Takashi Miura he probably needs to think again or he'll end up badly beaten. On the same British card we had a trio of Olympic medal winners including Super Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (7-0, 7), who stopped veteran Matt Skelton (28-9, 23) in a bout that saw Skelton looking his 47 years of age, and Luke Campbell (6-0, 4) who sadly looked lacking in his decision victory over the brave Craig Woodruff (5-4, 2). The main action on the British show was in the Cruiserweight as we had two bouts of note. The first saw former WBO Light Heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (28-1, 14) make light work of the limited but fun Alejandro Emilio Valori (15-5, 11) whilst the second saw the big mouthed Tony Bellew (22-2-1, 14) stopping Brazil's Julio Cesar Dos Santos (26-3, 23). Both the visitors came with the intention of scoring a KO but neither had the ability against the more well known British fighters who are now set to face each other, in fact they almost had an impromptu fight last night, suggesting that neither man had had to work hard enough to score their wins. (Image courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions) |
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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