Tonight's international action doesn't look to be the greatest but there is quite a bit of it across a number of divisions.
Arguably the best of the bouts comes at Flyweight where unified WBA “super “ and WBO champion Juan Francisco Estrada (32-2, 23) defends his title against former champion Hernan Marquez (39-5-1, 28). In some ways this could end up being a massive disappointment, afterall Marquez has been through more wars than most, but he may still have the power to make this one semi-interesting with the excellent Estrada. This could be disappointing or it could be a FOTY contender, just depends on how much the 27 year old Marquez has left in the tank. Staying in Mexico fans will get the chance to see WBC female Super Flyweight champion Zulina Munoz (44-1-2, 27) defend her title against former IBF female Flyweight champion Gabriela Bouvier (12-5-1, 2). It's hard to see Munoz losing here if we're being honest. There a few mismatches at the world level tonight, one of which comes from the UK where the genuinely talented Fedor Chudinov (13-0, 10) faces big under-dog Frank Buglioni (17-1-1, 13). Whilst Chudinov is a bit of an unknown to some fans he is a monstrous puncher, as seen by his 2014 KO of the Year contender against Ben McCulloch, and given Buglioni's weak defense this could be over quickly and in spectacular fashion. Arguably the most disappointing bout of the weekend, at least at the top level, comes at Heavyweight where WBC champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33) defends his title against Frenchman Johann Duhaupas (32-2, 20). The bout was essentially made after Wilder's team left it too late to sign a good opponent and were left scrambling looking for someone. Saying that Duhaupas did beat Manuel Charr last time out and has a few under-rated qualities, though shouldn't have anything to test “the champ”. Another bout of some interest comes from Italy where former 2-weight world champion Paulie Malignaggi (33-7, 7) is expected to end his career with a bout against the limited Laszlo Fazekas (27-21-1, 17). This looks to be a mismatch but Malignaggi is 1-3 in his last 4 and has taken a lot of recent damage with many now considering him shot. It would be a big upset if Fazekas won but it's looking more likely than a win for Duhaupas against Wilder.
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Tonight is set to be an interesting night in international boxing with arguably the pick of the bouts actually being a female world title unification contest between Edith Soledad Matthysse (13-7-1, 1) and Jelena Mrdjenovich (35-9-1, 19). Whilst we know many fans aren't supporters of female boxing this really is the best bout of the night and promises 10 very competitive rounds. A promise that no other bout of the night can make.
In the US fans will have the chance to see former unified Light Welterweight champion Danny Garcia (30-0, 17) take on former 2-weight world champion Paul Malignaggi (33-6, 7). On paper this looks to be an interesting match up but in reality it will be a mismatch with Garcia being too strong and too young for the battle worn Malignaggi. On the same card we'll see a WBA “regular” Middleweight title defense as the heavy handed Daniel Jacobs (29-1, 26) defends his belt against the frustrating and slippery Sergio Mora (28-3-2, 9). On paper this looks like a clear win for Jacobs however this is likely to be the second toughest bout of his career, only behind his loss to Dmitry Pirog. Mora, a former title holder at 154lbs, knows that this will likely be his last shot at the top but will be the big under-dog. In the UK we'll see Olympic champion Luke Campbell (11-0, 9) battle against local rival Tommy Coyle (21-2, 10) in what we suspect will be a mismatch in favour of the very promising Campbell. The bout is being sold as a major domestic showdown but the reality is that the men are on very different levels and it's hard to see anything that Coyle can do to really test his more impressive foe. Porter emerges as a monster, Quillin fails to set the world alight and Quigg makes a statement4/20/2014 This past Saturday was a busy one in the boxing world with numerous major fights happening in the Western world and they old told their own, very different story. Of course the highlight of the night was the one bout we actually covered in detail as Kazakhstan's Beibut Shumenov (14-2, 9) lost in his unification bout with American legend Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2-2, 32). It was poor from Shumenov who, like many of Hopkins's opponents throughout the years, fought the wrong fight and instead of using his own strengths he fought to Hopkins's game plan of a slow paced bout in a contest that had little real excitement barring the knockdown against Shumenov in round 11. Prior top Hopkin's bout with Shumenov US fans got the chance to see two other world title bouts. The first of those saw WBO Middleweight champion Peter Quillin (31-0, 22) easily out point the game but under-sized Czech Lukas Konecny (50-5, 23). We'll admit we like Konecny, a lot, but he's no Middleweight and it showed here as he could never hurt Quillin despite landing some clean and hard looking shots. Although Konecny couldn't hurt Quillin this bout did suggest that many other Middleweights could and in fact it hinted at the idea that Quillin is lucky that his management team will help him avoid Gennady Golovkin. On this performance Golvokin would steam roll Quillin with genuine ease and in fact we'd give fighters like Matthew Macklin, Martin Murray, Felix Sturm, Daniel Geale, Marco Antonio Rubio and Matt Korobov a better than evens shot at dethroning Quillin. Whilst Quillin is talented he's not as good as he thinks he is, he doesn't hit as hard as he thinks and more importantly he's not very fun to watch. He was backed up by Konecny and made to look awful and boring in a bout that he really should have taken the initiative in. Thankfully some of the other champions in action during the night did take the initiative. One of those was IBF Welterweight champion Shawn Porter (24-0-1, 15) who dismantled the tough and skilled Paul Malignaggi (33-6, 7) in very impressive fashion. Malignaggi, who is known for his toughness and bravery was completely destroyed by Porter who looked a real monster in scoring a 4th round TKO. Despite the loss Malignaggi showed his class in his post fight comments before being taken to hospital. Although it wasn't confirmed it does seem very likely that Malignaggi will retire over the next few days and move into the commentary booth full time at US network Showtime. It seems that commentating is Malignaggi's calling and it's something he is genuinely exceptional at. Whatever "Paulie" chooses to do in the future we wish him the best. As for Porter this win should set up a clash with unbeaten Brit Kell Brook though we have a feeling that Brook may have changed his plans. Talking about British fighters brings us perfect to the other world title fight which saw WBA Super Bantamweight title holder Scott Quigg (28-0-2, 21) stop South African challenger Tshifhiwa Munyai (24-3-1, 12) in just 2 rounds. Munyai, who had never previously been stopped, was dropped twice in both rounds before being stopped less than 2 minutes in to the second round as Quigg made a statement. Although Quigg's promoter spoke about looking at unification fights with both WBC champion Leo Santa Cruz and IBF champion Kiko Martinez it seems more likely that Quigg will be pitted against WBA ranked opponents, such as Japan's Shingo Wake. Interestingly Hozumi Hasegawa has a chance to scupper a possible Quigg-Martinez fight when he fights for the IBF title this coming Wednesday. Quigg's clear rival is Carl Frampton, another fighter with a big British fan base, and on this performance Quigg may well have seen some fans favouring him over the Northern Irishman. One thing's for sure, this result wouldn't have impressed WBA "super" champion Guillermo Rigondeaux who would likely love a chance to fight Quigg, Frampton or anyone else willing to get in the ring with him. On the same British card their was a fantastic fight between former world title challenger John Murray (33-3, 20) and the fast improving Anthony Crolla (28-4-1, 11). Murray, who was stopped by Brandon Rios a few fights back, started fast against Crolla though was ground down in round 10 and it seems likely Crolla is only going to be a few fights away from getting a world title fight of some variety. (Photo, of Porter, courtesy of boxrec.com) Although Friday was disappointing in terms of scheduled action around the world the same cannot not be said about Saturday which genuinely looks like a brilliant day in the boxing world. The first dollop of major action is in the UK with an Matchroom show that is headlined by a WBA Super Bantamweight title fight between defending champion Scott Quigg (27-2, 20) and South Africa's talented, but under-rated, Tshifhiwa Munyai (24-2-1, 12). Munyai did take this fight on a week's notice after the original opponent Nehomar Cermeno had visa issues. Unfortunately the banner was never changed by Matchroom so still features Cermeno's name on it. Although Munyai is a late call opponent he has all the tools to give Quigg a nightmare and is 5-1 in the UK having beaten Lee Haskins and Martin Power in the past. This could very well be the hardest test of Quigg's career so far. With Shingo Wake ranked #4 by the WBA he'll certainly be keeping a close eye on the Quigg/Munyai result and could well see himself fighting against the winner sometime later this year. On the same British card fans will get the chance to see a potentially explosive domestic encounter as Anthony Crolla (27-4-1, 10) takes on former world title challenger John Murray (33-2, 20). The one is expected to be a gruelling and hard fought affair and we'd expect nothing less than a thriller. This card will also feature former Toshiaki Nishioka opponent Rendall Munroe (28-4-1, 11) who will be hoping to take home the Commonwealth title as he battles the unbeaten Josh Warrington (16-0, 1). In the US the stand out bout, at least for us, is the WBA/IBF Light Heavyweight unification bout between Beibut Shumenov and American legend Bernard Hopkins. That bout however is just 1 of 3 world title bouts on the show. At Middleweight we see prospective Gennady Golovkin rival Peter Quillin (30-0, 22) defending his WBO title against the Czech Republic's Lukas Konecny (50-4, 23). Whilst we are big fans of Konecny and what he brings in his fights he's likely too small to really give Quillin a real tests though will be game for as long as he lasts. The other title bout on this show sees IBF Welterweight champion Shawn Porter (23-0-1, 14) defending his world title for the first time. Porter, a sloppy looking but aggressively minded fighter, will be hoping to score his second notable victory as he takes on the criminally under-rated Paul Malignaggi (33-5, 7). It's arguably the most competitive bout of the day and we have also been told that the winner is set to face Kell Brook in their next fight. Finally we'll get to find out if Brook is as good as British fans have been telling us! |
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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