This past Saturday may not have been one of the best weekends in the sport this year but it was certainly still an interesting one with a number of notable fighters in action, ranging from champions to former champions, prospects to men looking to save their careers. The first notable action was in Europe as Olympic champion and Cruiserweight sensation Oleksandr Usyk (7-0, 7) kept alive his chase to win a world title in double quick fashion. Usyk claimed the WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title as he stopped the much more experienced Daniel Bruwer (24-6-1, 21) in 7 rounds. Although we know Usyk is on the fast track to a world title he is still amazingly impressive and there is little doubt that he can compete with anyone in the division already. Although some were disappointed with Usyk taking his time it seemed clear to us that he wanted some rounds under his belt before moving towards a world title bout. On the same card fans also saw former world champion Andriy Kotelnik (32-4-1, 13) take an 8 round decision over Alexander Benidze (13-15-2, 6). Although not a major bout it was Kotelnik's first contest in over 4 years and we were big fans of him when he was an active fighter. Another former world champion who picked up a win in an 8 rounder was Britain's Ricky Burns (37-4-1, 11) who beat Alexandre Lepelley (17-2-1, 3) in what was his first win since losing his WBO Lightweight title to Terence Crawford earlier this year. Although Burns failed to shine we were very impressed by Josh Warrington (19-0, 3) who claimed the European Featherweight title with a fantastic performance against Italian veteran Davide Dieli (15-4, 5). Warrington stopped Dieli in 4 rounds to record his 3rd stoppage in 4 bouts and it seems perfectly clear that he is finding his "man strength". Whilst Burns and Kotelnik both kept their careers alive with wins it wasn't a great day for former world champions in American and Mexico. In the US fans saw former Light Heavyweight kingpin Chad Dawson (32-4-0-1-1, 18) suffer a huge shock loss to Tommy Karpency (24-4-1, 14). Dawson, who has now won just 1 of his last 4, must be considering his future. This was a close loss but he's not the fighter he once was, in fact he's not even close to being the fighter he used to be. Dawson's loss was on the same card an a solid bout between Vanes Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21) and Willie Nelson (23-2-1, 13). What made the bout enjoyable was the fact Nelson did almost nothing a boxer should do. Nelsons' flaws were exploited time and time again by Martirosyan who looked far from special himself. It was a strange but engaging bout between two fringe contenders in the Light Middleweight division, though neither look like they are real world class. The main event on the US card was a real dud as IBF Super Featherweight champion Rances Barthelemy (21-0-0-1, 12) took a clear but dull victory over the light punching Fernando David Saucedo (52-6-3, 8). The bout was a world title fight and whilst Barthelemy is world class he's also very dull to watch when he can't impose himself early. We wish that Barthelmy had been in with someone with some power and bite though we suspect he'll be doing what he can to avoid a real fight as opposed to fighting a feather fisted but tough survivor like Saucedo. Another world title bout took place in Mexico as WBC Featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48) stopped Jorge Arce (64-8-2, 49) in a disgusting mismatch that really left no one looking good. Arce looked like an old an broken man whilst Gonzalez looked like someone who should have been fighting a much better better opponent. It really was disgusting that the WBC allowed this one. On the same card in Mexico we saw Adrian Estrella (19-0, 17) boost his growing reputation as he took a dominant win over former world champion Celestino Caballero (37-6, 24). Caballero was dropped hard several times as Estrella strolled to a dominant decision. Caballero did well to see out the distance but was never really in the bout and it would seem plausible for Estrella to be put in line to fight the winner of the upcoming WBC Super Featherweight title fight between Takashi Miura and Edgar Puerta, a bout that will take place in November. (Image courtesy of Notifight.com)
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October 4th-Barthelmy and Gonzalez go into title defenses whilst Caballero fights for career10/2/2014 It appears after a few slow weeks of fights that we are now set to get things kick started once again and this coming Saturday is a great example of what we have to look forward to through the coming month, a month that genuine looks to be an amazing one. One of this weekend's upcoming bouts attempts to take out one of the contenders from the Super Featherweight division as unbeaten IBF champion Rances Barthelemy (20-0-0-1, 12) attempts to defend his title for the first time. The Cuban "Kid Blast" may have had to win two fights to win the belt, follow a controversial ending to the first contest, but now seems set to make up for lost time and will be taking on the highly regarded and very experienced Fernando David Saucedo (52-5-3, 8). We'll admit we did hope that it would be Barthelmy against Michael Farenas, though this bout isn't a terrible even if the winner is a very predictable one. Saucedo isn't a bad fighter but he doesn't have the tools to bother Barthelemy who should be too rangy, too fast and too power for the challenger. Hopefully Farenas will get the winner of this one in early 2015. A second world title bout takes place in Mexico as WBC Featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (56-8, 47) defends his belt against legendary warrior Jorge Arce (64-7-2-1, 49). It's almost 2 years ago that Arce was battered, beaten and destroyed by Filipino star Nonito Donaire and to think that Arce has managed to get another world title bout says more about his name, especially with the WBC, than his performances since. At his peak Arce was one of the sports great action men and his wars will long live with fans whether they remember him losing to Michael Carbajal or defeating Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Sadly Arce's peak was years ago and he's now a shadow of what he once was. Gonzalez, who famously stopped Hozumi Hasegawa, may not be a truly sensational boxer but he's as heavy handed as they come and shouldn't need long to finish off Arce's dreams and career. At least we hope it'll end Arce's career that probably should have ended several years ago. On the show as the Gonzalez/Arce bout is a possible "breaking out" bout for the unbeaten and very heavy handed Adrian Estrella (18-0, 17). Estrella is seen as one of Mexico's most promising young prospects and he'll be hoping to announce himself on the world stage as he battles against former world champion Celestino Caballero (37-5, 24) in a battle for the WBC FECARBOX Super Featherweight title. The bout is an incredibly significant one and winner here will move incredibly close to a WBC world title shot with Takashi Miura whilst the loser could well find themselves tossed on the boxing scrap heap. For Caballero this is a must win bout, a loss here and his career is effectively over. One other bout we want to make a note of is in Ukraine where the fast rising Oleksandr Usyk (4-0, 4) battles against Daniel Bruwer (24-5, 21) in a bout for the interim WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title. A win here would shoot Usyk in to the WBO world rankings and his dream of setting a Cruiserweight record fro fewest fights to become a world champion would become a clear possibility. The Ukrainian looks like a sensational fighter and we'd tip him to easily claim a Cruiserweight world title and he shouldn't struggle with Bruwer here. (Image courtesy of our friends at www.notifight.com) Late last night in the US fans got to see unbeaten Cuban Rances Barthelemy (20-0-0-1, 12) defeat Dominican fighter Argenis Mendez (21-3-1-1, 11) and claim the IBF Super Featherweight title, at the second time of asking. The two men met earlier this year with Barthelemy stopping an out of sorts Mendez. Sadly that bout was ruled a No Contest after Barthelemy landed the finishing punch marginally after the bell. This time around however there was no controversy and no excuses as Barthelemy took a very clear decision over Mendez who showed more than he did last time around but was too slow to match the Cuban. In the end Barthelmy was a clear winner despite the cards all reading 115-111. The only thing that made the bout close was Barthelmy being deducted points late in the bout for low blows, by then however Mendez was needing a KO which never looked like against a man he struggled to catch. This contest should now lead to Barthelemy facing off against Filipino slugger Michael Farenas in a mandatory defence later this year or early next year. Although it's a difficult one for the Filipino hammer fist it's a bout we're looking forward to. (Image courtesy of Iron Mike Boxing) Controversy and boxing go hand in hand and we see it every weekend where a decision or a stoppage leaves us bewildered and wondering why we all follow the sport we love. One of the biggest controversies this year came in an IBF Super Featherweight title fight between the defending champion Argenis Mendez (21-2-1-1, 11) and Cuban challenger Rances Barthelemy (19-0-0-1, 12). The fight ended with Mendez totally wiped out though the punched was ruled to have come out of the bell and what was originally a 2nd round TKO win for Barthelemy became a no-contest. This coming Thursday we get to see the men back in action as they face off for a second time and both have a point to prove. Mendez will hoping to defend his title and prove that it was a bad night at the office in their first bout, where he really was being dominated prior to the stoppage. As for Barthelemy this will be a chance to prove he's the better man in the ring. It's a great fight for a Thursday night and one we genuinely are excited about. Sadly for both men however they will be seen as the weakest of the world champions behind Takashi Uchiyama, the WBA champion, Takashi Miura, the WBC champion, and Mikey Garcia, the WBO champion. For Asian boxing fans this bout has another importance to it, the winner will be defending the belt against Filipino slugger Michael Farenas who recently earned his opportunity to fight for the title by stopping the previously unbeaten Mark Davis. (Image courtesy of Iron Mike Productions) The year may have only just kicked off but we've already seen the first world title fight of the year and we've also seen the first clear moment of controversy of 2014. Fighting in the US, Cuba's Rances Barthelemy (20-0, 13), best known to us for stopping Fahsai Sakkreerin, challenged Dominican Argenis Mendez (21-3-1, 11). Mendez, who started the year as the IBF Super Featherweight title, was a highly ranked fighter. Despite the fact Mendez had struggled with Afghanistan's Arash Usmanee, he was still a clear favourite over Barthelemy with his experience and excellent skills expected to see him over the line against Barthelemy, who had also struggled with Usmanee. The favourite tag however didn't help Mendez who found the power of Barthelmy too much. The power of Barthelemy was the difference between the two men in the opening round as he momentarily buckled the knees of the defending champion. The power was again felt late in round 2 as Mendez was dropped for the first time in his career. The champion never really recovered and Barthelemy let his hands go freely landing a couple of clean shots clearly after the bell. Those 2 shots were all it took to knock out Mendez. Although Mendez did come in to the bout as the champion it was clear, from the first time he took a left hook that he couldn't cope with the power of the challenger. The ending may have been controversial though it did seem somewhat inevitable with the fact Mendez had been shaken and dropped in less than 6 minutes of action. From an Asian point of view this is a massively important result. Firstly for Arash Usmanee, the #9 ranked IBF fighter. The Canadian based Afghan is surely going to be looking for a rematch with Barthelemy a man many felt he beat and with the added experience he has since that bout there would be a sizable figure backing him for the upset. For Masao Nakamura, the IBF #6 ranked fight, this result would likely see him licking his lips for a potential clash with Barthelemy in what would be a flat out shoot out. And, finally, tough Filipino Michael Farenas, the IBF #12 ranked fighter, would likely view himself as a potential challenger and he could well be the most likely to get the shot out of the 3 Asian ranked challengers. Away from the challengers this result is certainly not a bad one for WBA champion Takashi Uchiyama or WBC champion Takashi Miura. The two Japanese champions, who are both set on unifying their belts together, will know they are a league, if not 2 above Barthelemy and will also know that if they fought Mendez they'd have taken him out. In all honesty, Daiki Kaneko is the big loser here, had he targeted the IBF title and performed as he did against Uchiyama he'd be a world champion right now and if he could get Barthelemy in the ring, despite not being IBF ranked, he'd need to be favoured there as well. Note-There is talk about this result being appealed due to the shots coming after the bell. In all honesty we don't see the appeal actually over-turning the result. Friday January 3rd-IBF Super Featherweight title up for grabs in the US as a new year kicks off1/3/2014 For boxing fans around the world it's fair to say 2013 ended with a pair of Super Featherweight title fights in Japan. Fans worldwide who turned their attention to the East will have seen both the WBA and WBC Super Featherweight champions retain their titles in Tokyo. For WBC champion Takashi Miura life was easy as he destroyed, dismantled and really beat up Dante Jardon. For WBA champion Takashi Uchiyama things were bit more difficult though he did enough to see off the spirited challenge of Daiki Kaneko. The new year interestingly kicks off with yet more action in the Super Featherweight division as IBF champion Argenis Mendez (21-2-1, 11) looks to begin 2014 in style. Mendez, who successfully retained against Arash Usmanee last year, will be seeking his second defense as he takes on unbeaten Cuban Rances Barthelemy (19-0, 12) who was also given a genuinely tough test by Usmaneee in 213. Mendez is widely considered the weakest of the 4 champions at Super Featherweight though he's a wonderfully skilled fighter with excellent defensive moves, and fantastic counter boxing ability. When he unleashes however Mendez is a solid puncher and hits harder than his record would indicate. Barthelemy, much like the champion, is considered to be excellent defensively though can strike with the best of them, as he did against Thailand's Fahsai Sakkreerin late last year. At his best he's an intelligent and rangy fighter though like many Cuban fighters he can allow rounds to slip away by simply turning off. That's unlikely to be a hindrance here against Mendez who often does the same. |
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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