This past Saturday may not have has a big bout anywhere on the planet but it did still have plenty of entertaining contests around the scene on the fringes of world class, and we did also have a very forgettable world title bout.
We'll start with that world title bout which, on paper, was the most significant bout of the night but also one of the most disappointing bouts we've seen all year. The bout, an IBF Light Middleweight title bout, saw defending champion Carlos Molina (22-6-2, 6) look like a lost, unmotivated and confused man as he was widely out pointed by 41 year old American Cornelius Bundrage (34-5-0-1, 19). Molina, usually a nightmare opponent fighters such as Erislandy Lara, James Kirkland and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, looked very much like a man with other things on his mind and was dropped twice by Bundrage, who himself didn't look like a world class fighter. This bout has suggested that anyone at 154lbs could win a world title bout next year, it's just a case of who will make the best offer to Bundrage who is now a 2-time world champion. Whilst the world title bout was a stinker the card it's interesting for 2 other bouts. One of them saw Nicaragua's Rene Alvarado (21-3, 14) make a successful move to Super Featherweight as he over-came the gallant but out classed and out worked Juan Pablo Sanchez (29-12, 13). Alvarado, the brother of former Kazuto Ioka opponent Felix Alvarado, really appears like he could be a decent contender at 130lbs and whilst he does lack power at the weight he could still be a threat based on his work rate and heart. Our only complain about this was the judging which was truly awful and the judges weren't even ashamed by the opening scoring which appeared to force Alvarado into being ultra-aggressive in the later rounds. Thankfully opening scoring likely allowed Alvarado to be aware that he needed to win the last 4 rounds to win and he made sure he did just that. Talking about ultra-aggressive we became instant fans of Jorge Lara (26-0-1, 18) who took ultra-aggressive and turned the volume up to 11 as he battered the more experienced Jovanny Soto (38-17-1, 33) from the the opening round to the 4th round. Soto effectively became a human yo-yo and was done numerous times in the first 2 rounds before finally being seen off in round 4. Soto's heart is second to none but it was Lara who really impressed with his very fan-friendly style. He might not reach the top of the Super Bantamweight division but he's certainly going to add a lot of excitement to the division. In the UK we saw another notable bout as Lee Selby (20-1, 8) secured himself an IBF Featherweight world title bout with a 9th round stoppage of the previously undefeated Joel Brunker (27-1, 15). Selby started well with his boxing and moving though in all honesty Brunker looked poor, slow, one-dimensional and like a man who had been thrown into an eliminator that he was never going to be ready for. Selby pinged clean shots off the Australian's head as and when he wanted though it wasn't until round 9 that the British fighter put his foot on the gas and after hurting Brunker he closed the show in style. Although the win was a good one for the British fighter we do wonder whether he will be able to really put a dent on Evgeny Gradovich, the current IBF Featherweight champion.
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In a genuinely enjoyable Featherweight contest in the US fans got to see Rocky Juarez (30-10-1, 21) defeat Rene Alvarado (20-3, 14) via a hard fought decision and claim the WBC Silver Featherweight title. Alvarado, who was trying to defend the belt for the first time, started well but faded in the middle section of the fight as Juarez's experience and ring generalship came into it's own to secure him the victory.
With this win Juarez moves into prime position to challenge the hard hitting Jhonny Gonzalez for the WBC world title. It that bout comes around it will be Juarez's 8th world,or interim world, title fight in a career that has been a real roller coaster to watch. For Alvarado this is a hard defeat to take though one that suggests that suggests there is something there and if he can get another few fights worth of experience he could very well become a man to keep an eye on in the long term. We'd also like to say that we really enjoyed hearing former wrestling commentator Jim Ross. We know he made a few mistakes, including referring to Alvarado as "Alvarez" but for a guy who was doing, we believe his first boxing event, this was a great start to what we hope will be a long and fruitful relationship between Ross and Fox Sports 1 in the US. Boxing can be a funny old sport at times and today showed just how funny and odd it can be as we got a bit of everything. There really was nothing missing from what should be considered the night of boxing so far this year. The first notable action was in the UK as Heavyweight's collided in two separate "UK v US" bouts. Unfortunately for the US these were both won by the British fighters. The first Heavyweight clash saw the always entertaining Tyson Fury (22-0, 16) stopping the hard hitting Joey Abell (29-8, 28) in an entertaining, if some what clumsy, battle. Abell went over to the UK to win but simply lacked the skills or size to really give Fury too many questions, he did however buzz Fury on at least 2 or 3 occasions. In the second Heavyweight clash we actually had something a bit more competitive with Dereck Chisora (20-4, 13) out pointing American Kevin Johnson (29-5-1, 14) in a bit of a peculiar bout. It seemed, for many rounds, that Chisora simply out worked Johnson applying constant pressure and and just breaking him down bit by bit. Unfortunately though Johnson showed that he had the skills to beat Chisora he just lacked the desire to do so and instead dropped a clear decision in a bout that he could have won had he managed to find the fire inside of him to actually fight. The results in the Heavyweight bouts are set to see the winners pitted together in all British Heavyweight bout that could also act as a pseudo world title eliminator. Following the fights from Britain we had to wait a little bit before we had action from South America. Amazingly the South American action was spread across numerous countries. The most notable bout in Latin America was in Mexico as Roman Gonzalez (38-0, 32) extended his unbeaten record with a highly entertaining stoppage over Juan Kantun (21-6-3, 15). Kantun, to his credit, came to fight and show no respect to Gonzalez's fearsome reputation unfortunately though he was no match for Gonzalez when the Nicaraguan moved through the gears and broke down the brave Mexican. This victory for Gonzalez sees him moving a step closer to a fight with WBC Flyweight champion Akira Yaegashi in a bout that we expect to see later this year. Whilst the Gonzalez/Kantun bout was the main event on a card from Tapachula, Chiapas the highlight of the show was actually the chief support bout which featured a truly sensational fight of the year candidate. The bout in question saw former IBF Super Flyerweight champion Rodrigo Guerrero (20-5-1, 13) stopping the previously unbeaten Daniel Rosas (17-1-1, 11) in a bout that can only be described as "pure, unadulterated violence". Both men were staggered, stunned, rocked and cut as we had a pure Latino war that saw both men putting it all on the line. If you get a chance to download this one do, you will not be disappointed. Guerrero may be a familiar name to Asian boxing fans having seen him lose late last year in an IBF title fight to Daiki Kameda. This win just puts into perspective how good Guerrero is and how good, as a result, Daiki actually is despite the hate he seems to get from various corners. Staying in Mexico for a few more moments, though moving to Jalisco, we had the biggest upset of the night. In this bout the WBC #2 ranked Featherweight Robinson Castellanos (19-10, 12) was sensationally stopped by the unheralded Rene Alvarado (20-2, 13). Whilst the records may not make this look like an upset it really was a shock. Alvarado has lost 2 of his last 7 and had never beaten anyone of note, Castellanos on the other hand was unbeaten in 11 and held a notable recent victory over Celestino Caballero, whilst other wins included a decision over the then unbeaten Christopher Perez and a stoppages over Omar Estrella and Orlando Rizo. This was a huge shock and a big shake up at 126lbs will follow this result. Down in Argentina the former WBA interim Welterweight title holder Diego Gabriel Chaves (23-1, 19) bounced back from the first loss of his career by stopping the over-matched Juan Alberto Godoy (31-14-1, 10) in just 3 rounds. Chaves, a highly entertaining fighter with real power, would make for a great opponent with almost any top Welterweight contender and we'd love to see him in action again even if he'll never manage to become a genuine world champion. He's talented and exciting but also very flawed and could be matched in to some fantastic action contests if promoters want to give him a chance. Whilst in Panama former world champion, and a man known to every Japanese boxing fan, Liborio Solis (17-3-1, 8) took swift care of the horribly over-matched Alex Olea (10-7, 5). Solis, who has beat both Kohei Kono and Daiki Kameda at Super Flyweight, scored a first KO over Olea in a bout that saw Solis weighting 124lbs, significantly above the Super Flyweight limit that he fought both Japanese fighters at. Going back up continental America, from the south to the United States we saw yet more fistic action. The bout that we felt was most noteworthy from this show saw Esquiva Falcao (1-0, 1) make his successful debut in professional boxing as he managed to defeat Joshua Robertson (5-5, 1) by stoppage. Robertson did prove to be tough early on but was swiftly broken down by Falcao who looks like he has the potential to be a world Middleweight champion. For fans who recognise the name "Esquiva Falcao" it could well have because of his amateur rivalry with Japan's very own Ryota Murata. Murata twice beat Falcao in major international competition, including the 2012 Olympic final, and they are now both promoted in the US by Top Rank. On the same US card as Falcao's victory there was also a stoppage victory for the much touted Jessie Magdaleno (18-0, 14 KOs) who stopped stopped Mexican Roberto Castaneda (20-6, 15 KOs) in 5 rounds. Castaneda was dropped twice in round 2 before being finished in round 5 by one of the fastest rising US prospects. The main event on the aforementioned US show saw Jessie Magdaleno's older brother Diego Magdaleno (25-1, 10) in action. Diego Magdaleno, ranked by bother the IBF and WBO at 130lbs, made light work of the over-matched Jorge Pazos (14-7-1, 8) though looked several leagues below the likes of Takashi Uchiyama and Takashi Miura, both of whom look like they would eat up Magdaleno and spit out the bones any time they wanted. |
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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