On February 8th in we see Mongolian fighter Tugstsogt Nyambayar (11-0, 9) get his biggest fight to date, as he takes on WBC Featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr (30-1, 18) in Pennsylvania. Fans who who don't follow the depths of boxing are unlikely to know much about Nyambayar ahead of his big bout this weekend, so we've decided that the Mongolian will be the latest fighter covered in our "Who are you?" series. A series that tries to shine a light on a fighter ahead of a notable bout. To begin with, the basics. Nyambayar is an unbeaten Mongolian fighter, who is currently 27 years old and has been a professional for close to 5 years. He turned professional with a lot of expectations on his shoulders but has had a stop start professional career due to hand issues, which have prevented him from reaching the top of the sport as quickly as some had anticipated. The reason Nyambayar was expected to be fast tracked was due to his amateur pedigree, was was genuinely excellent. He claimed a national title back in 2009, then added a Bronze medal from the Asian Games and a silver medal from the World Championships as he began to explode on the international amateur scene. That amateur success bread more success, including a Silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Unlike many who medalled in London Nyambayar didn't rush to the professional ranks and actually continued in to the amateurs to 2014, picking up Mongolian national titles in 2013 and 2014 but failing to make it to the medal stages of major international tournaments. Nyambayar also had mixed success in the WSB, going 3-2 in the semi-professional league. Interestingly his final WSB bout, which came in 2011, saw him lose to Frenchman Nordine Oubaali, who currently holds the WBC Bantamweight title. In 2015, Nyambayar finally began his professional journey signing with advisor Al Haymon and trainer Joe Goosen, who seemed to be immediately impressed with the Mongolian hopeful. To begin with it seemed like a match made in heaven and Nyambayar was active through 2015, racking up 4 wins in his first 9 months as a professional, including an impressive stoppage against Arturo Badillo. His consistent level of activity continued in 2016, when he added 3 more wins, again all by stoppage, including a stoppage of German Meraz. Sadly after racing to 7-0 (7) in just 21 months Nyambayar's career has really faltered and he has fought just 4 times since the start of 2017. Whilst those bouts have been at a higher level, with bouts against the then unbeaten Harmonito Dela Torre and former interim world champions Oscar Escandon and Claudio Marrero, the activity has been a real problem for a man who has been banging on the door of a world title fight. In fact he became the mandatory for the WBC title over a year ago and hasn't fought since! Whilst some of that activity has been down to waiting for the WBC to order the fight with Gary Russell, a fight that will take place on February 8th, he has also suffered some nasty hand injuries. Those injuries saw him need to take a break between May 2018, when he beat Oscar Escandon and January 2019, when he faced Claudio Marrero. The waiting for the WBC and Russell Jr also saw plans being scrapped for an August 2019 bout. Although not a big name Tugstogt Nyamabar is a top Featherweight contender, and someone who will look to put his name on the boxing map when he faces Russell Jr in their eagerly anticipated world title clash. He's heavy handed, technically well schooled, physically strong and a man on the hunt to become the second ever Mongolian world champion.
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So that was January 2020 and the first month of a new decade was interesting without really being sensational. We certainly had plenty of noteworthy action, though compared to December was a significant downturn, and a much less interesting month. Then again that is pretty normal for a January. With that said lets have a look at what we deem the best of January! Fighter of the Month Murodjon Akhmadaliev (8-0, 6) The fighter of the month was a pretty obvious pick, with Uzbek Super Bantamweight Murodjon Akhmadaliev being the clear, and standout, winner. The talented former amateur standout ended the month was a fantastic, albeit very competitive, win over Daniel Roman. The win, which netted Akmadaliev the IBF and WBA "Super" titles, was huge and it's hard to deny that "MJ" has kicked off the year in a huge way! If he can build on this win through the year he really could be one of the names for 2020, much like Can Xu was in 2019. Fight of the Month Han Bin Suh Vs Dong Myung Shin There was some good fights this past month, but nothing that will be in the conversation for Fight of the Year. Despite that it's hard to pick fault with the compelling 10 round Korean Super Bantamweight title bout between Han Bin Suh and Dong Myung Shin. This was compelling through out, with Suh refusing to ever accept defeat, and instead he kept ploughing forward hoping to break down the much more polished Dong Myung Shin. This was brilliant and a real hidden gem part way through the month. It wasn't the most high skilled bout of the month, or the most exciting, but it blended the action, activity and skills well. KO of the Month Shohjahon Ergashev KO1 Adrian Estrella It was a weird month for KO's with very few of them really standing out, though it may take a while for us to see a better one than Shohjahon Ergashev's body shot KO against Adrian Estrella. This was naturally beautiful and left the Mexican in pure agony on the canvas, It's rare for body shots KO's to be this good, and it's another KO for an Ergashev KO reel. A truly sensational shot, that is going to be worth watching and over through the year. Prospect Tuguldur Byambatsogt (2-0) January had a lot of stellar performances from prospects from all over the place, with emerging fighters from Uzbekistan, Korea, Japan and China all impressing. It was however a Mongolian that shined the brightest, with Tuguldur Byambatsogt really showing what he could do with a clear and impressive win against Vladimir Baez. This young man from Mongolia is a potential star of the future, and no one impressed quite as much as he did. For a fighter in just his second professional bout Byambatsogt has put down a marker of intent and hopefully he and his team will continue to aim high through the rest of 2020. Upset Esneiker Correa TKO7 Ravshanbek Umurzakov We didn't have too many upsets of any note this past months, but the one that did raise have the most shock value came in Russian when 21 year old Venezuelan Esneiker Correa stopped previously unbeaten Uzbek hopeful Ravshanbek Umurzakov in 7 rounds. We'd expected the highly regarded Uzbek to pick up his 11th straight win against someone who was fighting outside of Latin America for the first. Instead Correra broke down and beat up Umurzakov to claim a massive victory in the 7th round. This wasn't just a big upset for Umurzakov but the type of win that allowed him to announce himself as one to watch. And seriously we would advise keeping an eye on this young puncher, he is someone to get excited about. Round Takuma Takahashi vs Leonardo Doronio (Round 3) There were some amazing rounds, truly amazing rounds. For us the the third round between Takuma Takahashi and Leonardo Doronio takes the honours, just. This was drama, controversy, and action all rolled into one. Takahashi twice dropped Doronio, could have had points taken both times for hitting his downed opponent, and was cut in a round that was absolutely sensation. This was almost 3 minutes of chaos in which both men were hurt. Well and truly worth a watch below! Another week is over and we again get to look over the good, the bad and the ugly from the boxing world! We've had some great moments, some frustrating moments and of course a really ugly moment, that we suspect every fan has already seen on social media. The good 1-Inoue Vs Casimero is Official! The worst kept secret in boxing was finally confirmed with Ohashi holding a press conference in Japan to announce Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16) would be facing WBO Bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero (29-4, 20) on April 25th bout with the WBO, IBF and WBA "super" titles all on the line. The bout was one we seemed to know about weeks ago, but it was still the highlight of the week to see it being announced and confirmed. Although April seems a long way away it's great to see this finally being confirmed and fans now able to get flights and hotels sorted for what promises to be a fantastic fight. 2-Raymond Guajardo vs Clay Collard Man oh man, oh man! The first round to this PBC bout was something sensational! With 3 knockdowns, and an all out dramatic war this was special from the opening bell. Raymond Guajardo had come into the bout as a supposed prospect, having blown out all of his opponents early on. Clay Collard on the other hand was a tough guy with an under-rated record against stiff competition. This was a gut check for the youngster and one he failed to pass, but did come out with an enhanced reputation. The only problem was seeing people complain about the match making afterwards. Sorry to say chaps but bouts like this should be applauded, rather than letting Guajardo running up a 20-0 record it's better to see him checked out early and being asked questions. He now knows areas to improve, and fans now know his name! 3-Tevin Farmer's reign comes to an end We're sorry if it sounds like we're being harsh but the IBF Super Featherweight title reign of Tevin Farmer will go down as a dreadful reign when we look back in the history books. The skilled southpaw won the title in August 2018, beating a wash Billy Dib, then made 4 defenses in less than a year. That sounds great until you look at the level of his competition during that reign, and note that he faced 0 fighters above the European-type level. For all the attention and the press Farmer got his reign was dreary so it's a good, in our eyes, that Jo Jo Diaz, a much more exciting and interesting in ring fighter, ended his reign. Whilst Farmer has a great out of the ring story the in ring action he has given us since winning the title has been awful. 4-Murodjon Akhmadaliev takes unified crown! Whilst we'd been impressed by Murodjon Akhmadaliev's rise through the ranks we though he was getting his shot against Daniel Roman just a fight to soon. Well he sure as hell made us eat our words! What a fantastic performance by the young Uzbek who announced himself on the world stage in a brilliant way. This young man is a brilliant fighter and you could tell what the win meant to him in his interview. Also big respect to the post fight behaviour of both men, who had class and dignity through out. Big props to both "MJ" and Danny Roman for conducting themselves in the way they did pre fight, in the fight and post fight. The Bad 1- Juding in the God's Left Final The God's Left Bantamweight final did not go the way we had expected. We were expecting a war, an all action tear up which wouldn't see the final bell. Instead we saw Seiya Tsutsumi using a lot of excellent movement and a fantastic gameplan to stop Nakajima from using his power shots. This was a great tactic to win the early rounds, though sadly the judges didn't seem to appreciate the raiding attacks of Tsutsumi, who was denied what seemed like a clear win. This was poor from the judges, and really was harsh on the Kadoebi gym fighter who deserved the victory and the tournament prize. 2- Youtubers...again Celebrity fights are nothing new, and they certainly shouldn't be pushed out of the sport, despite what some might think. However Jake Paul's bout with Ali Eson Gib is one where the commission need to take a look at themselves. In fairness to Paul he seemed to have some idea of what he was doing, but also he also appeared a natural weight class, if not 2, bigger than Gib who didn't look like he'd ever had any real training. Gib just looked bizarre and like a man who had learned to box from a video game or something. As a spectacle it was acceptable, and neither were the worse fighters we saw this weekend, but trying to build an event around them, and then having the post fight fake beef stuff. These bouts could be used to attract attention to a good show, but in reality this just felt like one guy who knew how to fight picking on a smaller, clueless kid. Commissions, if they are to allow these types of bouts, need to make sure the fighters are both similarly sized and abled. 3-Inconclusive ending to Pedro Taduran vs Daniel Valladares The IBF Minimumweight bout between Pedro Taduran and Daniel Valladares was great, don't get is wrong. It was our fight of the week. Sadly though the early headclash and early finish, resulting in a technical draw, was an inconclusive and disappointing end to what should have been a great fight. Fingers crossed we get a rematch between these two after the mini-war we got here. The Ugly 1-Gervonta Davis - Public Display of Aggression For a second week running WBA "regular" Lightweight champion Gervonta Davis makes it into our ugly, and again it's for something that a top level boxer shouldn't be doing. This time around he was effectively man handling a woman at a basketball game, and was caught on film. Whilst some will say he didn't actually hit her, this was still a worrying act of aggression towards a woman, who is reportedly the mother of his child. Thing is if he's willing to do this in public then what goes on behind closed doors? The talented fighter really isn't having a great 2020, and it may take someone close to him to make him sort out this reckless behaviour, before it's too late. 2-The judging for the Farmer Vs Diaz fight We think it's fair to assume that most people had Jo Jo Diaz taking a near shut out against Tevin Farmer, who was out worked, out punched, out powered and out fought from the early stages. Some how two of the judges had the bout just a single round off a draw. Richard Green and Alex Levin really should be pulled aside by the commission and explain their 115-113 cards. Absolutely pathetic scorecards and ones that look like they were from two men who didn't want the action in the ring. (Images courtesy of boxmob.jp) The last 12 months have been a really frustrating one for Filipino boxing. There have been some triumphs, but on the whole it's been a frustrating year with more bad than good for the country that is regularly regarded as the second most significant boxing country in Asia. Thankfully however the nation has a lot to be excited by over the coming years, with a lot of emerging fighters and hopefuls. Among those is 21 year old Super Flyweight Ranelio Quizo (7-0, 1), who takes a step up on February 7th as he takes on John Mark Tihuk, and is the subject of this week's "Introducing...". The youngsters made his debut on August 23rd 2018, in a bout that was actually streamed on the GAB's facebook page. The youngster took on fellow debutant Sannyboy Esquilona and although Quizo didn't blow anyone away in his debut he took a very clear decision win over his opponent. The bout saw him show some very nice touches, using his footwork well, controlling the range well and showed himself to be a promising fighter. By the end of 2018 Quizo had moved to 3-0, and was forced to battle to get past both Rustom Medes, who was unbeaten himself, and Rolando Plaza, who dropped Quizo before the youngster regrouped and earned a close decision. Those bouts coming so early helped to show that the young man could battle through adversity and come out on top. Having established himself with 3 wins in 2018 Quizo began to be stepped up, having his first 6 round bout in March 2019, when he stopped Lowell Saguisa in 3 rounds. That was a total farce, as is almost every Saguisa bout now and he's merely getting in to the ring pad records it seems, but he then backed it up with good decisions against Alvin Defeo and Vincent Bautista. In his most recent bout Quizo looked very impressive as he out boxed, out fought and generally controlled Ronel Dela Cruz over 8 rounds. Quizo boxed well to keep Dela Cruz at bay, used his sharp jab well and found space for some lovely straight right hands down the pipe. His movement was light, and he managed to go 8 rounds at a good pace against a solid fighter with some ambition of his own. The man from Las Pinas City hasn't had much attention so far in his career, but if he can get past Tihuk on February 7th Quizo is likely to end up in some good developmental fights through the year. He's only young, and is certainly not a puncher, but with his boxing brain, jab and movement there are tools there for him to go a very long way. There is however a need for him to develop a more physical side to his boxing down the line. Dubbed "Bagwis" Quizo is a young fighter to keep an eye on and someone we're interested in following long term, whether he beats Tihuk, who is a very solid fighter himself, or not. What an interesting week we've had! We've not necessarily had any Fight of the Year contenders but we've had some thrilling match ups, great fights and brilliant performances in what has been a genuinely great week for Asian boxing.
Fighter of the Week Murodjon Akhmadaliev (8-0, 6) Winning a world title is a great achievement, but winning 2, in just your 8th bout is a sensational achievement, and that's exactly what Uzbek sensation Murodjon Akhmadaliev did this past week. The excellent Uzbek showed he could punch, he could box and that he could go 12 in a performance that has really shaken up the Super Bantamweight division. There is no one else who has come close to doing what "MJ" did this week, and he is the only person deserving of the Fighter of the Week honours. Performance of the Week Murodjon Akhmadaliev (8-0, 6) Whilst the 12th round from Murodjon Akhmadaliev was poor everything else was fantastic, especially for a man in just his 8th fight. He controlled the ring, and out boxed Daniel Roman for stretches of the fight whilst answering a lot of question. It wasn't a punch perfect performance from the Uzbek, but for a man in just his 8th fight this was, by far, the most impressive performance of the week. Excellent stuff from "MJ". Fight Pedro Taduran vs Daniel Valladares Whilst we absolutely loved the Murodjon Akhmadaliev Vs Daniel Roman fight, which was arguably the most consistent fight, the most action packed was the IBF Minimumweight title bout between Pedro Taduran vs Daniel Valladares. This was all action, dramatic and thrilling with the two men unloading huge bombs on each other early and often. The only real shame, and the only reason this will not be in the running for fight of the year consideration is the inconclusive and disappointing ending, resulting in a 4th round technical draw. Despite the result, this a must watch war. Round Shun Akaiwa vs Kenta Endo (Round 2) There were some great rounds this past week, but for sheer drama and excitement few rival the second round of the Shun Akaiwa vs Kenta Endo bout. The round wasn't all action from the bell, but instead it grew and grew through the fight before 30 seconds of chaos at the end. This was one of those almost perfect stand alone rounds that tells a complete story, and swings one way then the other. With a touch of controversy and real excitement. This is one every fan should give a watch to. KO There was no valid KO this week Prospect Rustam Tulaganov (3-0, 1) Nobody would suggest that Rustam Tulaganov is the most exciting fighter out there, in fact in many ways he's quite boring and a touch methodical. But it's hard to deny that he's an excellent talent, a well schooled boxer and the prospect who impressed the most this past week. The Uzbek took a huge step up in class, as he took on Polish southpaw Norbert Dabrowski and easily out boxed his more experienced foe. Upcoming fight Gary Allen Russell Jr (30-1, 18) vs Tugstsogt Nyambayar (11-0, 9) This coming week is an eerily quiet one, with very, very little happening. Then again one of the bouts we do have is something we're really, really excited about. That is the WBC Featherweigth title bout between defending Gary Allen Russell Jr and Mongolian challenger Tugstsogt Nyambayar. This is a fight we are really looking forward, despite the fact both have been out of the ring for a lengthy amount of time we expect this to be an excellent bout between two top 10 Featherweights with different, but effective, styles. We expect this to be an excellent bout! The Hot Take: Poor challengers are responsible for devaluing titles...but it's not their fault2/1/2020 On Thursday we saw Luke Keeler come up very short against Demetrius Andrade in a WBO world title fight. The reality, which was obvious to everyone, is that Keeler shouldn't have been in a world title fight. The 32 year old Irishman is a likeable, solid domestic level fighter who got his chance, and unsurprisingly said yes, but the odds and common sense told us everything we needed to know. He didn't stand a chance.
The problem with a challenger like Keeler is that it devalues the champion and the title. The reality is that the WBO shouldn't have allowed such a big mismatch, and Demetrius Andrade himself, a man who has repeatedly said he's being ducked, shouldn't have allowed his team to match him with Keeler. It was a no win situation for Andrade, who could look win and look bad, and be criticised for his performance, or win and look good, and be criticised for his level of competition. If it seems like we're having a go at Keeler, we're not. We fully understand him jumping at an opportunity like this. We have no idea how the WBO could have ranked him at #3 and that's the real issue. The world title bodies are harming in themselves with their bizarre antics. In the coming weeks and months we have some real farces dressed up with a world title and pretending to be a title fight of some kind. We'll avoiding talking about "interim" title fights too much, but if someone can explain why Luis Concepcion, who is 1-2 in his last 3 and has just a single win in the last 2 years, is getting a shot it would be appreciated. For major titles we have Artem Dalakian taking the absolute piss with his reign. The WBA Flyweight champion is a real talent, don't get me wrong, but since taking the title in February 2018 he's faced two very poor Thai challengers, both mandatories, as well as Gregorio Lebron and next up is Josber Perez. The 24 year old Perez has absolutely no wins of note, his only bout of any note was last July's loss to Rober Barrera. But the WBA have allowed him to fight for the title, and allowed Dalakian to defend against him. With the bout the WBA Flyweight title loses value, Dalakian again comes under criticism, and we have yet another world title mismatch. The WBO also have an issue with a poor challenger coming up when Wilfredo Mendez defends his Minimumweight title against 40 year old challenger Gabriel Mendoza in a weeks time. Mendoza has lost 2 of his last 4, being stopped in 1 and almost shut out in the other. He's got 2 wins in 3 years, yet is getting a shot in just a week's time. Of course weak challengers aren't a new thing. They are something that have always been out there. Sadly however when a fighter only fights 2, or if we're lucky 3, times a year these soft defenses do more than good. If Mendez, or Dalakian or Andrade were going to defend their belt 4 or 5 times in the year, like Muhammad Ali in 1976 when he beat Richard Dunn before clashing with Ken Norton, then these easy defenses would be more palatable. But as it is champions seem willing to take the route of least resistance far too much. If Andrade wanted to prove he deserved a big fight, as he seems to claim, defending against someone like Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Liam Williams or Rob Brant would be a great starting point. For Mendez the Minimumweight division is one where picking and choosing is easier, but there are men circling the waters, whilst Dalakian's reign at Flyweight is totally indefensible, given the depth in the division. The relatively common phrase we hear is "it's the champion that makes the belt" and that's so true. Unfortunately for the sport too many champions are going around as if believing a belt is what makes them. In reality the belt can become absolutely worthless with too many easy defenses. A champion sometimes needs to prove themselves, take a risk and actually fight someone deemed a challenge. If it doesn't work out, like it didn't for Tevin Farmer this week, then so be it. In relation to Farmer, his reign as the IBF Super Featherweight champion is great proof of how devalued a title can be. Farmer's reign form August 2018 to January 2020 featured 5 successful defenses, but in reality none of those came against a world class fighter. The first world class challenger he faced dominated him, regardless of what the scorecards said. Sure farmer was a busy champion, but he seemed unable to, or unwilling to, face a genuine world level contender until he faced, and beat up by, Jo Jo Diaz If you ask someone, who isn't good enough, if they want to fight for a world title of course they will say yes. It's not their fault if someone is offering them the fight. That fault lies a long from them. They are someone being given the opportunity of a life time. We can't fault them for accepting. But we can be angry at the promoters, champions and world title bodies allowing the horrific mismatch we keep seeing, and the mismatches we could see a mile off. Fans aren't stupid, fans can see when a fighter and their team are trying to pull the wool over our eyes. They can tell when someone is pretending to be one of the best, and sadly fighters are too happy to pretend to be a champion, rather than taking the risk and proving they a champion. So my message to the champions out their, prove your among the best, and to the title bodies, stop sanctioning so many mismatches. Your titles are regarded as valueless by fans and the media because you're shitting over them. Treat them for what they are supposed to be, a sign that whoever holds them and fights for them is world class. Not just the best available for a given date. |
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