 Earlier this year we saw the long reign WBC Featherweight title reign of Gary Russell Jr, one of the sports premier talents yet most frustrating fighters, come to a surprise end as he was beaten by Filipino fighter Mark Magsayo (24-0, 16). This coming weekend Magsayo looks to build on that career defining victory as he takes on former WBC Super Bantamweight champion Rey Vargas (35-0, 22), in a very tough first defense.
Prior to his win over Russell Jr the talented Magsayo had been earmarked as a special talent. The Filipino, dubbed "Magnifico", had been hyped by the Filipino boxing press straight off the bat and ALA Gym seemed to be grooming him as the net face of their iconic promotion. Sadly though his ascent was a slow one, and despite the early hype his development seemed slow. He debuted in 2013 and beat former contender Chris Avalos in 2016, but then seemed to stall with no significant steps up in class whilst under ALA, who he was with for another 3 fights. He would then split from ALA and spent the entire of 2018 out of the ring, before restarting his career in 2019, picking up a notable win against Pungluang Sor Singyu later in the year. His career really changed in 2020 when he linked up with Freddie Roach and based himself in the US, where he has had his last 4 fights. The first of those was a very close win over gritty under-dog Rigoberto Hermosillo, he was also tested in the third of those bouts, a 10th round come from behind KO win over Julio Ceja, before sneaking past Russell Jr this past January. In the ring Magsayo, much like Russell Jr, is a frustrating fighter. He is an undeniable talent. The Filipino is a wonderful natural talent, with good hand speed, good movement, and good size. He is also an incredibly determined fighter, with real resiliency, and his wins over Hermosillo and Ceja showed that he has incredible desire to success. Also, despite not being much of a puncher, he can certainly hurt fighters, and his KO of Ceja was a brutal KO, showing him to his hard enough to make a genuine impact, when he lands clean. He has the tools be a fixture on the top of the division for years to come, and aged just 27 he is still improving. He will however need to improve, significantly, if he's to keep the title, and establish his reign. For all his talent he is a very frustrating fighter, with questionable stamina, a lack of a true boxing brain. He switches off a lot, often through the middle of the bout, losing a lot of momentum and control as a result. He is also someone who dislikes pressure, often being put into something of a negative and defensive shell against pressure, and despite being solid defensively, he doesn't appear to have a world class chin, having been down several times already in his career and given the level of fighters he's now expected to face that chin could well be his downfall. Vargas first made a name for himself in the amateurs, competing at the 2009 World Championships. The following year he began his campaign as a professional, and reeled off 6 wins before the year was over. He would remain relatively active early on and claimed his first title in early 2012, winning the IBF Youth Super Bantamweight title. It was at Super Bantamweight where he would really establish himself over the years that followed. Having ended 2016 with a 29-0 record, including notable wins against the likes of Alexander Muñoz, Christian Esquivel and Sylvester Lopez, he finally got his shot at a world title as he faced Gavin McDonnell for the vacant WBC Super Featherweight title in England. The bout saw Vargas dominate McDonnell en route to a Majority Decision, due to a terrible scorecard from the consistently poor Ian John-Lewis. He would go on to defend that title 5 times, beating the likes of Ronny Rios, Oscar Negrete, Azat Hovhannisyan and Tomoki Kameda. Sadly though a broken leg suffered in 2020 saw Vargas sitting on the side-lines, for well over a year, before returning in November 2021, and beating Leonardo Baez in a bout at Featherweight. That bout was essentially a tune up for a shot at the WBC title, for which he was the mandatory challenger, and loomed in shadows for the winner of Magsayo's bout against Russell Jr. Vargas is as far from your typical Mexican boxer as you can get. The tall, rangy framed fighter isn't the macho driven tough guy we think of when we think of Mexican fighters, but instead he his a cerebral boxer, using footwork, busy jabs, and his physical tools. He keeps opponents at range, he handcuffs them with volume, and he refuses to be drawn into a war. He is very much a fighter who was groomed as a pure boxer, in part due to a good amateur career. His style can be hugely frustrating to watch, but it's also incredibly effective, and is the epitome of hit and don't get hit. Interestingly he started his career looking like something of a puncher, stopping 15 of his first 16, but has now had just 7 stoppage in his last 19 bouts going the distance in his last 7 and 10 times in his last 12. Despite that he has scored notable decision wins over the likes of McDonnell, Rios, Negrete, Hovhannisyan and Kameda showing his boxing skills to be excellent at the highest level. Technically he may be the best boxer at 126lbs, and it's hard to imagine anyone having an easy time with him, with potentially Emanuel Navarrete being the only fighter who would be strongly favoured against him. With both fighters entering this one unbeaten, and both being very high level boxers, this is a really interesting match up. The bout is a chance for Magsayo to build on a career best win, show he belongs in and around the top of the division, and didn't just get lucky Vs Russell Jr, who fought much of the bout with an injury. Likewise it's a chance for Vargas to become a 2-division champion, and complete a remarkable comeback from his broken leg to world champion. Technically the bout will be fought at a high level. Both are pure boxers, and the bout should be a very skilful one. Sadly for Magsayo however we get the feeling that Vargas's style will be a total nightmare for him. We expect to see Vargas establishing control behind his long arms, his quick footwork and his busy work rate. We don't expect to see him hurting Magsayo physically, but mentally force Magsayo to question himself, and over 12 rounds Magsayo will simply not be able to change the flow of the fight, at least not long enough, to over-come Vargas. We expect Vargas to take a round or two to get a read on Magsayo, who does start pretty fast, but by round 4 the challenger will have figured out his man and will go on to control the middle and later portion of the fight to take a clear decision, and the WBC title. Magsayo's only real hope is to force the pace, take risks and land a bomb, as he did on Ceja. Sadly we don't see him doing that here. We don't imagine he will even come close to landing a bomb, with Vargas simply being too good and too smart for him. Prediction - UD12 Vargas
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 The first world title fight to contain an Asian this year will see unbeaten Filipino Mark Magsayo (23-0, 16) get his long awaited first shot at a title, as he takes on WBC Featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr (31-1, 18). On paper this is a really good match up, between a top champion, albeit a horrible inactive one who has been wasting his career since winning the title, and an unbeaten contender who is incredibly talented, but also very clearly flawed. It's a bout with a lot of questions about both men going in, and it's a bout which will end with either one man paying for inactivity, or another paying for the flaws which have plagued in recent bouts.
If he was more active there is a very, very genuine chance we'd be talking about Gary Russell Jr as a future hall of famer. His talent is incredible, he's staggeringly quick and he's made good fighters look poor and his performances have had glimpses of boxing genius. He made Jhonny Gonzalez look terrible, when he won the WBC title in 2015, he went on to defend the title against future champions Joseph Diaz and Kiko Martinez, who holds a title in the same division today, and has good wins over the likes of Tugstsogt Nyamabayar. Sadly those those wins are spread over 5 years. Since winning the title, in March 2015, he has only defended it 5 times in almost 7 years, and has shown that whilst he's incredibly skilled, he's lacking hunger to show how good he really is. Whilst he's not in the ring often enough, for anyone's liking, there is no denying Russell Jr's ability. He is a brilliant boxer, with legitimately scary hand speed, great movement, very impressive reactions and timing, and some of the most blistering combinations in the sport. He's not the biggest puncher out there, but thanks to his speed his shots carry plenty of pop, and stoppages over the likes of Gonzalez and Martinez have come from his speed. Afterall, it's the punches a fighter doesn't see that do the most damage and when Russell lets shots go fighters don't typically see them. When looking for flaws with Russell Jr they are genuinely hard to come by. One of the few is his lack of reach, and that could be a problem if he was to face someone like WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete or Mexican contender Rey Vargas, and another is the fact he slows as fights go on, and if he doesn't stop an opponent, things do tend to get tougher for him in the second half of a fight, an issue likely exacerbated by his inactivity. Even then, when he does slow down, he is still lightning quick, but does often look a little bit human for a few rounds, and that is likely where a top fighter could make him pay. Aged 26 Mark Magsayo is a fighter coming in to his prime, and he does so with a lot of experience, having debuted back in 2013 at the age of 17. In his early years as a professional the Filipino boxing press were really excited about him and he was seen as a future star of Filipino boxing for ALA Gym, who were the big promoter in the Philippines at the time. Whilst his talent was obvious, he was moved somewhat oddly. His first 13 bouts really didn't see him tested, and then he was thrown in with Chris Avalos in 2016, that was a real test, and saw Magsayo digging deep to pull himself off the canvas to stop Avalos. Then there was some poor opponents again before he was given a real test in 2017 by Japan's Shota Hayashi, in what was much closer than the 116-112 scorecards suggested. Having moved to 17-0 the then 22 year old Magsayo should have been kept on the fringes of world rankings, with more character building bouts against fighters similar to Avalos and Hayashi. Instead however he fell out with ALA and eventually left the Filipino promotional power house, and was out of the ring for over a year. In recent bouts we've seen him finally taking on the sort of bouts he should have had a year or two earlier, including a tough test with Rigoberto Hermosillo and a real gut check over Julio Ceja. Both of which showed he could dig deep, but both also showed that there was a lack in his boxing education and development. In the ring there is no denying that Magsayo is a talent. He's quick, sharp, has good foot work, lovely variation in his shots, real grit and determination, and it's clear there is the foundation there for a future world champion. Sadly however he often relies too much on his skills and looking good in the ring, and can often look incredibly lazy as a result. He looks brilliant when he lets his hands go, but doesn't do it enough, he can be backed up too easily, giving the view that his opponent is having more success than they really should, and he also looks really bad under pressure. Were it not for his heart and determination it's possible he could have had 3 or 4 losses to his name, in all honesty without his heart we suspect he'd have lost against Avalos, Hayashi, Hermosillo and Ceja, and being truthful they weren't world class, at least not when they fought Magsayo. Another issue with Magsayo is since linking up with Freddy Roach, he has tried to adapt his style somewhat, and looks like a fighter wanting to conserve energy, making us wonder whether Roach is maybe aware of a stamina issue with Magsayo, something that could explain some of his in ring laziness. Early on we expect this to be at least a little bit interesting. Magsayo isn't as quick or as sharp as Russell Jr, but there is certainly some speed in his hands, and we suspect he will look to time and counter Russell Jr. Sadly though that will only work for a round or two as Russell Jr takes a look at what Magsayo has to offer, and shakes some ring rust. As we go through the rounds however Magsayo's laziness will show and that will come at the same time as Russell Jr begins to feel more and more confident. When that happens we expect to see the American pick apart the Filipino to force a stoppage in the middle rounds. Prediction - TKO6 Russell Jr  On July 31st we'll see the long awaited return of WBA Featherweight champion Can Xu (18-2, 3), who has been out of the ring since beating Manny Robles III way back in November 2019. The exciting, all action, Chinese punching machine will not only be back in the ring in July but will also be making his UK debut as he takes on Englishman Leigh Wood (24-2, 14) in Essex, England. For Xu this bout will be his third defense of the title he won in his break out fight, a January 2019 upset win against Jesus M Rojas, whilst the 32 year old Wood will be fighting in his first world title bout to date.
For those who haven't see Xu he really is a perpetual punching machine. He is the man of nightmares for Compubox operators, and the sort of fighter who throws a lot. His shots never a lot on them in terms of power, but he throws, and lands, that many that fighters end up simply being overwhelmed, and go into a defensive shell, unsure of quite how to fight him. His work rate and engine are ridiculously impressive, and whilst he's not the most technical he's so awkward due to his output that few can really take advantage of his flaws. He's also been blessed with real toughness, and began his career as a Light Welterweight before moving down in weight, showing that he's physically strong as well as tough. He can be be out boxed, at least in spurts, but to do it against him for 12 rounds will be a tough, tough ask of anyone in the sport, and anyone who tries better be willing to walk into shots to get their own off. As mentioned Xu began his career at 140lbs, and he jumped between weights for much of the early part of his career, losing two close decisions in his first 5 bouts. Since then however he has gone 15-0 (3), he has beaten the likes of Hurricane Futa, Chris George, Corey McConnell, Nehomar Cermeno, Jesus M Rokas, Shun Kubo and Manny Robles, to build up a solid, though not startling, resume for himself. He had been hoping for a big 2020, with a potential unification bout against Josh Warrington in the works, before Covid19 put an end to those dreams. Instead of facing Warrington in front of a packed out Elland Road, he instead needs to face Wood in Eddie Hearn's back yard, in front of only a few hundred supposed boxing fans. Whilst Xu has been sat on the outside looking in Wood has actually managed a couple of fights since the end of 2019, include a razor thin loss to James Dickens in February 2020 and a brilliant domestic win over Reece Mould in February of this year. Those bouts shows that Wood was putting on some of the best performances of his career and despite being in his 30's he's still a fight who is improving, growing more confident and putting together really good results. Something he also did in late 2019 when he upset David Oliver Joyce and it really does seem like his slow burn career has started to peak. In the ring Wood is a solid fighter, who has proven himself to be a very good British level, maybe even European level, Featherweight with solid power that carries late into his bouts. He's not the most skilled or the quickest, in fact at times he's a little crude, but he's patient, he's heavy handed, and he throws his right hand with bad intent. As we saw against Reese Mould his shots do genuine damage and whether he's coming forward or going backwards he hits hard enough to get the result of anyone he faces, especially when he lands his straight right hand, or his solid left hook. Sadly though his work rate isn't the best, and against a fighter like Xu we think his lack of consistent, high intensity work, will make it very, very hard for him to impress the judges. His shots will be more meaningful, and much more meaty than Xu, but we suspect he simply won't land enough of them. We think early on Wood will have success, in the first 3 or 4 rounds things will be competitive with Wood holding his own. That'll be until Xu's insane output and work rate begin to turn the fight in his favour and from there on the question won't be who'll win? But instead a case of whether Xu can end up stopping Wood or not. We don't think he will, but we do think Xu will take a very, very wide decision here. On February 22nd we'll see WBO Super Bantamweight champion Emanuel Navarrete (30-1, 26) hunt his 5th defense, as he takes on the little known Filipino challenger Jeo Santisima (19-2, 16). On paper, and in the eyes of many fans, this is a total mismatch and Santisima is being thrown to the wolves, much like countryman Juan Miguel Elorde was last September when he was matched with the Mexican champion. The big question here then, is whether or not Santisima stands a chance, or is he another push over for the Mexican champion?
The 26 year old champion really announced himself on the world stage in impressive fashion in December 2018, when he defeated the previously unbeaten Isaac Dogboe for the WBO world title. Since winning the belt from Dogboe we've seen Navarrete defeat Dogboe in a rematch, along with the unbeaten but untested Francisco Da Vaca, the limited Juan Miguel Elorde and the poor Francisco Horta, stopping all 4 men. On paper stopping 4 world title challengers in just 7 months, the time between his first and fourth defenses, is impressive, but the level of competition, Dogboe aside, is poor. To say the least. Although his competition hasn't been great few can argue with how god Navarrete has looked. The Mexican is an aggressive, powerful monster in the ring who looks huge at the weight, throws a lot of leather and is very heavy handed. He can box and move, but at his best he's an aggressive fighter who brings pressure and grinds opponents down with a combination of volume and physicality. He's the type of fighter who looks to be getting better with every fight, but sadly his competition is offer so little recently that it's hard to know how good he really is. That's a huge shame given the depth of the division, which has fighters like Hiroaki Teshigawara, TJ Doheny, Albert Pagara, Angelo Leo, Thomas Patrick Ward, Ronnie Rios, Tramaine Williams and Stephen Fulton. Aged 23 the challenger is stepping up massively, though does enter the bout as a confident fighter on the back of a 17 fight winning streak. Sadly there are a lot of worries about Santisima, who isn't a bad fighter, but isn't someone who is ready for a world title fight. The heavy handed Santisima lost on debut, and was 2-2 after 4 bouts but has improved since then, and scored notable wins, on the Filipino domestic scene. These have included victories over the likes of Jerry Nardo, Marco Demecillo, Rex Wao and Rene Dacquel. Despite the win over his domestic fighters his most notable win to date is actually over Mexico veteran Uriel Lopez. That win over Lopez was the only time we've seen the Filipino extended 12 rounds. He dominated that bout but did have flaws exposed. In the ring Santisima is a fun fighter to watch, but he's very flawed. He's heavy handed, which is his biggest strength, and likes to go to the body, applying pressure and working on the inside. Sadly though he doesn't really seem to apply pressure with any thought process behind things. Instead of boxing his way inside, behind his jab, his just marches in, lets a flurry go, and then backs off, before repeating. With some serious training and development he has got the tools to become a very good fighter. Sadly his current style leaves him open on his way in, and when he backs off he often drops his hands when he feels safe. Sadly for Santisima, whilst he is a decent fighter, there are simply too many flaws and too many holes. Those holes will be picked apart by Navarette, who we suspect will break Santisima down rather quickly. Santisima is, for us, better than Juan Miguel Elorde, who Navarette beat in 4 rounds, and a lot more dangerous. However, we actually think Santisima is going to be stopped quicker than his countryman due to the fact he's more aggressive and takes more risks, likely walking on to something big in the first 3 rounds. Until the stoppage this will be very exciting, but also rather one-sided. Prediction TKO3 - Navarette  On February 8th we get a genuinely compelling world title fight as unbeaten Mongolian Tugstsogt Nyambayar (11-0, 9) challenges American speedster Gary Russell Jr (30-1, 18), who makes his annual appearance for 2020. The bout will be Nyamabayar's first world title shot, and comes as a mandatory title challenge, whilst Russell will be seeking his 5th defense since winning the title, in March 2015.
Aged 31 Russell JR was once touted as one of the faces of the future for boxing. He showed flashes of pure brilliance early in his career with frightening speed and accuracy, impressive combinations, good boxing basics and a strong amateur background. He was 20 when he made his debut, way back in 2009, an was tipped as a genuine mega star thanks to his strong amateur background and freakish speed. Sadly though his career has failed to take off as many had hoped, in part due to a loss in 2014 to Vasyl Lomachenko, for the WBO Featherweight title. Despite the loss to Lomachenko Russell Jr did claim the WBC title just 9 months later but hasn't yet shone since winning the belt. Since winning the WBC title in 2015, when he stopped Jhonny Gonzalez, Russell Jr's career has become a joke. He has defended the title 4 times, but the only real wins of value there are his 2017 win over Oscar Escandon and his competitive win over Jospeh Diaz. Those wins have been sandwiched by wins over Patrick Hyland, way back in 2016, and Koki Martinez in 2019, yes a 2019 version of Kiko Martinez got a world title fight! Although still quick and well schooled Russell Jr's prime is behind him and he turns 32 in June. For a fighter who's speed was his greatest asset this is the age where that assets starts to falter. Coming his age with inactivity will not help him, or his reign as world champion. At 27 years old Nyambayar is coming into his prime, and the heavy handed Mongolian has earned his shot by beating other top contenders, such as the aforementioned Oscar Escandon and the awkward Caludio Marrero. Although not the quickest fighter out there Nyambayar combines technical skills, physical strength, impressive size, and power. His hands are like rocks and what he hits he hurts. Sadly there are issues with what he does, and his balance is a major question mark, as is chin. Nyamabayar has been dropped several times in recent fights and although he's never looked hurt as such, the fact he's been down is a worry. Although Nyambayar has only fought 11 times as a professional he is a former amateur standout. He managed to claim silver medals at the World Championships and the Olympics. This amateur background is solid and shows him to be a lot more experienced than his professional record shows, so those looking at his record and questioning his experience are perhaps asking the wrong question. However Nyambayar has suffered a number of injuries and since making his debut in 2015 he has rarely been active himself, with just a single fight in each of the last 2 years. That is a big issue. When it comes to this fight this is a hard one to call, due in part to activity, or rather lack of, of the two men involved in the contest. Russell Jr's speed would be a nightmare for the Mongolian to deal with, if the champion was sharp and on point. However the level of competition that Russell Jr has been fighting at really doesn't let us know what he still has in the tank. On the other hand Nyambayar has the skills to neutralise some of that speed, and the power to hurt Russell Jr, if he lands clean. The Monbolian also has significant size advantages and will be looking to use those to control the range of the bout. At their best we would expect Russell Jr to take a decision, play smart and play safe to rack up points. This February however we wouldn't be surprised by the younger, fresher, bigger Nyamabayar out working, out fighting and out muscling the smaller, older, Russell Jr, to take a close decision, and free the WBC title from Russell Jr's clutches after one of the worst reigns in modern history. Prediction - Nyambayar UD12  One of the big break outs from Asia in the last 12 months or so is Chinese fighter Can Xu (17-2, 3) who hadn't made his US debut until September 2018 but has since become a fighter with a genuine feel good story, an exciting style and a a charming personality. It's those traits that saw him win over fight fans in December, when he claimed the WBA "regular" Featherweight title with an upset win over Jesus M Rojas in Houston.
On November 23rd Xu returns to the US to make his second defense of the title, as he takes on the unbeaten Manny Robles III (18-0, 8) in what looks set to be a very fun fight between two men who aren't known for their power, but should be capable of putting on a real action fight. In January the then 24 year old Xu, who is now 25, became the first Chinese man to win a world title by dethroning someone. Whilst the belt was only the "regular" title it was still an historical first for Chinese boxing. The fact he did it against a feared puncher like Rojas, and seemed to beat Rojas at his own game, of making fights a war, just just even more impressive. He pushed Rojas and down the stretch he out worked Rojas in one of the many forgotten thrillers of 2019. He would return to the ring 4 months later and stop former WBA Super Bantamweight champion Shun Kubo in China. Although not a big puncher Xu is a real danger man. He's physically very strong, has an incredible work rate and toughness, and overwhelms opponents. His power isn't as much of an issue as some would suspect, though it is worth noting he has stopped 3 of his last 5 after failing to score a single stoppage in his first 14 bouts. Given his style we do expect him to grind people down in the later stages of 10 and 12 rounds, where he simply grinds the fight out of them. Robles, like Xu, is 25 years old and isn't known for his power though that's not to say he can't punch, just that his power really isn't his strength. He's technically a cute boxer, with a nice jab, nice work on the inside and good pressure. His work rate is a lot less than that of Xu but it's also a lot more clearly defined. At his heart he looks to be a fighter who sometimes gets lost between two styles though, not sure if he should be a warrior on the inside or a boxer on the outside and this is certainly going to be an issue as he takes on fighters who know their own identity and fight their own styles. Whilst the fighting identity of Robles is an issue he also doesn't appear to have the greatest of engines. Both of his completed 10 rounds have seen him only just manage to get over the line with split decisions. If you can't punch and your engine isn't great you're going to be in real trouble against Xu. Notably Robles has also only had 10 rounds of in ring action over the last year, with ring rust being another potential issue for the American challenger. Although Robles is a talented fighter we see Xu just being too big, too strong and too hungry. Xu will drag Robles into his fight, and we have seen Robles dragged into a war before, and out work him. The bout will test Robles' toughness though we wouldn't be surprised at all if that toughness wasn't enough to see him survive the 12 rounds with the Chinese "Monster". The pressure, work rate and strength of Xu will be too much, especially down the stretch. Prediction- TKO11 Xu  Earlier this year China saw it's baby faced punching machine Can Xu (16-2, 2) announce himself on the global stage with an upset win in the US over Jesus M Rojas, to become the WBA "regular" Featherweight champion. The win was a notable upset, especially given how bad Xu had looked on his US debut, and saw the feather fisted "Monster", don't ask, show off his fun style, his incredible toughness and his wonderful personality.
This coming weekend Xu heads back to a Chinese ring as he looks to make the first defense of his title, and unlike many who would take on an easy first defense he will actually go up against former WBA "regular" Super Bantamweight champion Shun Kubo (13-1, 9) in what is a really nice looking match up. Xu, as we all saw against Rojas, is a tough, gutsy guy with an incredible work rate. His shots don't have much on them individually but the sheer number of punches he throws is incredible and he does wear people out mentally as well as physically. He combines an insane output with a gritty toughness, that we saw not only against Rojas but also against the likes of Spicy Matsushita, Nehomar Cermeno and Hurricane Futa, among others. His combination of toughness and output has seen him winning his last 13 fights and becoming the new face of Chinese boxing. That's admittedly not a position that has given us a lot of big names, but puts him in a small group along with Xiang Zhao Zhong and Zou Shiming, as Chinese world champions and focal points in Chinese boxing history. Xu isn't likely to be a big star world wide, despite his style, but for Chinese boxing he is a potential center point to build off over the coming years. He's only 25, he's promoted by China's bigger promoter Max Power Promotions, and could be finding himself as someone to inspire the next generation of fighters. The hope once was that Zou Shiming would do that, but he was too old when he turned professional and although interesting outside of the ring he wasn't fun to watch, his fighters didn't see a lot of punches aren't weren't exciting. Xu is fun, young, exciting and oozes natural charisma, which can appeal to local fans and international ones. As previously mentioned Kubo is a former "regular" champion at 122lbs. Whilst he was fighting at Super Bantamweight he was regarded as a fast rising hopeful, and scored early career wins over the likes of Monico Laurente and Luis May before taking the OPBF title in 2015. In the eyes of many he was the new hope of the Shinsei gym, and winning the OPBF title in just his 9th fight showed that they were going to be pushing to be the replacement for Hozumi Hasegawa at the top of the Shinsei stable. Less than 18 months after his OPBF win he would defeat Nehomar Cermeno for the WBA "regular title", with Cemerno retiring between rounds 10 and 11. It's worth noting that Cermeno had won and defended his belt, twice, in China becoming a bit of a name there, so beating Cermeno would have got Kubo some attention in China. Sadly Kubo's reign was short and he lost the belt less than 5 months later when he dominated by Danny Roman, who has now run up 4 defenses and unified the WBA and IBF titles suggesting that a lott to Roman isn't something to be ashamed by. Since losing the belt Kubo has scored a single win, moving up to Featherweight and narrowly out pointing Hiroshige Osawa. Sadly a planned follow up was cancelled late last year when Kubo was suffering issues with his sight, though he has receieved treatment and things are said to be sorted with his eyes now. In the ring Kubo is a pretty basic fighter. He's gangly, long and has impressive size, and will have that at Featheweight, but doesn't do anything specially well. He has a solid enough jab and a decent left hook to the body but there is nothing that makes you think he's world class, other than his desire and will to win. In fact if anything he's shown a suspect chin, a lack of power and some naivety. Despite his flaws he does have success, his heart is incredible and he knows how to use his size. He's not only awkward in terms of reach and height but also due to being a southpaw and he does do a lot that's nice, as opposed to exceptional. We think Kubo could ask questions of Xu, especially early on when he can land some body shots and is fresh enough to get his punches off. As the fight wears on however we expect to see Xu's pressure, work rate and aggression be the difference, and for the Chinese fighter to retain his title. We're expecting Kubo to survive the distance, but wouldn't be hugely shocked by a late a stoppage for Xu, despite his reputation as a none-puncher. Prediction Xu UD12  The Featherweight division is on of the most fragmented in the sport right now, with no unified champions and no clear #1. In fact it's not really clear on the ordering of any of the champions, and inactivity of certain fighters atop the division doesn't help matter. This coming Saturday we get a WBA "regular" title bout in the division, as defending champion Jesus M Rojas (26-2-2-1, 19) defends his belt against Chinese challenger Can Xu (15-2, 2). No matter who wins the division will remain a huge mess at the top, though at the very least this bout should remove a contender from the very messy WBA title picture.
We say it's a messy title scene for the WBA as they currently have 3 champions in the division. Rojas, the "regular" champion, Leo Santa Cruz, the "Super champion" and Jhack Tepora, the "interim" champion [ Ed's note - Tepora will be defending the "interim" title against Hugo Ruiz the day AFTER this preview goes live]. It appears none of the men are likely to face off any time soon, and instead the 3 titles will float around for time. Rather than linger on that, and politics of the WBA, we'll get on to the preview. Rojas, from Puerto Rico, is one of the division's many over-looked fighters. He's tough, heavy handed, aggressive, physically strong and a nightmare for many in the division. Technically he is flawed, a rough around the edges fighter who can be out boxed, out sped and out thought, though few will fancy their chances of out fighting him. He comes forward behind a tight guard, looks to go to work up close and turn things into a fighter. He has been down before, and actually lost a decision last time out to Jospeh Diaz but kept the title due to Diaz failing to make weight. Diaz beat him by establishing the range, using a lot of jabs and countering well, setting a gameplan that fighters could use to beat Rojas in the future, if they have a similar skill level and toughness to Diaz. Although he can be out boxed Rojas is the type of fighter who will be a nightmare for anyone. He will press the action, come forward and make even the best boxers work incredibly hard to earn a win. His aggression, physical strength an will to win are very hard to over-come. Xu is looking to become the third Chinese male to win a world title, following Xiong Zhao Zhong and Zou Shiming, he's also looking to become their first champion above 112lbs. He's a relative unknown on the international scene, though is relatively well known in Asia, where he has fought all but 1 bout. In Asia he has scored notable wins against the likes Hurricane Futa, Kris George, Corey McConnell, Spicy Matsushita and Nehomar Cermeno. Outside of Asia his only bout saw him being surprisingly pushed all the way by Enrique Bernache last September, and in fact that bout almost cost him this title fight. In the ring Xu is far from a puncher. He's an aggressive boxer, who lets his hands go a lot, but lacks power, and his stoppages have come from wearing opponents down. Despite his high work rate he does lack finesse in a lot of what he does, though has sparred with top fighters to try and develop his skills and polish things off. That sparring, including sparring with Naoya Inoue, will help improve Xu but the reality is that he's never going to be a a fluid, natural fighter. More a basic fighter, who works hard for results, especially at a level like this. Given that both men like to let their hands go, both come forward and neither looks great on the back foot we're expecting these two to meet center ring. Sadly for Xu meeting with Rojas in the ring isn't a wise idea, and we suspect that Rojas' power and psychical strength will be the difference. Xu will be forced to back up, and we don't think he'll be effective on the back foot, instead we see him being broken down in the second half of the fight. On January 19th our attention, at least later in the day, will be in Nevada, as PBC put on a stacked card in association with numerous promoters. One of the many notable bouts on that card will see unbeaten Filipino Jhack Tepora (22-0, 17) make his first defense of the WBA "interim" Featherweight title, as he takes on Mexican veteran Hugo Ruiz (38-4, 33). On paper this should be a very explosive and exciting match up between two heavy-handed fighters, who are both flawed, but exciting.
Tepora had long been seen as a rising prospect on the Filipino scene, and put his name on the international stage in 2017 when he scored a KO of the year contender against Lusanda Komanisi in South Africa. That was Tepora's 16th stoppage win in 21 bouts and his first outside of the Philippines. He built on that win last July in Malaysia by stopping Edivaldo Ortega in 9 rounds, to claim the WBA interim title. In both of those bouts Tepora looked a bit slow, and technically flawed, but was aggressive, heavy-handed and showed that even his jab could put opponents on the back foot. Fighting from the southpaw stance, with a lot of power, Tepora is a real danger man and the 25 year old will be looking to have a lengthy reign with that title. Sadly however he's not fought since his title winning effort and has failed to really build on that win, something he'll be looking to do when he faces Ruiz. It should be noted that Tepora, at 5'6" is a bit on the short side for a top Featherweight, though has grown into the division, having debuted in 2012 as a Flyweight. He's powerful and a fully mature fighter even if he lacks a bit in terms of experience at the top-level. The 30 year old Ruiz has had a long career, and a pretty interesting one at that. he would lose an early career bout to Enrique Quevedo before rebuilding to become the WBA "interim" Bantamweight champion in 2011. He held the interim title at 118lbs until challenging "regular" champion Koki Kameda in 2012, losing a close decision to Kameda in Osaka. He would later move up in weight and go 1-1 with Julio Ceja, winning the second bout with Ceja to claim the WBC Super Bantamweight title. That title reign didn't last long, with Ceja losing the title in Japan to Hozumi Hasegawa, in what would be Hasegawa's final bout. Since then he has returned to the ring, winning a couple of low key bouts in Mexico, and decided to move up in weight. In the ring Ruiz is a powerful boxer-puncher, who is huge for the lower weight classes at almost 5'10". We wonder how much he has taken out of himself by boiling down in the past, and how much better he might end up being at 126lbs. By that same token we have seen him hurt by smaller men and we have to wonder how he copes if he's caught by a bomb by a true Featherweight. We also wonder how his nose, which was injured against Hasegawa, will hold up if he gets tagged on it. Technically Ruiz is the taller, rangier fighter and also the more technically skilled of the two men. He is however a man who has shown some frailties in the past and against Tepora that is a major issue. Tepora is not the type of guy you want to fight if there's any question marks about your durability. We expect to see Ruiz give Tepora issues, especially early on, but Tepora will, sooner or later, cut the distance and break his man down, somewhere in the middle rounds, to stop Ruiz and record his first defense of the title. Hopefully that will then lead to a busy and exciting 2019 for Tepora, who should be kept busy and allowed to really build his name over the coming years. This coming Sunday we'll see Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao in what could be his final bout. On the same card we'll get the chance to see a rising Filipino Phenom take on his biggest challenge as he battles for the interim WBA Featherweight title.
The Filipino in question is the unbeaten Jhack Tepora (21-0, 16) who steps up in class to face Edivaldo Ortega (26-1-1, 12) in what could genuinely turn out to be the fight of the weekend, despite the fact it's only for an interim title. Both fighters have styles that should gel, a lot to prove, and both will know this is a massive opportunity to make a name for themselves, fighting on a massive card in front of a global audience. The 25 year old Tepora turned professional in early 2012 with fight fans in the Philippines predicting big things to come from him. He had been a notable amateur on the Filipino scene and was fighting in 8 rounders just 15 months after his professional debut. Despite being hotly tipped it wasn't until 2016 that Tepora fougth for his first title, claiming the PBF Super Bantamweight title in January of the year. He would however quickly add to his collection, winning the WBO Asia Pacific Yoth Super Bantamweight title and the WBO Oriental Super Bantamweight title by the end of the year. He would then add the World Boxing Organisation Inter-Continental featherweight title the following year with a sensational KO in South Africa against Lusanda Komanisi. As with a lot of Filipino fighters Tepora has matured and moved up in weight notably. He made his debut as a 19 year old at Flyweight but looked a fully fleshed out Featherweight when he stopped Komanisi. He has certainly developed from a teenager into an adult and stood at 5'6” with a 67” reach he's a decent sized Featherweight. Also notably is the fact he's a heavy handed southpaw. He's not the most technically able, or the quickest or the smoothest in the ring. In fact he looks like he can be out boxed by a patient and smart fighter, but his power is brutal and not many will be able to handle his flush shots. Whilst not a technical genius Tepora is technically solid, and even without his power he's be a solid fighter, with that power however he's a real dangerman and someone who few will be in a rush to face. Ortega is a 28 year old Mexican fighter who has been a professional since 2007 and, like Tepora, is a southpaw. Stylistically however he's not much of a puncher, having stopped only 1 of his last 7 opponents. Despite that he does hold notable inside the distance wins over the likes of Tomas Rojas and Christian Esquivel, whilst scoring solid decision wins over the likes of Drian Francisco and Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr. Stylistically his lack of power isn't really an issue as he's a technically capable swarmer, who throws a lot of leather, puts opponents on the back foot and keeps up a high pressure based tempo. His styles is genuinely a fun one to watch, and although it's unlikely to give him sustained success at the top level, it will make him a very TV friendly fighter for the next few years. On paper Ortega holds more wins of note than Tepora, with victories over former world champions like Sanchez Jr and Rojas as well as world level contenders like Francisco and Esquivel. It should be noted however that those names are typically associated with lower weights, and in fairness all 4 were well beyond their best. That's not to say Ortega isn't a fantastic fighter, but his biggest wins can certainly be questioned, and this is the first time he'll be taking on a real, genuine, puncher. We expect to see see Ortega apply the pressure from the early stages, putting Tepora on the back foot. That gives Tepora a great chance to land his dynamite shots, and if he does we'll see just how good Ortega's chin is. If Ortega can take Tepora's power we suspect the Mexican comes out on top, of what would be an amazing fight. If he can't then then Tepora could well score a highlight reel KO of the Mexican here to claim the interim world title. This is a really good match up and one we are so excited to see. |
World Title Previews
The biggest fights get broken down as we try to predict who will come out on top in the up coming world title bouts. Archives
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