This coming Friday we'll be able to see several world title fights from the US, one of which will see unbeaten Filipino Genesis Servania (29-0, 12) challenge WBO Featherweight champion Oscar Valdez (22-0, 19). For Servania, a Filipino based in Japan, this will be his maiden world title fight whilst Valdez will be seeking his third defence, following wins over Hiroshige Osawa and Miguel Marriaga. Of the two men it's the talented and heavy handed Mexican who is expected to shine. He has long been considered one of the top Mexican fighters and, before turning professional in 2012, he had been a genuine amateur standout. In the unpaid ranks Valdez had twice competed at the Olgmpics, had won gold at the 2008 AIBA Youth World Championships, Silver at the Pan Am games in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and a Bronze at the 2009 World Amateur Championships. So impressive was Valdez's amateur career that when he turned professional, soon after the 2012 London Olympics, people were already talking about him like a nailed on world champion. Like so many top prospects in the West however his journey to the top wasn't particularly rushed. Instead it was a slow build as he gradually stepped up his competition, beating Jose Ramirez in his 15th bout, Christ Avalos in his 17th and Evgeny Gradovch in his 19th. Finally his world title shot came in his 20th bout, in which he stopped Matias Carlos Adrian Rueda for the then vacant title. Valdez's rise to the title had been pretty straight forward, and that was the case in his first defense, a one sided beat down of Japan's Osawa, who was tough but out classed and eventually stopped in round 7. It wasn't until his most recent defense, a 12 round war with Miguel Marriaga, that chinks were first seen in Valdez. The Mexican showed great toughness and will to win, but was hurt several times, looked defensively open and struggled to connect with his frightening power. He still won, but for the first time he was made to look human. In the ring Valdez is a fast handed, technically well schooled boxer puncher. Defensively there is flaws, and questions do continue to be asked about his stamina and whether or not he can be versatile enough to over-come fighters who can take his power. Whilst he did defeat Marriaga, that bout left more questions than answers. Whilst every fight fan has likely heard of, or seen, Valdez it's fair to say far, far, fewer have seen Servania. In fact many of those who have seen the Filipino would probably have only seen one fight of his, his contest with Konosuke Tomiyama which took place in 2013 in Macau as part of Top Rank's Macau experiment. That bout was a thriller, with Servania being dropped twice in the opening round, and dropping Tomiyama twice before claiming a 9th round split technical decision. Despite the drama in that fight Servania is actually a fighter who typically fights safely and doesn't engage in wars. In the ring Servania is a technically solid fighter, who has slowly but surely racked up notable wins, which have often gone under-the-radar. Those wins have included victories over the likes of Genaro Garcia, Angky Angkotta, the aforementioned Tomiyama, Rafael Concepcion, Alexander Munoz and Jose Cabrera. Those wins won't resonate with too many fans, but they are decent wins over decent names, even though they were mostly on the slide. They have shown that Servania is a solid boxer-mover, he hits harder than his record suggests and he has rarely lost a round during his 29 bout career. It's also worth noting that despite being a bit of a veteran he is only 26 years old, with almost 9 years of experience under his belt. Although experienced and talented this is a huge step up for Servania, and he would need to score one of the biggest upsets of 2017 to over-come Valdez. We know Servania is talented, but we can't see him having the tools needed to really test the champion. Servania should be able to have some moments, but we suspect he'll end up being stopped in the middle rounds by the more powerful Valdez.
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This coming weekend is a packed one with 4 world title bouts taking place on the same show in Las Vegas. Arguably the most perplexing of those sees little known Japanese fighter Hiroshige Osawa (30-3-4, 19) face fast rising Mexican star Oscar Valdez (20-0, 18), who will be making his first defense of the WBO Featherweight title. Notably Osawa enters the bout as the #1 ranked contender to Valdez, but really is a very unknown fighter in a division that boasts a number of bigger, more established and more notable names. As mentioned Valdez is a rising star making his first defense and looking to establish himself as one of the very best Featherweights on the planet. Out of the ring he has the natural charisma of a star, he speaks both Spanish and English, and is a really good looking kid. In the ring he's a monster, an absolute monster who combines excellent skills, with speed, a high boxing IQ, really good composure, oh and frightening power. With a 90% KO rate Valdez's power cannot be over-stated. He's a frightening puncher. However he's not just a puncher, much like Gennady Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev and Shinsuke Yamanaka there is much more to to Valdez than just his punching power. He was an excellent amateur and is a 2-time Olympian, a world Youth amateur champion and World Amateur Championship's bronze medal winner, losing in the final to the amazing Vasyl Lomachenko. That amateur pedigree explains the skills and the composure but the power and charisma are really what will help make him a star, and his style is explosive, eye catching and exciting. There are still some things that Valdez needs to prove, such as his stamina which is untested though he has been 10 rounds once, and he has got a question mark over his chin with a knockdown against him a few fights back, albeit a flash knockdown. There is also a question mark about whether he enjoys actually forcing a fight, with Valdez looking a better counter puncher than a front foot fighter, and a fighter could possibly frustrate him into making mistake by being incredibly patient rather than giving him chances and openings. Whilst the 25 year old Valdez is a rising star his opponent really is a bit of an unknown, even towards some Japanese fans, and at 31 years old Osawa is what will likely be his only chance at making a name for himself. We know it's odd to describe Osawa as an unknown, especially given that he's a former OPBF champions and a former WBO Asia Pacific “interim” champion, but he really is an unknown to many fans, including a lot in Japan. In fact some fans may actually know him best for the fact he suffered a year long suspension for taking part in a bout that the JBC were lied to. Out of the ring Osawa is an amazing guy, he's done a lot with a foster care home and has regularly donated money to charities based on disabilities. That out of the ring activity has seen him earn the “Caregiver boxer” moniker, one of many that he has, and he does seem like the sort of fighter who really is a brilliant person on a humanitarian level. Sadly in the ring he's nothing special, and that's not an insult just the truth. Through his 37 bout career his most notable wins are a decision wins over Jonel Alibo and Eddy Comaro along with stoppage wins against Shota Yamaguchi, Kosuke Saka and Naoki Matsudam and whilst we love Kosuke Saka he shouldn't be a top win for a #1 contender. In the ring Osawa is a decent boxer, with solid but unspectacular skills, limited power, a lack of speed and some worrying inaccuracy with his shots. It appears he's grown into a bit of power, with his last 8 bouts ending in stoppage wins, and he's actually stopped 10 of his last 11, but they have generally been against low level competition. One thing that is perhaps worthy of not is that Osawa has only been stopped once, and that was way back in 2005 and at Lightweight, when Daiki Koide beat him in 6 rounds. Valdez will come in to this as the clear favourite, as he should do, and it's hard to see how he'll be upset. Osawa doesn't have the skills to match him or the power to really be given a “puncher's chance”. However Osawa won't have travelled to just roll over, Japanese fighters might have a reputation for losing away from home but they rarely just fall over and we suspect to see Osawa to go down swinging, likely in in the middle rounds, after perhaps frustrating Valdez for a few rounds before being stopped. (Image courtesy of http://hiroshige0519.com) The Featherweight division is one of the most interesting right now and seems to be one with no definitive and clear champion. The two most exciting fighters in the division to watch are Nicholas Walters and Jhonny Gonzalez, both monster puncher, the most talented fighter in a technical sense if Vasyl Lomachneko, who of course beat Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo recently. Contenders in the division include Marvin Sonsona, Simpiwe Vetyeka, Hisashi Amagasa, Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar, Lee Selby and Satoshi Hosono.
This weekend we get to see two of the divisions top names in action as IBF champion Evgeny Gradovich (19-0, 9) puts his world title on the line against fellow unbeaten fighter Jayson Velez (22-0, 16). The bout will Gradovich's 4th defence and will also be his toughest since he burst on to the worst scene with an upset win over Billy Dibb back in March 2013. Gradovich, who originally hails from Russia though is now based in Oxnard, California, is a fighter that is hard to dislike. He has solid technical ability though is better known for his amazing engine and work rate. From the opening round to the final round we expect to see around 100 punches a round from the Russian who love to come forward, let his hands go and then let his hands go some more. It's not always the prettiest but it is effective and it drains opponents both physically and mentally. Despite having one of the best engines in the game Gradovich has issues himself. The most obvious is his relative lack of power. He lands a lot of shots, every fight, but none of them ever seem to do much damage and his stoppages come from accumulation more than anything. Generally the work rate can force opponents back but unlike Walters and Gonzalez he won't take your head off when you make a mistake, instead he'll just 4 or 5 shots before letting you off the hook. His second issue is his defense which is sloppy at times, though it is masked by his work rate with the mentality seemingly that of a man who believes his offense is his best defense. Whilst Gradovich is all about relentless aggression we'd describe Velez as beign a bit of a boxer-puncher. The Puerto Rican fighter remained relatively under-the-radar until a 2012 win over Salavadoz Sanchez saw him claiming the interim WBC silver Featherweight title. The win over Sanchez was the best of Velez's career and saw him rising the ocassion in style as he dominated the Mexican fighter outlanding him 4 to 1 and stopping him in just 3 rounds. In theory the win over Sanchez should have got Velez a shot at the WBC title, then held by Daniel Ponce De Leon, though he had been over-looked following the win and has instead had to go another route for a world title fight. Since the win over Sanchez back in December 2012 Velez has fought just twice. One of those was an easy blow out against Miguel Soto earlier this year whilst in 2013 he had to labour to a hard fought win over Dat Nguyen who really gave Velez hell for the first 5 or 6 rounds before running out of steam. It's the Nguyen fight that interests us the most as he was the toughest fight of Velez's career and saw Velez need to dig deep to beat Nguyen who started well before fading. Velez was unable to stop the tough Vietnamese born fighter who, like Gradovich, takes a shot well. Going in to this bout we're expecting a good fight with styles that we suspect will gel well. Gradovich's come forward mentality could back up Velez who may need to fight off the back foot as a counter puncher however Velez may himself choose to meet Gradovich centre ring in what would make for a really exciting fight. On paper Velez is the better boxer but he is stepping up here whilst Gradovich is the better fighter and the more proven man. As is often the case we need to go with the proven fighter ahead of the man stepping up. With that said we'll be going with Gradovich to win a very exciting 12 round decision. All too often in boxing we look at the records of fighters and base our opinions on those rather than the abilities or competition of those fighters involved. Sometimes it turns out to be a fair way to judge fighters ahead of a bout, especially when they have been competing at a similar level. Often however the numbers turn out not to be relatively of someones ability and in fact we often see that the more padded a record the less capable a fighter really is. The debate about "quality versus quality" when it comes to experience is something that we know fans are split over with the western system often favour quantity of bouts over quality of bouts. Every so often however someone bucks the trend and is fast tracked. One such fighter is current WBO Featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (2-1, 1) who really is one of the most sensational fighters in the sport today. On paper Lomachenko's record is a stark contrast to his upcoming challenger, Thailand's Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (52-1, 33), and if we judged fights just from records this would be a mismatch in favour of the Thai. In reality however the men are in completely different leagues with Lomachenko being a truly elite talent whilst Chonlatarn is little more than a continental level fighter with a heavily boosted record. For those who have followed Lomachenko over the years you will be fully aware that he has some of the most impressive amateur credentials in history, in fact some have described him as the greatest amateur boxer not just of his era but of all time. That assessment is fair and also exposes the idea that he is a "novice". As an amateur he fought almost 400 contests whilst picking up 2 Olympic gold medals, 3 world amateur championship gold medals, and a silver, and was among the most celebrated amateurs in history. As a professional Lomachenko maintained the same attitude as he had when he was a amateur. He wants to fight the best, fight in and fight out. And the best thing about it is he has the self belief to do just that and seems unwilling to just pad his professional ledger with mismatches and pointless wins that serve little to no purpose. Of course this comes with a serious risk, as he saw in his second bout when he was narrowly out pointed by Orlando Salido in a WBO Featherweight title fight that saw Salido fail weight and land numerous low blows, however it comes with great reward as seen when he tied a world record for fewest fights to win a world title in his third bout, tying the long standing record of Thailand's Saensak Muangsurin. Although Lomachenko has maintained much of his amateur style he always seemed to have a very professional looking amateur style. He fought behind a high guard, moving in and out swiftly, landing sharp and accurate shots and making his opponent miss. There hasn't been a huge amount of transitioning but thee hasn't needed to be and like the great Muay Thai guys who moved from Muay Thai to boxing with great success he's managed to use what he had practiced prior to becoming a professional boxer. Despite only having fought thrice as a professional Lomachenko's opponents had a combined record of 99 wins, 15 losses, 2 draws and 1 no contest. That is unheard of though shows his belief and ability. Whilst Lomachenko has been fast tracked in the extreme Chonlatarn has fought on the now typical Thai trajectory towards a world title. The Thai has been a pro since 2003 and has fought regularly though often against over-matched and under-skilled foes. With around 5 fights a year he has been very active by today's standards though only a handful of those bouts have been notable with the first of those being a 2006 encounter with former world champion Yoddamrong Sithyodthong. Sadly those notable bouts have been few and far between with 2 of them coming against Yoddamrong and a third, his only world title bout so far, against Chris John. It was against John that we saw Chonlatarn step up to real world level for the first time and it was also when we saw his record, which was then 44-0 (27), wasn't indicative of his talent. The Thai showed the typical gameness and desire of most Thai fighters but he showed a lack of development, skills that were very under-whelming for such a "veteran" and highly questionable stamina as he was out worked and out boxed by the then 33 year old John. Aged 27 when he fought John we has expected so much more from the Thai and were left feeling very under-whelmed in a bout between two long unbeaten streaks. Since the loss to John in 2012 we've seen the Thai continue on a similar career path to the one he was one prior to the John fight. He went back to the Thai scene packing up wins, 7 of them, against limited and over-matched foes whilst claimign regional titles in the form of the WBO Asia Pacific and PABA Featherweight belts. Those belts, which are often won by Thai's with incredibly long records, are geared towards gaining world rankings and playing the political games that the world bodies love to see fighters play. Unfortunately they also lead to mismatches, both on the "coming up stage" and in the eventual world title bout. Going into this bout, a mandatory for Lomachenko, we can't see anything but an easy win for the very developed and amazingly talented champion who we suspect will give Chonlatarn a real boxing lesson before closing the show against a tired challenger in the second half of the contest. Essentially it is mandatory but will appear to be a showcase for the Ukrainian who will be looking for unification bouts in 2015. It may seem strange but we really suspect that Lomachenko has rushed his mandatory to get the fight out of the way and open the door to mega fights in 2015 without any other commitments for the year. (Image courtesy of our friends at Thairec.com) Unification bouts in boxing are very rare and generally they are worth getting excited about. Champion Vs Champion, the best vs the best. Sadly however with the WBA having 3 titles we seem to have seen more WBA unification fights recently than real unification bouts and we see another WBA unification bout this coming Saturday as WBA Featherweight super champion Nonito Donaire (33-2, 21) attempts to unify his title with the WBA Featherweight "regular" champion Nicholas Walters (24-0, 20) in what will be the second WBA unification bout in as many days.
Of the two men in action it's Donaire who is better known due to the fact the Filipino has long been one of the stars, and cash cows, of the lower weights. The American based fighter first made his name on the back of a scintillating win over Vic Darchinyan back in 2007 and since then has gone through the divisions picking up both world titles and notable scalps, such as Fernando Montiel, Toshiaki Nishioka and Omar Andres Narvaez. The success, and power, or Donaire has seen him become a favourite of the US boxing media and although he has struggled in recent years it does seem like there is still a lot for Donaire to achieve if he can get himself up for fights, which appears to be his biggest problem. At his best Donaire is a counter punching destroyer as she showed against Montiel and Darchinyan. Sadly however when a fighter doesn't give Donaire some pretty clear openings he has struggled, as seen in the Narvaez fight and his somewhat recent loss to Guillermo Rigondeaux. At his core Donaire is a powerful and quick counter puncher who adds an air of excitement to every bout he's involved in with fans hoping to see him detonate a bomb on his opponent. Sadly though when an opponent is an unwilling dance partner Donaire can be made to look fundamentally limited and at times lost in the ring. As for Walters he's a hard man to get a real read on. We've only seen a handful of his bouts and although the Jamaican has serious power he also seems to be developing in terms of timing, general skills and, worryingly for Donaire, patience. In the first few fights of Walters that we've seen he looked like a slugger and offensive mindset, the sort of guy that Donaire would typically feast on with no issues due to the openings that he used to leave. Whilst he's a big puncher Walter's also has a few tricks up his sleeve. He's willing to take the 1/2 step back, he's willing to let the other man lead and he's capable of unleashing thunder from both hands. He's one of those fighters that others don't take risks against, in fact in many way's he's a lot like a younger version of Donaire albeit a cruder version of a young Donaire. Like a young a young Donaire Walters also appears big for the weight in which he's competing, something that certainly helped the Filipino fighter move up the weight classes. That size is likely to tell here and Walters is likely to look bigger than Donaire, by quite a margin. Donaire at his best was brilliant. His stoppages against Darchinyan and Montiel were sensational and really made him a huge star and a real pound-for-pound fighter. Sadly those performances look to be well behind him and in recent fights he has looked like a man who is missing his sparkle and confidence. He's still talented but that lack of magic and desire is the difference between a world class fighter and an elite level fighter. and that lack of magic could cost him here. What we think will happen is that both men will fight as counter punchers and neither will be willing to open up. This will lead to a very slow but tense fight with both men believing they have the power to stop the other. They style of fight won't be great to watch for the most part but as soon as one man leads the other will answer and we will get some very exciting exchanges between the two who will be trying to counter each other. When they do exchange Donaire will have the speed edge and Walters will have the size and power edge. It's a matter of who has the chin edge as to who will come out on top here. We tend to feel the size will be the difference and help Walters take the win however if Donaire connects clean there is every chance he will stop Walters. The only thing we know for sure here is that we are looking forward to this fight and that either man can pick up the win in what promises to be a very interesting contest even if it's unlikely to be the most exciting bout of the weekend This coming weekend really is a monster weekend with more major bouts than you can shake a stick at. Unfortunately with such a busy weekend it's obvious that some fights will be forgotten, or given less respect than they perhaps deserve. One of those bouts is the IBF Featherweight title fight between defending champion Evgeny Gradovich (18-0, 9) and Belgian-Armenian challenger Alexander Miskirtchian (24-2-1, 9), the European champion and #1 ranked IBF challenger. Gradovich is a fighter we are big fans of. In the ring he's a non-stop punching machine who throws in the region 100 punches a round, every round. He's aggressive, fun to watch, busy and the sort of fighter who makes up for his limitations in sheer bloody mindedness. And in fairness to Gradovich his limitations are few and far between with the most notable of them being that he doesn't really have major power, he hurts people when he sits on his shots but lacks truly concussive power, that is pretty much his main issue. What Gradovich does so well is break people, both mentally and physically. He showed this in his two victories over Billy Dib and his very impressive decision victory over Mauricio Javier Munoz. These fights showed all the different facets to Gradovich who showed he could swarm, proved he could box and proved that he was improving fight after fight. If that improvement continues then there is every chance he could become one of the truly elite Featherweights. Whilst Gradovich is a proven world class fighter with a number of world class wins Miskirtchian is a little less well known, though has proven his ability against fringe world class opponents. For him this is a step up to true world class and for many that's the hardest step a fighter can take. So far Miskirtchian's most notable victories are over Sofiane Takoucht, who he has beaten twice, and Andreas Evensen. Both of those men are good European level fighters but their is a huge gulf between European class and world class and we feel that will be shown up here. If Gradovich is defined by his insane work rate then Miskirtchian is probably defined by how basic he is. He's strong and looks tough but there is nothing that really looks outstanding. He comes forward behind his jab and throws huge lopping over-hand rights regularly but his jab isn't sharp or all that fast whilst his right hand appears to lack power and is slow and looping. There is nothing in the footage of Miskirtchian that makes us think wow, in fact the most impressive thing about him is that he's become the IBF #1 contender despite looking so very ordinary. Although there must be something about Gradovich that makes him fight better than the footage suggests there is nothing that makes us feel he can really give Gradovich any sort of a test. In fact this bout is almost made for Gradovich to look good and to get his mandatory out of the way. There is little, if anything, in Miskirtchian's arsenal that will bother the Russian who will come forward, and gradually grind down the challenger. Although this bout is the lesser of 3 Featherweight world title bouts on a card dubbed "Featherweight Fury" it is arguably going to be most exciting as Gradovich doesn't really know how to be in a boring fight. For us Nicholas Walters's bout with Vic Darchinyan looks likely to be one-sided whilst the bout between Nonito Donaire and Simpiwe Vetyeka is likely to be a very tactical affair between very capable counter-punchers. This might be a bit of a mismatch but it will be an entertaining mismatch. (Image courtesy of EuroboxePromotion) Over the past year or so Top Rank and Bob Arum have made a home away from home in Macau making the most of the luxurious conditions at the amazing Cotai Arena in the Venetian Resort. The cards, which have split opinions with many fans, have been great for us as they have helped draw extra attention to some Asian fighters such as Yasutaka Ishimoto, Genesis Servania, Harmonito Dela Torre, Zou Shiming, Rex Tso and Kuok Kun Ng. One of the few Asian fighters that American audiences are fully aware of, with out the need for a Macau showcase, is the "Filipino Flash" Nonito Donaire (32-2, 21). Donaire, once considered as a top 10 pound-for-pound fighter, is a man in a bit of a career crisis. A few years ago he was the rising star at Top Rank, the next Manny Pacquiao. He was stopping great opponents like Vic Darhcinyan and Fernando Montiel with single punches, he was looking sensational with power, speed, the ability to box from either stance and an unnerving ability to time his opponents with fantastic counter. Since then those glory days Donaire has struggled with the likes of Omar Andres Narvaez, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr, Jeffrey Mathebula, Vic Darchinyan-in a rematch, and been defeated by Cuban sensation Guillermo Rigondeaux. He has basically gone from being a top pound-for-pound fighter to a man that many feel may be so far on the slide that he perhaps only has one or two good fights left in him. At his best Donaire really was brilliant. He often looked untouchable with a mind blowing combination of speed and power. He was often making top fighters look like also rans and his record genuinely reads like a who's who with names like Darchinyan, Moruti Mthalane, Hernan Marquez, Montiel, Narvaez, Toshiaki Nishioka and Jorge Arce. Unfortunately however he seemed to fall in love with his power in later years, ignoring the skills that had gotten him to the top level and relying solely on counters rather than finding his own openings. He'd gone from wonder kid to frustration almost over night and has struggled to re-find the tools that made him one of the sports must watch fighters. Unfortunately for Donaire he'll almost certainly have to find his aggressive mindset as he attempts to become a 5 weight world champion and takes on WBA Featherweight super champion Simipiwe Vetyeka (26-2, 16) who has gained a real reputation over the last year as a man who enjoys fighting Asian fighters and is a real king of upsets. Hailing from South Africa Vetyeka has become a road warrior and fought in his first notable bout 7 years ago in Japan when he lost a decision to the then WBC Bantamweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa. That bad was a horrible clash of styles with neither man willing to open up for vast parts of the bout. From that contest however Vetyeka has learned to make the most of his ability and scored wins over Giovanni Caro, Daud Cino Yordan and, most recently, Chris John. The victories over Yordan and John have both been played down by some fans. For some Yordan was weight drained and John was old though in all honesty they are detracting from two excellent performances that showed the different sides of Vetyeka. Against Yordan we saw Vetyeka the boxer who bounced on his toes, used the jab and allowed Yordan to eat numerous straight shots. It was a game plan designed to beat Yordan. Against John we saw Vetyeka bide his time, start slowly and then strike breaking John down in rounds 5 and 6 before forcing the stoppage. By then John looked like a broken man, he was busted to the mid section, forced to take shots upstairs and beaten into retirement. Whilst Donaire is the favourite, and rightfully so, he's in a very, very tough contest here. He's not looked "right" in a while and although he's only lost, in recent bouts, to the excellent Rigondeaux we can actually see an upset here with Vetyeka having all the tools to beat Donaire, if not he'll certainly give Donaire a head ache. We're expecting to see the counter punching Donaire in the ring. By it's self that's fine but against another relaxed counter puncher we think Donaire will struggle and when he opens up his defensive flaws will be taken advantage off with quick and hurtful shots from Vetyeka. Those shots will take it's toll on Donaire and make things very difficult for the Filipino who will feel what it's like to fight a real Featherweight. We think that whilst Donaire will start the favourite he will really struggle to hurt Vetyeka, he will struggle to land clean on Vetyeka and in the end he will just flat out struggle. We don't mean to sound harsh but we'd not be shocked if Vetyeka managed to score a third successive upset with a hard fought decision. Unfortunately we think Donaire is about done. (Image courtesy of Toprank) Earlier this year we saw South African Simpiwe Vetyeka (25-2, 15) score one of the biggest wins of his career as he traveled to Indonesia and beat the popular Daud Cino Yordan in an IBO title bout. Vetyeka's reward for winning that bout now seems him facing a second successive Indonesian as faces the legendary Chris John (48-0-3, 22) in an attempt to claim the WBA "super" title at Featherweight. For many in the west this has already been played down as John fighting another "second rate challenger". Unfortunately this just proves how wrong some fans are when it comes to international fighters and Vetyeka is far from a second rate challenger. In fact Vetyeka is one of the dangerous challengers to John's throne and could well be the man who finally ends the long unbeaten run of Indonesia's greatest ever fighter. Vetyeka, although relative unknown to those in Europe and America is a fighter who is known in Asia. Not only did he beat Yordan but he also gave Japanese great Hozumi Hasegawa one of the toughest bouts of his career. Dubbed "V12" Vetyeka is an excellent pure boxer who uses his legs and jab to maintain distance. His work rate is fantastic, he's fast, slippery and whilst he's not a big puncher he can break fighters mentally or physically with his straight shots, accuracy and work rate. Of course John will be the favourite. The 34 year old who has held some version of the WBA Featherweight title (interim, regular or super) for over a decade has proven to be a genuinely great fighter. He's slated in the west for fighting in the east but at the end of the day there is no real valid claim to call him untalented. His record speaks for it's self and with a 51 fight unbeaten streak it's hard to criticise him. Of course those bouts have included contests with Derrick Gainer, Juan Manuel Marquez, Rocky Juarez, Daud Cino Yordan all of whom are real world level fighters. At his best John was a tricky boxer with great speed, fantastic movement, lovely combinations and solid defensive skills. As he's gotten older though the speed has started to decline, the movement has slowed and he's been dragged in to more exchanges than he would have liked. These trading sequences have lead to exciting moments in with Yordan, Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo and Satoshi Hosono. We tend to think he was lucky to get of the Satoshi Hosono fight with a third round technical draw. The cut from a clash of heads was a bad one and the ending was fair, but we think Hosono had really good chance to upset John. The Bazooka was almost certainly going to land at some point and hurt John. With that in mind we also need to think that Vetyeka has a real chance against John. If John has slowed any further with his feet we may well see him chasing shadows for portions of this fight. That's not to say John won't have his moments but we really see him struggling here. This won't be another "easy" defense for John, Vetyeka won't let it be easy. He's too good, too experienced and too determined to let John make it easy. What we expect to happen is for John to make a good start, taking maybe the first 2 or 3 rounds. Vetyeka will then find his rhythm and take a number of the middle rounds. For us it goes down to the final 3 or 4 rounds as to who will take the win. Vetyeka will certainly not give up, but we also don't expect John to give up his title either. With that in mind a very narrow decision either way seems almost certain. Could Vetyeka end one of the most impressive unbeaten runs in the sport? The answer, is a very serious yes, yes he could. Fore those interested in watching this fight, it will LEGALLY streamed on RCTI and can be watched on their website (http://www.rcti.tv/streaming) in English. Earlier this year "The Mexican Russian" Evgeny Gradovich (17-0, 8) announced himself on to the world stage by getting a chance to fight for a world title, and taking it. Gradovich, who had only gotten a chance due to a late pull out by Cuban Luis Franco, went out and performed as if his life depended on. On that night Gradovich took on Australian Billy Dib (36-2-0-1, 21), then then reigning IBF Featherweight champion, and upset Dib taking a split decision over the experienced Aussie. The two men will meet for a second time in little more than 8 months as Gradovich seeks the second defense of the beat he took from Dib whilst Dib hunt revenge over the man who took his world title. Unlike the first bout, which took place as the headline fight of an ESPN Friday Night Fights, this one takes place on the massive undercard of Manny Pacquiao v Brandon Rios, a card in Macau that the world will be tuning in for. A show that will have the world's attention a show that will help define the two men for the foreseeable future. With such a big potential audience this bout really does leave the fighters looking to prove a lot. For Dib he'll be looking to prove that it was an off night the first time around, a fluke victory for Gradovich. On the other hand Gradovich will be looking to show that he is a genuine world level fighter, not just a title holder who beat an off colour champion. This will see both men fired up and both men looking to put it all on the line in the search for victory. Dib, at his best, is a talented boxer. He's not a big hitter but he can sting an opponent with clean shots, he has decent hand speed, decent movement and likes to control the pace and distance of a fight. At his worst however the Australian is nothing short of a nightmare to watch holding, pushing down and generally making things incredibly messy. Although often a messy and criticised fighter Dib is seemingly a permanent fixture in the world rankings. He has so far fought in five world title fights, losing two of those and winning the other three. Despite that record in world title fights he has yet to beat a genuinely proven world level fighter, in fact his most notable victory is probably a 6th round retirement over Eduardo Escobedo. Whilst Dib is a boxer it's fair to say that Gradovich is a bit more of a brawler. The Russian doesn't look to find gaps with movement and defense but instead looks to force a fight with an all action style, a never ending barrage of punches and unrelenting pressure. Gradovich's work isn't always the smoothest or the cleanest but it is non-stop as he attempts to grind down and beat up his opponents. With just 17 fights of professional experience experience behind Gradovich it'd be easy to call him inexperienced though that's far from accurate. The Russian has fought in 150 amateur fights and countless rounds of sparring in the Roberto Garcia gym in Oxnard with numerous rounds sparred with world class fighters. In fact it's probably fair to say that Gradovich, who shares a gym with the likes of Mikey Garcia, Brandon Rios and Marcos Maidana, has learned more in the gym than he has learned in his professional contests. His development over Garcia has been phenomenal. Going on their last performances the two men are heading in different directions. Gradovich abused Argentinian Mauricio Javier Munoz in a very one sided bout, in fact it was a bout that saw Munoz almost becoming a heavy bag for Gradovich. Dib's last contest however saw him escaping with a majority decision over Mike Oliver, a man who hadn't fought in almost 2 years following a second round blast out to Juan Manuel Lopez. The fact Gradovich won last time out and seems to be getting better whilst Dib is getting worse makes it hard to see anything but a repeat result here. Dib may manage to make life difficult for the Russian but it's hard to see anything but a victory for the unbeaten Russian who appears to be one of the sports most over-looked world champions.
Courtesy of Top Rank
Former amateur stand out Evgeny Gradovich (16-0, 8) shocked the boxing world earlier this year when he claimed the IBF Featherweight title and defeated Australian Billy "The Kid" Dibb. Now the man dubbed "The Mexican-Russian" seeks his first title defense. Gradovich, originally of Igrim, Russia though now based in Oxnard at the Robert Garcia Gym, will be taking on Argentinian Mauricio Javier Munoz (26-3, 12), otherwise known as "Chucky". Gradovich, as mentioned above, is trained by Robert Garcia and this has seen him sharing a gym with some of the sports best fighters. Not only has he been alongside Mikey Garcia (current WBO Featherweight champion) but also Brandon Rios and Marcos Maidana. It's this level of activity in the gym which has helped Gradovich becoming the fighter he is today. With boundless energy Gradovich is a pure pressure fighter who throws a lot of shots to both the head and body. His shots aren't concussive but they do accumulate and really wear fighters down mentally and physically. Technically his game is solid though unspectacular and there are holes in it, though he overcomes most of them with his heart and work rate. For those fans who recognise the name of Mauricio Javier Munoz, he is best known as a former world title challenger having faced the then WBC Super Bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka back on 2011. In that bout Nishioka stopped Munoz in the 9th round with a stunning left hand that sent the bruised and swollen Munoz down for the count. Interesting for Munoz that was his first fight outside of South American and it was also his first against any sort of a notable name. Since the loss to Nishioka, Munoz had moves to Featherweight and has also scored his most notable victory, a highly debated split decision over Cuban Luis Franco. Funnily it was Franco who was supposed to fight Dibb though retired and Gradovich got the opportunity instead. In terms of Munoz as a fighter he looks very strong but is incredibly basic in everything he does (much like a number of the B tier Argentinians). He's not a big hitter but he is tough and will look to have a fight with people if they don't run from him. Unfortunately for Munoz his willingness to engage in a fight is unlikely to serve him well against a man whilst not outstanding technically is better than Munoz in almost every way. Gradovich is busier, naturally bigger, hits harder and more technically rounded than he Argentinian challenger. With the styles seemingly likely to gel well, we'll admit we are expecting this to be a very fun fight and one that could very easily steal the show, despite feeling that it could be a bit one-sided in favour of Gradovich. |
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