Friday 30 November 2012

Austin Trout v Miguel Cotto

Saturday's only world title fight sees WBA Light Middleweight champion Austin Trout (25-0, 14) attempt to score the biggest victory of his career as he faces former 3-weight world champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30). Although Cotto will be the huge fan favourite going into this bout he is seen by some as being a fighter on the slide and a fighter who may well be ready to wave goodbye to the sport whilst Trout is certainly heading in the other direction.

Puerto Rican hero Miguel Cotto is a fighter who is hard to dislike. The 32 year old has genuinely faced everyone and anyone from Antonio Margarito to Zab Judah, Manny Pacquiao to Floyd Mayweather. In fact if anyone was to be critical the biggest problem with Cotto is that he faced too many tests and took too much punishment in a career that has seen him claim world titles in the Light Welterweight, Welterweight and Light Middleweight divisions.

At his most exciting Cotto was a come-forward, body beater who cracked hard, nasty hooks to the ribs of opponents, breaking them down round by round. Defensively he's never been the sharpest though Cotto has developed his style in recent years to be more than just an offensive body attacking machine and has added a very nice sharp jab to his repertoire. It's this jab that served him so well in his most recent fight, a decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Although small for a Light Middleweight (5'7" and with a 67" reach) Cotto is often skilled enough to impose his fight on an opponent as he both uses controlled aggression and very under-rated foot work to work his angles and get inside a taller opponent. Sadly however we've seen him beaten down hard in the past by both Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, who both mentally and physically beat down Cotto (albeit Margarito did do it in a seriously controversial manner). The fact that those two men managed to really beat up Cotto does leave us wondering how much he can take, and although Mayweather didn't stop him, he looked like he could had he wished to.

At Light Middleweight Cotto's power isn't great despite being 3-1 (3) at the weight, his wins over Yuri Foreman, Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito really showed this. In fact all 3 of his stoppages at the weight have questions over them with Mayorga claiming a broken hand, Foreman damaging his leg and Margarito's damaged eye from his bout with Pacquiao, though his performance with Mayweather was still impressive.

Whilst Cotto, as mentioned, is seen as being on the slide, the 27 year old Trout is certainly seen as a fighter on his way up and despite being the champion is a betting under-dog. Whilst it's true that he isn't a big name in the sport, like Cotto or a number of Cotto's big name opponents he is still a hugely talented fighter who is fresh, confident and coming to make a real name for himself.

Southpaw Trout has slowly been making a name for himself with the hardcore fans since he turned professional way back in 2005 however it wasn't until 2011 that fans started to sit up and take notice as Trout bagged himself several notable victories. The most notable of those victories came in February 2011 as he out-pointed Rigoberto Alvarez (the older brother of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez) for the interim WBA Light Middleweight.

Since claiming the interim WBA Light Middleweight title, Trout has defended it 3 times, defeating David Lopez, Frank LoPorto and Delvin Rodriguez and barely losing a round in those three fights. Whilst he may not have been on killers row the victories over both Lopez and Rodriguez were still impressive and were worth taking note of, especially considering how good Rodriguez had looked in his bouts with Pawel Wolak.

Despite lacking the high level experience Trout has numerous advantages himself. Not only is he a fresher, younger fighter than Cotto but he is also a natural Light Middleweight and has notable size advantages over Cotto (stood over 2" taller and with a 5" reach advantage) both of which he will look to use to his advantage. This will likely see Trout using his right hand jab to keep Cotto at a safe distance and tie up Cotto at close, spoiling Cotto's work up close and neutralising Cotto's supposed power (which I actually don't think will be a factor here).

In terms of the fight, I'm going with the upset here. Like everyone I love Miguel Cotto though I can't help but feel that his age and hard career will be catching up with him as well as the weight. Cotto could still have one last hurrah, though I actually think that was the performance against Mayweather. Cotto's youth, speed and freshness will likely pay off here as he takes a competitive but clear decision.

Prediction-Trout by UD

Thursday 29 November 2012

Joan Guzman v Khabib Allakhverdiev

The vacant WBA Light Welterweight title is up for grabs this coming Friday as unbeaten's collide with Domican Joan Guzman (33-0-1-1, 20) facing Russian Khabib Allakhverdiev (17-0, 8) in a very interesting match up.

Going in to this match up it's fair to suggest that Guzman is the favourite. He's a much more proven fighter and has shown real quality as he's claimed world titles at both Super Bantamweight and Super Featherweight, and was also close to claiming a world title at Lightweight. However the fact this bout is at Light Welterweight and Guzman is getting on does perhaps level the playing field somewhat.

At some 36 years old Guzman isn't a spring chicken any more. In his prime he was lightening quick fighter with hands, feet and his brain, he could make very good fighters look very silly as he did to Humberto Soto and Terdsak Kokietgym. Despite his ability however Guzman's problems lay with his attitude and he was lazy both in and out of the ring. Out of the ring this laziness showed as he missed numerous weigh-ins in fact shockingly he came in over 9lbs above the Lightweight limit in an IBF Lightweight title bout. however in the ring laziness has seen him almost losing several times.

I terms of natural skill Guzman is genuinely special. He had all the skill a fighter could wish for, he had the ability to unleash combinations that looked not only fluid but effortless and he could could box equally as well on the front foot and the back foot. It was little wonder that only a few years ago many were putting Guzman in their pound-for-pound lists. Though as mentioned his laziness has almost cost him with Ali Funeka and Jorge Rodrigo Barrios both coming close to taking Guzman's unbeaten record.

Also at Light Welterweight it needs to be said that Guzman's punch resistance may not be great and his power is very unlikely to be as hurtful as his record perhaps shows (he currently has a 57% KO rate as it is, so it's not hard to assume that some Light Welters would literally walk through him).

Whilst Guzman is well known by boxing fans, Russian Khabib Allakhverdiev is much more obscure despite having split his career between his native Russia and the USA (where he has surprisingly fought 8 times). The fact he has fought half his career in the US may well serve him well here.

Having been a professional since 2007 Allakhverdiev has swiftly but quietly risen up the rankings with both Ring (#6) and Boxrec (#8) ranking him highly. These rankings have been helped by a number of notable victories including a technical decision victory over Nate Campbell and stoppages over Ignacio Mendoza and Kaizer Mabuza, with the Mabuza victory being hugely impressive.

In terms of his style Allakhverdiev doesn't have the typical straight up Russian style that you may expect. He's got notable signs of his US based early career with a lot of movement, and some vicious body work, though appears to be a fighter who whilst skilled can be made to miss and a good skilled fighter would likely be able to make him pay for his defensive issues. However he hits a lot harder than his record shows and when he turns it on he is very fun to watch. In fact it's genuinely shocking that his KO rate is less than 50% with his power and aggression.

In terms of the actual bout, this really is an issue of just how much does Guzman have left in the tank? If Guzman is half the fighter he once was, he really could do a number on Allakhverdiev's jaw with sharp accurate counters, however if the former Super Bantamweight gets caught by Allakhverdiev's straight left hand he could well be in a world of pain, and with Guzman's age and slowing reactions that is a real possibility.

I'm guessing that Guzman just has enough to take this, but I do expect him to be in real problems at times as Allakhverdiev simply imposes himself for sections of the bout.

Prediction-Guzman Decision.

Friday 23 November 2012

Rendall Munroe v Scott Quigg

The "interim" WBA Super Bantamweight title is up for grabs on the undercard of Hatton v Senchenko as the unbeaten Scott Quigg (24-0-1, 17) rematches Rendall Munroe (24-2-1, 10). When these two men first met, some 5 months ago, their bout ended in disappointing fashion as Munroe, who was leading on 2 of the scorecards, suffered a nasty cut from a clash of heads causing a premature end to the bout in round 3.

Bury based banger Scott Quigg is the favourite going in to this bout, though many have been picking Munroe, due to the fact that Quigg isn't as good as the hype that surrounded him. Despite being a professional for 5 years Quigg has only really been fighting domestic opponents and although they were generally good domestic opponents, such as Jason Booth and Jamie Arthur neither were near world level when Quigg got to them. Worryingly however Arthur almost shocked Quigg and did drop the unbeaten man early in their fight.

Although powerful Quigg's boxing ability is very limited and he often makes very obvious mistakes with not only his defense but also his footwork, an issue from the fact that Quigg has come to boxing from a kick boxing background. So far many of his opponents have been unable to take advantage of those mistakes however Munroe did manage some very notable success when the two men first met. Despite this however Quigg, at distance, can be very effective with his power and natural size (he stands at a shocking 5'8"-huge for a Super Bantamweight).

Whilst Quigg has only mixed with domestic opponents, Munroe is much more experienced at the higher levels having scored victories over Kiko Martinez (twice), Simone Maludrottu and Victor Terrazas as well as losing in a 2010 WBC title tilt against Toshiaki Nishioka. As well as the experience edge he also has the better engine, and the more rounded package of skills, especially up close. However Munroe does have issues himself, notably that he's a slow starter, who often needs 3 or 4 rounds to really get going and that he's also not got fight changing power, instead needing to grind down opponents. However the biggest issue with Munroe is that he's 32 and has fought only 4 rounds in the last 14 months.


With this fight the big question is whether or not Quigg has the power and skills to keep Munroe off him. If Munroe is allowed to enforce his fight, set a high pace and work Quigg's body this could be a very hard night for the unbeaten fighter, however if Quigg can control the distance with his size and straight shots, something he tried in the first bout with mixed success, he could make this bout seem very easy.

For me I feel that Quigg will get the close rounds and just manage to nick a close decision, though at 12/5 I'll be having a small bet on Munroe hoping that his work rate will be rewarded on the score cards.

Prediction-Quigg Split Decision

Martin Murray v Jorge Navarro

With Ricky Hatton's big comeback fight against Vyacheslav Senchenko it'd be fair to assume that Hatton Promotions would have done things on the cheap, instead however they have 2 "world" titles. The most one sided of those, at least on paper, sees the talented Martin Murray (24-0-1, 10) facing Venezuelan Jorge Navarro (12-0, 10) for the WBA "interim" Middleweight title.

Sadly this fight looks a bit like a mismatch because not much is really known about Navarro, who, to say the least, is unknown. Despite his perfect record he hasn't really faced anyone of note, in fact his best opponent so far is Costa Rican Jaime Barboza, this makes it hard to gauge just how good he is. Worryingly however we do know that he was dropped by hard hitting journeyman Jhonatan Ricar. Whilst Ricar can hit hard he is limited and shouldn't have the type of skill to connect on a world class fighter.

As worrying as his competition, Navarro hasn't a great deal of experience. In fact he's only got 31 rounds of professional experience with 11 of those coming against Barboza and only 3 of his 12 fights have gone 3 or more rounds. As well as his inexperience as a fighter, he is also inexperienced at fighting abroad and so far has never fought outside of Latin America (with 10 fights in Panama and 2 in his native Venezuela).

Whilst Navarro is a bit of a mystery man, Englishman Martin Murray is generally considered to be one of the top 10 or so Middleweights in the world with rankings from Ring Magazine (#8) and Boxrec (#10) to back this up. Whilst Murray himself hasn't scored any massive wins, he was unlucky last year, in his most notable bout so far to only draw with German Felix Sturm.

As well as the result against Sturm, Murray holds notable victories over the likes of Carlos Nascimento, Shalva Jomardashvili and Siarhei Khomitski. All much more proven, and higher quality opponents than anyone Navarro has faced so far. With this in mind it's hard to see anything but a victory for Murray.

Although Murray's record doesn't show it, he's a hard working fighter who throws a solid amount of leather with a hurtful dig. His shots aren't concussive but they are nasty, especially to the body which I expect will be the key here as he looks to attack Navarro's body early on and drag the visitor in to the middle rounds before forcing a stoppage.

Prediction-Murray TKO7

Thursday 22 November 2012

Xiong Zhao Zhong v Javier Martinez Resendiz

This coming weekend marks an historic occasion in the boxing world as we will see the first ever world champion, at any weight, to be crowned in China as local favourite Xiong Zhao Zhong (19-4-1, 11) faces Mexican Javier Martinez Resendiz (13-3-2, 6) in a bout for the vacant WBC Minimumweight title. In fact it may well be fair to say that this is the biggest professional boxing contest to have ever taken place in China.

For Xiong, it's fair to say the pressure is really on his shoulders. At 30 years old Xiong may never get another chance to claim a world title, especially not in his homeland. Saying that however Xiong has fought at the world level before losing a close and competitive decision to Daisuke Naito for the WBC Flyweight title back in 2009.

Sadly despite being China's most famous professional boxer, Zhong is really not that good, certainly not matching his amateur counter-parts (such as Zou Shiming, Zhang Xiaoping and Zhang Zhilei). He's a decent fighter with out a doubt and has a solid punch on him, though his WBC "Silver" Light Flyweight title appears to be little more than a political move by the WBC to move into China's untapped market.

Zhong may have an issue here. Despite standing at a diminutive 4'11" he has never, to my knowledge, weighed inside the 105lbs Minimumweight limit and has actually been as high as 113lbs when he faced Japanese fighter Takuya Kogawa. If he can make 105lbs he could be a real handful, especially if he's 90% of the fighter he was when he faced faced both Naito and Kogawa (he gave both men a very hard time).

Zhong's co-challenger, Mexican, Resendiz is almost certainly being seen as a sacrificial lamb by the WBC however I wouldn't be surprised if Resendiz can upset the proverbial applecart. Firstly, as mentioned, Zhong isn't really that good. Just two fights ago Zhong was upset by Japanese Flyweight Shin Ono (14-5-2, 2) who had gone 2-3-2 going in to the fight.

Not only is Zhong not very good, but Resendiz is a tough fighter who hasn't been stopped in 18 fights so far, including a 10 rounder with current "interim" WBA World Minimumweight champion Jesus Silvestre. If Zhong can't dent him there is every chance that Resendiz can make him look as average as he is.

For me, being frankly honest, I think Resendiz will need a knock out to score a draw. This is the big "coming out party" of professional Chinese boxing and it'd take something shocking to happen for someone to piss on Jose Sulaiman's parade. I expect the fight to be close, even controversial but I simply do not see Zhong being denied if it goes to the cards.

Prediction-Zhong SD

Robert Guerrero v Andre Berto

This weekend Mexican American Robert Guerrero (30-1-1-2, 18) will be hoping to make the first defense of his WBC "interim" Welterweight title as he faces former champion Andre Berto (28-1, 22) in an interesting match up that will see both men asked a lot of questions.

Guerrero, 29, claimed the title just 4 months ago as he claimed a competitive but clear decision over Turkish hard hitter Selcuk Aydin and will now look to prove that he is one of the top dogs at 147lbs having moved up swiftly in recent years. In just 5 years we've seen Guerrero moving from Featherweight (where he was a 2-time IBF champion) all the way up to Welterweight, claiming some form of title at both Super Featherweight and Lightweight on his way up.

Although the champion is a relatively big guy for the weight at 5'8" and with a 70" reach he's certainly not a big guy in terms of power having failed to stop anyone of note above 130lbs (with his last notable stoppages come way back down at 126lbs). As well as his questionable power at Welterweight some also question Guerrero's durability at the weight. Whilst it's true that he has never been stopped in his 34 fight career he has been dropped and hurt, and seemed really hurt late in his fight against Aydin.

Whilst I'm certainly not sure of Guerrero's ability to match the best physically at Welterweight he certainly isn't with out his own positives. Firstly Guerrero is a very talented boxer, he's very good at using his reach and and getting off with his jab though his real asset is is work rate and speed, especially hand speed. Against Aydin, Guerrero looked lightening quick, especially early on as he landed combinations at will, and his boxing ability really looked to be a class or two better than the Turk.

Whilst I have a lot of questions about Guerrero's toughness and power at Welterweight, I have more questions about Andre Berto. Berto, a former IBF and WBC champion at Welterweight returns to the ring for the first time in over a year after failing a drugs test in preparation for a rematch with Victor Ortiz, the only man thus far to have defeated him. The questions about Berto are not just what will he be like after a year out, but also what mental questions are over his head following his failed drugs test?

Prior to the ban Berto was an exciting, though somewhat limited fighter. He was an explosive combination puncher who could unleash 5 or 6 punch combinations in a heart beat and although he often looked like he could be out boxed no one managed it, and it only took a gutsy performance by Ortiz back in April 2011 to decrown him in an hallacious war.

Despite being a career Welterweight, Berto is actually only a shade taller (1/2") than Guerrero and only has a minor reach advantage(also 1/2") and due to his love of throwing hooks Berto may actually leave him self to be out boxed at range despite having the longer reach. However if the bout takes place up close, Berto's explosiveness will be the difference maker.

The odds on this fight are very interesting with Berto a slight favourite (4/5) and I'd agree with that. There is a lot of questions over his return however if he is anything like the fighter he once was, I'd snap your hand off for Berto by T/KO as his power and speed are a big step up from Aydin's. If Berto has lingering issues however Guerrero could outbox him to a decision.

Prediction-Berto TKO7

Saturday 17 November 2012

Brian Viloria v Hernan Marquez

In the stand out match up of the weekend, if not the year, WBO Flyweight champion Brian Viloria (31-3-0-2, 18) faces hard hitting WBA Flyweight champion Hernan "Tyson" Marquez (34-2, 25) in a bout that oozes with quality on paper and in the mind. Whilst this may not be a high-profile mega fight in terms of the wider public, for boxing fans like myself this is something special, a real hardcore fans wet dream.

2000 US Olympian Brian Viloria has long been one of the sports most under-rated fighter. Aged 31 he knows that a loss now can derail a career that he has tried hard to rebuild after numerous set backs. Those setbacks however have helped develop the fighter that Viloria has become, they've helped cut out the mistakes, and issues that plagued Viloria through out his career and have genuinely helped him to become one of the premier fighters in the sport.

Viloria turned professional in 2001 after competing in the 2000 Olympic Games. Although Viloria failed to medal in the Games he had proven himself to be a top level amateur having won the World Amateur Championships in 1999. Since turning professional he has become one of the most exciting men in the little divisions with the ability to both bang and to box. Sadly however it's the fact he can do both which had been his issue as he's often found himself stuck between the two mindsets as opposed to showing off his skills at one, or the other.

Throughout his 11 year career Viloria has genuine been there done that. He has faced multiple current, former or future world champions. Those included two fights with Alberto Rossel (going 1-0-0-1 against Rossel) and one with Gilberto Keb Baas (going 1-0) as Viloria was climbing the rankings on the way to claiming his first world title in 2005 when he stopped Eric Ortiz for the WBC Light Flyweight title.

Sadly for Viloria his first title reign was short lived and after successfully defending his title once, out pointing Jose Antonio Aguirre, he would suffer his first loss being out-pointed by Omar Nino Romero. This loss started a dark part for Viloria who struggled in a rematch with Romero (a bout that was declared a no-contest after Romero failed a drugs test) and lost to Edgar Sosa. Those results saw Viloria going from unbeaten to 19-2-0-2 and a fighter who really was having major questions asked about how good he was.

Rather than sulking, Viloria took a step away from the big stage and fought in number of confidence building bouts, disappearing from the world stage for 2 years before reclaiming a world title by stopping Ulises Solis in 11 rounds. Again however, Viloria's reign as champion came to an untimely end as he lost in his second defense, being stopped by Carlos Tamara in the final round. This bout saw Viloria being left with a lot of questions as he appeared to blow his load and was clearly exhausted in the championship rounds prior to being stopped.

Since the loss to Tamara, Viloria has tried to correct his flaws. He's no-longer a fighter who can't choose what to do, he's instead molded the features of his game together. He's become a boxer-puncher, a fighter who can move and hit, but moves and hits hard. He no longer blows himself out, instead picking his shots carefully. This slight change in style has seen Viloria claiming the WBO Flyweight title and picking up wins over Julio Cesar Miranda (UD12), Giovani Segura (TKO8) and Omar Nino Romero (TKO9) as he goes into this bout with Marquez.

Although questions remain about Viloria's stamina, especially late on, he appears to have slowed down slightly in recent bouts, using better ring control and a more controlled pace to win bouts. He no longer goes for broke when he has an opponent hurt, something he did in the past and instead boxes to find opportunities to land his power shots. Despite his record, suggesting he's only an average puncher, Viloria hits hard, he hits clean and he can hurt anyone in the Flyweight division, though the big question is whether or not he can do it if forced to fight at a high tempo.

Of course this fight isn't all about Viloria but also about WBA champion Hernan Marquez. Hailing from Mexico, the Southpaw, known as "Tyson" is also a fighter who has come back from adversity and losses to build up a real reputation as one of the monsters of the lighter divisions.

Aged just 24, Marquez has a lot of time to come back from a loss, however he'll not be thinking about that going going in to this fight. Instead the hard hitting and thoroughly exciting youngster will be thinking that this is his opportunity to make a real name for himself. Despite his age, Marquez has been a professional for over 7 years and is hugely experienced for someone so young with 161 rounds behind and the same amount of fights as Viloria has (though Viloria does have many, many more rounds under his belt).

Marquez started his career with 27 straight wins, albeit it mostly against limited opposition, before losing twice in 2010. The first of those loses, a minor upset, came against Filipino Richie Mepranum who was simply too active for an off colour Marquez who was fighting outside of his native Mexico for the first time. Just months later Marquez would lose again, this time being stopped by Nonito Donaire, again outside of his homeland in a WBA "interim" world title bout at Super Flyweight.

Since those two losses Marquez has rebuilt his career well running up 7 successive wins, including his first outside of Mexico, where he beat Luis Concepcion for the WBA Flyweight title in a real tear up. As well as defending his title twice (stopping Luis Concepcion again and stopping Edrin Dapudong) Marquez has also earned revenge over Richie Mepranum in those recent wins.

In terms of his style Marquez is a warrior with a nasty mean streak and really hurtful power. He is not only a hard hitting brawler but he is actually an under-rated boxer who has a solid defense and when he gets tagged he knows how to fight back, as he showed in the first bout with Concepcion. He can fight at a high pace if needed and will certainly look to dictate the pace against Viloria however he may not be able to ask the questions about Viloria's stamina with the fact he himself, has never been 12 rounds. Going into this bout, Marquez will certainly feel like he's the puncher and will want to set off at a high pace trying to force the bout into a war from the off, if he can do this he may feel he can break down Viloria.

On paper this is a bit of a brawler v boxer type of match up. Sure both men are very talented and both can bang but though it's a matter of who can control the pace and distance of the bout. If Marquez can make it a war early on he may face his chances of breaking down Viloria as he did to Concepcion in their first bout. In fact if Marquez can force Viloria to fight at a high tempo he could even come on strong and copy what Carlos Tamara did to Viloria. If instead Viloria can control the distance and fight at a slower, more controlled pace he should be able to take a clear decision. Wonderfully however their is a third option, and the option that I think many fans are hoping for, both guys will meet each other in the centre of the ring and unload on each other in a test of intestinal fortitude. If we get the third option, well, anything could happen.

I tend to feel that Viloria's superior boxing will be the difference here, but don't expect him to win with out at least a few hairy moments.

Prediction-Viloria UD

Friday 16 November 2012

Antonio DeMarco v Adrien Broner

This weekend sees rising American Adrien Broner (24-0, 20) looks to claim a second divisional title as he faces WBC Lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco (28-2-1, 21) in a bout that really stands out as a very promising bout and one that could go either way, despite the ridiculous betting odds. Despite being the challenger and moving up a weight Broner is a very prohibitive 1/7 favourite, a huge surprise for me.

Broner, a very confident 23 year old American, is a very stylish fighter who may come across as arrogant but is being guided to being an American superstar of the future. He may be better known for his trademark hair brushing, his loud mouth and his outspoken nature however he is certainly a solid fighter with very good hand speed and a solid (though not amazing) defense.

As a fighter Broner has been around since 2008 though really started to come to prominence in 2011 thanks to a very controversial victory over former WBO Bantamweight (and current WBC Featherweight) champion Daniel Ponce De Leon. In that bout the scorecard of Tony Crebs (99-91-Broner) was heavily criticised as Ponce brought the fight and the action and actually out landed Broner in 5 of the bouts 10 rounds. Since then however Broner's career has rocketed with successive early victories over Jason Litzau, Vicente Martin Rodriguez, Eloy Perez and Vicente Escobedo, with the victory over Rodriguez earning Broner the WBO Super Featherweight title. Sadly despite those wins it's fair to say they have generally come against smaller men.

Last time out Broner stopped Vicente Escobedo, though was stripped on the scales for weighing well over the Super Featherweight limit, a move that effectively forced him to move to Lightweight. Surprisingly however there was talk of Broner skipping straight to Welterweight to face current WBC "interim" champion Robert Guerrero.

In terms of his style Broner is a "poor man's Floyd Mayweather Jr" he often employs the shoulder roll though gets tagged and whilst he's a strong fast kid he is also technically flawed and has less than great work rate. Saying this however he rarely looks to be stunned and often walks through shots of his opponents as he comes forward with out ever looking in trouble.

Whilst Broner has been picking off smaller men, DeMarco has been making his name as one of the top warriors at Lightweight thanks to several notable victories despite rarely really getting credit for them.

The 26 year old Mexican has been a professional since 2004. After running off an 8 fight winning streak he suffered his first loss as Anthony Vasquez scored an upset decision over DeMarco. A few fights after suffering his first loss, DeMarco's progress was again slowed as Curtis Meeks scored a draw with him.

Since those marks against him, DeMarco has grown as a fighter and scored 17 wins from his subsequent 18 bouts. Included in those victories were stoppages over the likes of Almazbek Raiymkulov (AKA Kid Diamond), Anges Adjaho, Jose Alfaro, Jorge Linares and most recently a 1 round blow out of John Molina (back in September). Against those victories is a solitary stoppage loss to infamous Edwin Valero back in 2010.

Style wise DeMarco is a pretty typical brawler. He's teak tough (genuinely teak tough), he's crude, he's wild and he's a hard hitter. Whilst he can be made to look silly by a good boxer, as Jorge Linares did he's, he's not a fighter who's going to go away and he's also not a fighter who slows down. He has real heart and the ability to stop fighters in any round with his heavy hands and great finishing instincts.

Whilst Broner is certainly the better boxer here, no question about it, the fact he has fought just 13 rounds in his last 4 fights and the fact that DeMarco is naturally a bigger man than the men Broner has been facing makes this a thoroughly interesting bout. For me it's a 50-50 match up with Broner either taking a decision by boxing or DeMarco getting a tired Broner late in the fight, dragging him in to a war and stopping him late. Broner certainly has the skills to win and make it look easy however I'll go out on a limb and go with DeMarco with a late stoppage proving, for the second time in a little over a year that we shouldn't write off DeMarco despite how crude he is.

Prediction-DeMarco TKO11

Roman Gonzalez v Juan Francisco Estrada

Nicaraguan Roman Gonzalez (33-0, 28) seeks to make the 5th defense of his WBA Light Flyweight this coming weekend as he faces once beaten Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada (22-1, 18) in what promises to be an explosive encounter on Showtime.

For my money, Gonzalez (otherwise known as El Chocolatito), is one of the sports true premier level fighters. Although he's generally over-looked by the sport's casual fans the hardcore fan know all about the super skilled, powerful, fast and aggressive Gonzalez who at times looks genuinely unbeatable. In fact in a career spanning 7 years Gonzalez has only been involved in 1 close bout (a majority decision win over Francisco Rosas).

Starting as a teenager, Gonzalez's rise to the top was swift. Within 2 years of his professional debut he had already earned high rankings at both Light Flyweight and Minimumweight thanks to wins over notable opponents including Eriberto Gejon, Miguel Tellez and Jose Luis Varela. Just a year later however Gonzalez showed his class at world level widely out pointing Yutaka Niida for the WBA Minimumweight title to claim his first world title.

As the WBA Minimumweight champion, Gonzalez made 3 title defenses beating Francisco Rosas (as mentioned above), Katsunari Takayama and Ivan Meneses before moving up to Light Flyweight. At Light Flyweight, Gonzalez looked even more dominating, stopping Francisco Rosas in 2 rounds for the interim WBA Light Flyweight title.

After Juan Carlos Reveco moved from Light Flyweight to Flyweight, Gonzalez's title was upgraded from the interim to the regular title. Since then Gonzalez has scored 6 successive victories, including 4 title defenses in which he has beaten Manuel Vargas, Omar Salado, Omar Soto and Ramon Garcia Hirales, all credible challengers.

If Floyd Mayweather Jr is the best defensive fighter in the sport right now then I'd be tempted to say that Gonzalez is the best offensive fighter in the sport right now. The Nicaraguan rarely loses more than a round, he's supremely confident in not only his abilities (which are amazing) but also his durability, often enjoying a war and his power (which suits him well during a war). I dare say that to beat Gonzalez you need to be a bit of a tank who can take one to land one or you manage to land a lucky bomb on Gonzalez when he leaps in on the offensive. In fact the way Gonzalez can leap in at times is pretty much his only real flaw, thankfully however very few fighter can make him pay for this mistake.

Whilst Gonzalez is a known quantity it's fair to say that Mexican challenger Juan Francisco Estrada is much less well known. Despite having been in 23 bouts as a professional, Estrada has only faced a handful of known opponents including current IBF Super Flyweight champion, who out pointed Estrada in 2011 and Filipino Ardin Diale who was stopped in 2 rounds. Those two aside however Estrada lacks the sort of wins to really know what he's made of.

What we do know about the 22 year old "El Gallo" is that he's a hard hitter, at least at the lower levels. He can dig to the body or the head and although not the most skilled he's not a fighter that many will want to get into a war with. He's never been stopped, though has been down (dropped by Sanchez) however he's admittedly never been in with someone approaching Gonzalez's level of power, speed, combinations of spitefulness.

In all honestly I'd be shocked if Gonzalez did anything other than made a statement. He'll be looking to finish this and finish it early, and it's probably fair to say Estrada has been brought in as the opponent to allow Gonzalez to look good. Expect this to be a fun war though one that Gonzalez's all round game will dominate.

Prediction: Gonzalez TKO5

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Carl Froch v Yusuf Mack

IBF Super Middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2, 21) looks to make the first defense of his title as he faces voluntary challenger Yusuf Mack (31-4-2, 17) in what appears to be little more than a stay busy fight in front of him home town fans. In fact it will be Froch's first home title defense since he defended the WBC title back in 2009 against Andre Dirrell.

At the start of the year many were thinking that Froch was a fighter on the slide. He had faced a who's who of stiff competition since December 2008 and had taken numerous shots from solid punchers including Jean Pascal, Jermaine Taylor, Mikkel Kessler and Glen Johnson. Despite his fights against the divisional elite, it was the fight, in December 2011 with Andre Ward, that perhaps cast the most doubt on Froch's future as Ward outboxed, out fought and out muscled the Englishman.

After the loss to Ward many expected Froch to only fight once or twice more, though earlier this year he-revitalised his career with a stunning victory over the previously unbeaten Romanian-Canadian Lucien Bute, stopping Bute in the 5th round to claim the IBF title. Against Bute, Froch looked like a fighter who wanted to prove that he had a lot left in the tank and those who had been writing him off, had been doing so far too early. He looked determined and like a fighter who had had enough of the critics really dominating Bute.

At his best Froch is an aggressive and powerful boxer-puncher (though more puncher than boxer) who is incredibly durable, having only been down once as a professional and capable of hurting almost anyone in the division. He's an unorthodox fighter who throws from some very unusual angles and often fights with low hands allowing his durability and heart to keep him upright, though, he does manage to ride punches surprisingly well.

Aged 35 Froch may be on the slide, though his performance against Bute didn't show the age or wear and tear expected of a fighter who has been in the matches Froch has been in. He's a fighter who is always full of confidence and with his home crowd roaring him on it's hard to see "The Cobra" not try to put on a show.

In Yusuf Mack who have a fighter who has sadly found his level and it's on the fringes of being a genuine title contender. He's a talented fighter who can genuinely beat most in the division. In fact wins over the likes of Daniel Judah, Chris Henry, Otis Griffin and Omar Sheika (although a very shaded Sheika) all suggest that Mack is a fighter who deserves a decent, top 15 or so ranking in the division (interestingly Boxrec do rank Mack at #15).

Sadly whilst Mack has scored noteworthy wins, he has lost in the most notable bouts of his career, with all 4 of his losses coming by T/KO. So far Alejandro Berrio, Librado Andrade, Glen Johnson and Tavoris Cloud have all beaten him, and all those losses have been between rounds 6-8. Rather worthy of of a note however was that at times, he was out boxing Cloud before Clouds pressure told and he was broken down.

Mack at heart is a decent fighter though sadly he's also very flawed and not just in his durability. His stamina is questionable and he does fade in the middle and later rounds of fights, he also lacks the power needed to made a dent on world class fighters (despite having dropped the iron chinned Librado Andrade).

With Mack's limitations and Froch's aggressiveness and power, I can't help but imagine that Froch will end this one relatively early. I'd be shocked if this goes beyond 8 rounds, with Froch beating down on Mack. Mack hasn't got the speed, strength or engine to stay away from Froch for long.

Prediction-Froch by TKO round 6.

Saturday 10 November 2012

Abner Mares v Anselmo Moreno

This weekend's stand out fight in the world of boxing sees the unbeaten Mexican Abner Mares (24-0-1, 13) attempt to defend his WBC Super Bantamweight title against the supremely talented Panamanian Anselmo Moreno (33-1-1, 12). Whilst neither man is a massive name outside of boxing, every boxing fan knows that these two are two genuinely elite fighters, both meeting in their prime.

Mares goes into this fight as the slight betting favourite and probably with good reason, he's the "house" fighter, the Golden Boy Promotions fighter and the one seen as a marketable fighter, especially with the Mexican audiences. However it's unfair to actually view this as the only reason why Mares would win. In fact Mares is a very hard working fighter, who throws relentless to both the head and body, he's young, he's strong and he's relentless. Also he's quickly improving.

Mares first came to the attention of most boxing fans back in 2010 when he pushed the then IBF Bantamweight champion Yonnhy Perez to a very hard fought draw. Following the Perez bout, Mares become one of the 4 men involved in Showtimes' 4-man Bantamweight tournament, a tournament Mares would come out the winner of thanks to victories over Vic Darchinyan and Joseph Agbeko. Despite beating both Darchinyan and Agbeko, many were unimpressed by Mares who had been lucky to win both fights with some favourable officiating (especially by Pat Russell in the Agbeko fight).

Thankfully for Mares he showed real character and had a rematch with Agbeko, clearly defeating the tough Ghanian and making up for the controversy of their first match. Since then he has moved to Super Bantamweight where he defeated veteran Eric Morel for the then vacant WBC Super Bantamweight title.

As a fighter Mares is fun to watch, he throws some of the best combinations in the sport and really makes for exciting fights. Whilst he has a reputation as a bit of a ball breaker (literally) he's actually a very talented fighter and someone who would genuinely give anyone in and around 122lbs a hard night. Saying this however he can be out boxed as Joseph Agbeko showed in their first match and even Vic Darchinyan showed at points. It's fair to say that unless you have real KO power and a high work rate, a war with Mares is a bad idea as that's his fight.

On the same card as Mares' rematch with Agbeko we saw a new star born as Anselmo Moreno put on a boxing masterclass against former Mares opponent Vic Darchinyan. In the bout Moreno really opened the worlds eyes to his sensational talent as he made Vic look like a clueless, raw amateur. To those watching Moreno for the first time, this was a sensational performance, for those who had seen Moreno in the past however it was a case of "told you so".

Despite the Darchinyan fight being the "coming out party" for Moreno, he's actually been one of the best fighters for the last 3 or 4 years. In fact Moreno first claimed a world title, the WBA Bantamweight title, way back in 2008 as he out pointed the previously unbeaten Volodymyr Sydorenko in Germany. Since winning that title Moreno has faced a relative who's who including Sydorenko in a rematch, Mahyar Monshipour, Nehomar Cermeno (twice), Lorenzo Parra, Vic Darchinyan and most recently David De La Mora. Often facing those top fighters away from home.

In terms of his style the 27 year old Panamanian is slippery to say the least. He moves wonderfully well, using his jab to keep opponents at range whilst breaking opponents mentally. Although his work rate is often limited he's a fighter who can genuinely frustrate any opponent as they swing and miss time and time again, tiring them out with just his defensive prowess. This has lead to many fight fans referring to him as a modern day Pernell Whittaker, huge praise indeed.

In his most recent fight, Moreno proved not only to be a slippery fighter but also a spiteful fighter as he gave the unfortunate David De La Mora a real beating, hammering away at De La Mora's body and head and really proving that not only was there a gulf in class but that he could really hurt opponents. Though it's worth noting that this isn't the first time Moreno has shown that he's spiteful, it was an eye catching performance against someone who gave Koki Kameda a real nightmare.

What we have here is a very hard working and aggressive pressure fighter (Mares) against a very slippery counter-puncher (Moreno) in what really does look on paper to be an enthralling battle of both styles, fighters and minds. If Mares can apply constant pressure and have success with his body attack he could very easily slow the legs of Moreno and make the bout easy for himself. Like wise if Moreno can keep just movement going and make Mares miss then a tiring Mares could be there for the taking late, or even get Mares frustrated to the point he does something illegal.

Of those two, I favour Moreno by a close decision, it'll be competitive through out but Moreno, for my money, just has that extra bit of class. Do not be shocked however if the cards favour Mares under-controversial circumstances.

Prediction- Moreno UD12

Friday 9 November 2012

Wladimir Klitschko v Mariusz Wach

Heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko (58-3, 50) will look to make yet another successful defense of his world titles, including the Ring Magazine, WBA "super", WBO and IBF as he faces unbeaten Pole Mariusz Wach (27-0, 15) in an interesting battle of the giants.

Although Wach is unbeaten he is the big under-dog going in to this fight, however some are tipping the Pole to shock the world. I myself can't see it, however it is fair to say that Wach is likely to be Wladimir's biggest challenge in quite some time, in fact at over 6'7" it's fair to say Wach is one of the biggest challenges in the division, period.

With his huge height and unbeaten record Wach does make for an interesting proposition for Klitschko. Then when you also factor in things such as the fact Wach is young than Wladimir by 4 years and also has a marginally bigger reach (82" to Wladimir's 81") it's little a little wonder that some are favouring Wach. Sadly however Wach isn't as good as his record looks and so far, in a career dating back to 2005, Wach hasn't scored a a really major win, instead feasting on club fighters like Kevin McBride and Tye Fields. In fact it's fair to say that Wach's best win to date is over Jason Gavern, not a world level fighter.

Despite the fact Wach hasn't faced anyone near world level, he has shown solid power, especially in recent bouts. In fact despite his record only showing a 55% KO rate he has stopped his last 7 opponents dating back to April 2009 including scoring eye catching KO's over both McBride and Christian Hammer.

Sadly despite seemingly developing his punch power, Wach is slow, he's clumsy and his over-all skills are limited, to say the least. Other than his size it's fair to say there is little to really but shocked by.

Like the challenger, the champion, Wladimir Klitschko is tall, however Klitschko is much, much more than just a tall Heavyweight. As we all know Wladimir is arguably the hardest puncher in the sport with his straight right hand being genuinely deadly, he also posses an excellent, fight controlling jab and whilst he's not got the aggression of some of the most memorable Heavyweights out there he is incredibly hard to beat.

The long standing feeling over Klitschko is that he's chinny and easily beatable as a result, however he's managed to go unbeaten in over 8 years and won no less than 13 title fights in that period. Not only has he been winning, but he's been beating the top guys in the division such as Chris Byrd, Samuel Peter, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev, Eddie Chambers and of course the supposed saviour of the division David Haye.

I can't help but think that Klitschko is going to have a bit of a field day with Wach. Wach may be able to, whack (excuse the pun) but Klitschko is able to do a bit more than just punch, so I imagine he'll box, manage to use his superior foot work and get off on Wach in a cautious bout. I think it will start really slowly but Wladimir will manage to detonate his right hand in the middle rounds and Wach will topple. Don't expect this to be exciting, but expect it to be...interesting.

Sadly however, as we all know, Wladimir Klitschko's long term trainer Emmanuel Steward passed away recently. This will be the first time Klitschko will fight with out Steward in a number of years, and hopefully this won't get to Wladimir. As we all know, Wladimir was re-invented under Steward and hopefully this won't see Wlad forgetting the teachings of his much missed mentor.

Prediction: Klitschko KO8

Leo Santa Cruz v Victor Zaleta

Mexican Bantamweight Leo Santa Cruz (21-0-1, 12) looks to not only prove that he's one of the fastest rising boxers in the world right now, but that he's also one of the top Bantamweights as he attempts to defend his IBF title against huge under-dog Victor Zaleta (20-2-1, 10).

Santa Cruz, seen by many as a future multi-weight champion, claimed the the IBF title just 5 months ago when he defeated Vusi Malinga and since then has defended his title once, becoming the first man to stop veteran Eric Morel. It was though by many that the Morel fight would be Santa Cruz's last bout as a Bantamweight however the ease with which he won has seen him remaining at 118lbs for one more fight as he waits to weigh up options at Super Bantamweight sometime next year.

As a fighter Santa Cruz is looking like a super star in the making, though it's not his skill per-se that is making him look like that, but his all action, relentless style. He's a monster at Bantamweight with hurtful shots, especially to the body and he throws in huge numbers slowly grinding opponents down with pressure and the cumulative effect of his shots. Despite his record not making him look much of a puncher he has amazingly stopped 10 of his last 11 opponents!

As well as his work rate and pressure, Santa Cruz is also a very tough fighter who takes a solid punch and smiles at his opponents afterwards as if to ask if that's all they have. In many regards he is similar to former Welterweight champion Antonio Magarito, who many have compared him to. Despite the similarities however, it's fair to say that Santa Cruz actually has the better skills and seems to be a bit more than just a relentless tornado of punches.

Whilst the bout is here for Santa Cruz to further enhance his reputation, it's fair to say that Zaleta will be looking for an upset and it's also fair to say that if Zaleta wins it would genuinely be one of the upsets of the year.

Despite being a decent fighter Zaleta has made his name at Super Flyweight and has even fought as low as Flyweight. In fact it's been at those lower weights that Zaleta has often acted as a bit of a banana skin with victories over fighters such as Eric Ortiz, Gilberto Keb Baas and Jose Antonio Aguirre (all of whom were world champions). Sadly however Zaleta hasn't been able to claim a world title, being widely beaten in his only previous world title bout again Omar Andres Narvaez.

Since the Narvaez bout, Zaleta has struggled winning 3 and drawing 1, though he could easily have lost 3 and won 1 of those and in effect be 1-4 in his last 5 bouts, having been dropped in 2 of them. Whilst he's never been stopped, he's never faced a fighter like Santa Cruz and I really, really can't see him coping with the relentless aggression of the champion here.

Prediction: Santa Cruz by TKO7

Thursday 8 November 2012

Chris John v Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo

Indonesian Featherweight Chris John (47-0-2, 22) not only has the longest active unbeaten record at 49 fights, but he is also one of the longest reigning world champions having held the various forms of the WBA Featherweight title since 2003. This weekend however John seeks to take the unbeaten record of another unbeaten fighter as he faces Thai Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (44-0, 27). Yes you are reading this right, the combined records of these two men reads 91-0-2 (49) and tomorrow morning, they will fight for John's "Super" WBA Featherweight title.

Most fight fans around the world will know something about Chris John. You don't hold various forms of the WBA title for 9 years with out boxing fans knowing who you are, likewise you don't go 49 fights unbeaten with out people reading about you. Though of course despite those stats most haven't really seen much of John, other than perhaps his 2 fights in the US against Rocky Juarez.

A reason for so few fight fans to have actually seen John is due to the fact he's a legendary fight in Indonesia where his is paid very nicely. His payments in Indonesia as the main event are significantly better than what he generally gets paid for fighting away from home, hence his lack of fights in Europe or the US. In fact in a career spanning all the way back to 1998 John has only fought 8 times out of his homeland, 3 times in Japan, twice in Australia, once in Singapore and the two aforementioned bouts with Juarez in the US. However tomorrows fight will see John fighting in Singapore for the second successive fight, again with a huge payment expected.

In terms of his record John is a bit of a strange one. He's been unbeaten since 1998 yet has only faced a number of well regarded opponents. Whilst Juan Manuel Marquez is obviously the stand out name on John's record (who John beat in 2006), John also holds wins over Oscar Leon,    Derrick Gainer, Rocky Juarez and fellow Indonesian Daud Cino Yordan (who also fights on the same card).

At his best John was a hugely talented fighter who could move, box, and whilst he couldn't really bang, he knew what to do to stay out of trouble using his legs and long accurate shots thrown in combinations. He had quick hands, he was tough (though knew how to stay out of too much danger) and quick feet. However at 33 years old John is no longer the fighter he once was and the fact he struggled with Stanyslav Merdov just a year ago, despite dropping Merdov, shows signs that John is a fighter who is feeling the effects of a long career. Not only is long in terms of years (14) or fights (49) but also rounds (395). The problem with not being a hard puncher, especially at world level is that 12 rounds take their toll on your body and with John having stopped only 3 of his last 17 opponents, he has run up a lot of miles on the clock.

Whilst John is well known through out the boxing world for various things, it's fair to say that Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo is much less well known, however many view him as having a genuine chance at scoring the upset. The 27 year old Thai turned professional in 2003 and swiftly claimed the WBC Asian Boxing Council Featherweight title, a title he defended well over 20 times!

Although Piriyapino has a long unbeaten record, like John, it's hard to find too many recognisable names on his record however the most recognisable is former world champion Yoddamrong Sithyodthong, however Sithyodthong wasn't the fighter he had once been. Other than that, his record is padded with journeyman, like Jack Asis and Jaime Barcelona which make it almost impossible to really say how good he is.

Like fellow Thai Pungluang Sor Singyu, Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo has a genuinely tough look to him. Whilst their styles are different, they are similar and Piriyapinyo does seem like the sort of fighter who will force an opponent to work hard (like Sor Singyu, who appears to have a better defense). If Piriyapinyo can force the fight to John he really could take advantage of the champions age and wear and tear, however the fact he is slow on his feet does give John a chance to stay away and box.

If John isn't up for this and cannot roll back the clock I really do see the upset. Piriyapinyo will not only be looking to retain his unbeaten record, but will be looking to score by far the biggest win of his career, a win that will really allow him to make some serious money and a chance to show his talent around the world. Whilst John is the favourite, I personally will be going for the upset here.

Prediction: Piriyapinyo UD 12

Stanyslav Kashtanov v Server Yemurlayev

In the past I have regularly complained about how meaningless the WBA "interim" title is, and we see this issue raising it's head twice this weekend. We see it at Flyweight with Juan Carlos Reveco having a "stay busy" fight against Julian Rivera and we also see it in the Ukraine as the WBA's "interim" Super Middleweight title is on the line as Stanyslav Kashtanov (29-1, 16) faces compatriot Server Yemurlayev (22-0, 8) in what can only be described as having a title for titles sake.

The Super Middleweight division, as we all know, revolves around American star Andre Ward who is the WBA's "Super" champion and the WBC champion. Then we have Carl Froch (IBF champion), Arthur Abraham (WBO champion) and in December we will crown a new WBA "regular" champion as Brian Magee faces Mikkel Kessler. As well as this bunch of top class fighters we also have top contenders such as Lucien Bute, Robert Stieglitz, Andre Dirrell and Kelly Pavlik. Basically the division is stacked and sadly neither of the fighters fighting for WBA "interim" title deserves to be mentioned alongside the elite.

Of the two men Stanyslav Kashtanov is the better known fighter having been unlucky not to have actually claimed this very same title 15 months ago as he was controversially defeated by Karoly Balzsay. In that performance Kashtanov proved that he could hold his own at fringe world level and whilst he was unlucky to lose, he proved that he was perhaps a genuine future title contender.

Sadly however aside from the fight with Balzay, Kashtanov is really unproven with his "next best well known opponent" being Belorussian journeyman Kanstantsin Makhankou (who has genuinely fought a who's who, though sadly seems to have retired). This would suggest that whilst Kashtanov has got ability his actually level is really hard to determine.

Whilst I don't know a lot about Kashtanov it's fair to say I know a lot more about him than I know about Server Yemurlayev who turned professional in 2007 and has yet to face a really notable opponent, with the best opponent probably being Bernard Donfack.

What we do know about Yemurlayev is that he's not only untested, but has hardly done anything of note. He really has no power (a 36% stoppage rate) and yet has only been 10 or more rounds on 2 occasions, giving Kashtanov a big advantage in terms of rounds fought, ability to score stoppages and tested stamina.

When it comes to this fight it's hard to really say too much about either man, however I do favour that Kashtanov, mixing at a higher level will serve him well here.

Prediction-Kashtanov UD12

Juan Carlos Reveco v Julian Rivera

Although we have a number of high profile title fights this coming weekend everyone should know by know that I'm probably more interested in the lower division than the big, household names. Sadly even with that in mind, I can't actually get excited about this weekend's WBA "interim" Flyweight title bout between Juan Carlos Reveco (28-1, 16) and challenger Julian Rivera (13-6, 2). In fact this is probably one of the very worst title bouts this year at any weight.

The 29 year old Reveco, from Malargüe on the west of Argentina is one of the many genuinely class fighters at Flyweight. Whilst not seen as one of the genuine champions he is still a fantastic fighter who has shown some real glimpses of world level class talent at both Light Flyweight, where he first made his name and Flyweight.

Reveco debuted way back in 2004 and quickly rose through the rankings before claiming the then vacant WBA World Light Flyweight title in 2007 thanks to an 8th round stoppage of the previously unbeaten Thai Nethra Sasiprapa. Sadly for Reveco his reign would last only 6 months and he would lose his belt in his second defense as he was narrowly out pointed in France by     Brahim Asloum.

Despite the loss to Asloum, Reveco remained at Light Flyweight and later went on to claim the WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title by narrowly beating Francisco Rosas in Mexico. Reveco's reign as the "interim" Light Flyweight champion lasted significantly longer than his reign as the regular champion as he racked up up 2 title defenses before moving up a division after a year long reign. Whilst the full reasons for his move have never been fully known, many feel that he moved up solely to avoid Nicaraguan super star Roman Gonzalez who was hot on Reveco's tail.

Since moving to Flyweight Reveco has not only claimed the WBA "interim" Flyweight title but has also defended it once, defeating the previously unbeaten Frenchman Karim Guerfi. Despite this, and his evident talent, Reveco is yet to prove himself at Flyweight, however in terms of just talent he is up there in the chasing pack to the likes of Brian Viloria, Moruti Mthalane and Hernan Marquez.

Despite not having KO power, especially at Flyweight, Reveco is skilled and can fighter excellently from his jab as well as using a very effective one two and appears to have all the punches in the book. His work rate isn't amazing but he seems to generally be able to control the pace and distance of fights using solid footwork, and he also seems to often be a fighter fighting with in himself.

Whilst we know plenty about Reveco I need to be honest, Julian Rivera is a bit of a new one on me. The Mexican is currently ranked #36 in the division on Boxrec and doesn't appear to have anything really outstanding on his record. Since turning professional in 2006 Rivera has been a win some-lose some type of fighter who's best winning runs have been 3 fights. Also, perhaps tellingly he's not scored a stoppage since 2006 (scoring stoppages in his first and third bouts).

It's fair to say that whilst Rivera has sprung an upset or two in his career, namely defeating Odilon Zaleta (then 11-0) and Faustino Cupul (then 24-5) he has also been beaten by much, much less fighters than Reveco. In fact Rivera's last loss came to a fighter who was 8-9-2 (prior to beating Rivera) and his loss before that came to a 4-3 fighter (again prior to beating Rivera.

Oddly the WBA seem to be allowing this to be a title fight despite the fact that Rivera isn't ranked in the most recent rankings by the organisation (last updated 1st of October), that means they are allowing their interim champion to defend against a fighter they don't feel is in the top 15 in the world. The WBC oddly do rank Rivera, giving him a #12 ranking helped somewhat by the fact Rivera holds the WBC Latino Flyweight title.

Sadly for Rivera even the WBA feel they know the out come of this bout, actually reprinting an article from Boxingscene labeling the bout as a "stay busy" bout for Reveco. I think this sums it up.

Prediction: Reveco, TKO7

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Nathan Cleverly v Shawn Hawk

When you're a world champion you have expectation on your shoulders, especially when you're in a competitive weight division and your either American or British. Sadly for WBO Light Heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (24-0, 11) his competition has, in recent years, really fallen below an "acceptable" level and things don't get better with his up coming defense against late stand in Shawn Hawk (23-2-1, 17).

Thankfully for Cleverly, this fight isn't totally his fault. Originally he was meant to fight in his native Wales against the highly ranked Ukrainian Vyacheslav Uzelkov (27-2, 16), that was however scrapped so that Cleverly could face unbeaten American Ryan Coyne (21-0, 9) in a show case bout. Sadly that bout was scrapped when Coyne's promoter, Don King stepped in and prevented it from taking place. With only a week left, Hawk eventually accepted the bout, despite a number of complaints and other offers, including one from unbeaten American Cedric Agnew.

Sadly this is the world of boxing and what at first looked like an interesting defense for Cleverly has become nothing more than a joke bout that has to be, rightly, criticised. Whilst it's easy to blame Don King for preventing the Coyne fight, that fight it's self hardly looked competitive and instead the blame needs to lie with Cleverly's promoter Frank Warren who has been too busy riding the coat tails of other, better known fighters than actually getting his fighter a decent fight. The Uzelkov fight was decent enough, though the division also has fighters like Cornelius White (20-1, 16) and Isaac Chilemba (20-1-1, 9) who are both deserving of a world title fight, unlike Coyne and Hawk.

Anyway with that said Cleverly himself isn't a bad fighter. At just 25 years old he has time to get the recognition he likely feels he deserves and although he'll often have his reign criticised this shouldn't take away from the fact that the young Welshman is talented. Cleverly however not only has poor defenses hanging over his head but also the fact he will for ever be linked with former training partner Joe Calzaghe, a fighter who himself had numerous poor defenses before making a name for himself later in his career.

Cleverly is a fighter who is still developing and whilst he'll never be a thunderous puncher he is an aggressive and hard working fighter who appears to have a genuinely sensation engine (one thing he certainly picked up from his time with Calzaghe). He's relentless and can break fighters down on that relentless work rate, as he did with Karo Murat in arguably his best win to date. Despite often bringing pressure, Cleverly, at his best, is actually a genuinely talented boxer who can hit and move, and this was what he did earlier in his career when arguably he was testing himself more against the likes of Tony Oakey, Danny McIntosh (who was then unbeaten) and Antonio Brancalion. Sadly the hitting and moving seems to have gone from his game and replaced by the more exciting brawling that has almost seen him lose to the likes of Tony Bellew and Nadjib Mohammedi.

Sadly for someone who enjoys a tear up Cleverly hasn't got the hurtful 1-punch power, in fact, the Murat stoppage aside, it's hard to really say with "world" level opponent Cleverly has stopped (with Aleksy Kuziemski being his only other stoppage win in the past 2 years). As well as the lack of power, Cleverly also lacks a true defense, especially when brawling, and whilst his chin does seem to be solid, he's taking a lot of shots which will have a cumulative effect over his career, especially at world level.

After title defenses against the likes Aleksy Kuziemski (who took the fight at just a few days notice), Tony Bellew (who had never previously stepped beyond Commonwealth level) and Tommy Karpency (who genuinely was awful) it should be perhaps no surprise to say that Hawk is average at best. Despite his record of 23-2-1 (17) the man dubbed "The Sioux Warrior" is not expected to be a real challenge and with good reason.

Hawk has been a professional since 2004 (a year longer than Cleverly) started his career well running up 13 straight wins 11 by TKO as he fought at Cruiserweight. Sadly for Hawk (and those thinking he may be a big puncher) these wins were against real scrubs in Washington and Idaho and when he faced semi-decent fighter, Ed Perry, Hawk could only muster up a draw.

Just 2 years after drawing with Ed Perry, Hawk would suffer his first professional loss as Cruiserweight Matt Godfrey clearly defeated him over 10 rounds in arguably Hawk's biggest fight to date. This loss saw Hawk falling to 18-1-1 (16), a record still befitting that of a puncher, though he was still with out a recognisable victory on his record, in fact it wasn't until 2010 that Hawk got his first noteworthy win as he took a victory over former world title contender Rubin Williams. The victory over Williams was followed by Hawk's most notable victory, a decision win over Otis Griffin, sadly however this did come against a very faded fighter and it did also see Hawk getting knocked down and really struggling to the decision.

Since defeating Griffin Hawk as beaten Henry "Sugar Poo" Buchanan (via a 10 round decision) and lost to to the quick Colombian Eleider Alvarez (who himself would have been a more acceptable challenger than Hawk). Alvarez, at the time taking part in just his 9th professional bout, really dominated Hawk, winning 11 of the 12 rounds on 2 of the 3 cards (and winning 10 rounds on the final card). Worryingly the Alvarez fight was actually the most recent fight of Hawk's career taking place just 5 months ago.

For Cleverly this is little more than a chance to make a name in the US. Sadly he doesn't have the ability, or the power to make a big splash, though hopefully a decent performance will help him land fights with the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Chad Dawson or Tavoris Cloud, all of which I think could beat him. Anything less than scorecards of 117-111 should be seen as a failure by Clverly who really needs to either a stoppage or a white wash for this not to have been a real waste of time.

Prediction: Cleverly UD

Friday 2 November 2012

Marco Huck v Firat Arslan

WBO Cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (34-2-1, 25) looks to make the 10th defense of his belt this coming weekend as he faces veteran Firat Arslan (32-5-2, 21) in what looks likely to be Huck's final bout as a Cruiserweight and possibly Arslan's last career bout.

The 42 year old challenger has been there, seen it and gotten the T-shirt in his his 15 year career that has seen him becoming a staple of the Cruiserweight division. He has literally been in with a who's who of the division, especially in the last 5 or 6 years, and he's also held his own with not only some of the best of his generation but also of the emerging fighters in the division.

Arslan would really make a name for himself between 2006 and 2008 as he scored successive victories over the likes of Grigory Drozd, Valery Brudov, Virgil Hill and the always dangerous Darnell Wilson as he claimed the WBA Cruiserweight title, a title he defended three times. Sadly however for Arslan his advanced age didn't help him hold the title for long as he suffered a 10th round TKO loss to Guillermo Jones and a year later an 11th round TKO loss to Steve Herelius in an interim title bout.

Following the losses to Jones and Herelius, some expected Arslan to bow out of the sport gracefully with a then solid record of 29-5-2 (18) however Arslan seemed to think there as still life in the old dog. On his return to the ring, just 9 after losing to Herelius, Arslan stopped Michal Bilak before gaining revenge over Lubos Suda who had beaten him back in 2003. The come back then saw Arslan defeating Orlando Antonio Farias before scoring an eye opening draw with the highly touted Alexander Alekseev.

In terms of his style Arslan is a very tough fighter, he's in your face and brings a lot of pressure whilst looking to work from behind his high guard. Despite being in his 40's he has a respectable work rate even if it's not particularly high as he attempted to do enough to either just nick rounds or grind down opponents. If you allow Arslan to dictate either the tempo or the distance of a fight he can spring an upset on anyone however at just 5'11" he is short for a Cruiserweight and can be kept at range by a decent boxer.

Whilst Arslan is certainly coming to the end of his career, the 27 year old Huck is still well with in his prime and the former kick boxer is unarguably one of the most fun to watch fighters in world boxing. Despite having only been a professional for 8 years Huck has been one of the key names in the Cruiserweight division for 6 of them (since claiming the European-Union title in 2006).

As a Cruiserweight Huck is seen as a crude, caveman style fighter who is hugely powerful, teak tough and whilst not the most skilled has the physicality to win bouts with his power and raw aggression. Despite this he's not unbeatable with Steve Cunningham holding a 12th round TKO victory over Huck, although that was way back in 2007, the one and only time that Huck has been beaten at Cruiserweight.

Following the loss to Cunningham, Huck has rebuilt his career well claiming the European title and then the WBO title as he's swathed through a number of very skilled fighters including Jean Marc Monrose,Victor Emilio Ramirez, Ola Afolabi (twice), Denis Lebedev and Hugo Hernan Garay. However there is a lot of debate about whether or not the victories over Lebedev and Afolabi were above board (with a lot of debate over both bouts).

Despite suffering his only Cruiserweight loss back in 2007, Huck is current 0-1-1 in his last 3 having scored a draw Afolabi last time out and a loss in a WBA Heavyweight title bout to Alexander Povetkin in his fight prior. In both of these Huck came on strong after losing a number of early rounds and in all honesty he could well have won both bouts due despite losing a number of early rounds. Against Arslan, Huck will likely start faster than he did in either of those bouts.

I imagine this will be very fun to watch as both men are happy to stand in front of opponents and land their own shots between their opponents attacks. Neither guy is a typical "boxer" and neither guy particularly likes to take a backward step, this would therefore look, at least on paper, like a really exciting to watch bout. Sadly despite the brilliant combination of styles, it's hard to see Arslan managing to keep up with Huck's pace and power. As a result of Huck being the younger, more powerful, bigger, stronger, tougher man...it's impossible to go against Huck.

Prediction: Huck by TKO6

Thursday 1 November 2012

Roberto Vasquez v John Mark Apolinario

This weekends most "overlooked" title fight is the WBA "interim" Bantamweight title bout between Panamanian Roberto Vasquez (32-5, 22) and Filipino John Mark Apolinario (17-2-1, 4), that is scheduled to take place in the Argentinian city of Colón. As with many "interim" title bouts, the fight really lacks too much to get excited about, however could it be a sleeper classic?

With the belt being a vacant one, both men are challenger, however one man has a bit more pedigree to than the other, in fact poor John Mark Apolinario  is so unknown that...well I'd never heard of him (or most of his opponents) until I saw this bout listed. So lets look at him first.

Aged 22 the Filipino challenger John Mark Apolinario has been a professional for almost 6 years (making his debut on November 25th 2006) and since then has compiled a list of fights against very limited opposition.

Apolinario's career started well as he ran up 11 straight wins in the first 15 months of his career before suffering a loss to the novice Jessie Albaracin (who would later go on to claim the WBO Oriental Super Bantamweight title). Sadly for Apolinario this loss soon put the breaks on his rapid climb up the rankings and a year later his record fell to 12-2 as he suffered a stoppage loss to Marvin Tampus.

Since the loss to Tampus, Apolinario's career has recovered somewhat with a several wins, including a notable one in 2010 which saw him claiming his first professional title, the WBO Oriental Super Flyweight title. As well as the wins Apolinario also has a draw on his record, coming in November 2010 to the tough Armando Casa.

Whilst the highlight of Apolinario's career so far may have been the WBO Oriental Super Flyweight title fight, the most interesting thing about his record was actually his last fight. Last time out Apolinario scored a 2nd round TKO over Menard Zaragosa...who had to run off to the toilet forcing the referee to end the bout whilst Zaragosa, relieved himself. Worryingly however this means Apolinario has only fought 2 rounds in the last year and in fact Apolinario has only fought 12 rounds (2 bouts) in the past 24 months!

From what I can see with Apolinario we have an inactive fighter, who lacks any power and has only really been beating very low level domestic opponents. It's with good reason that Boxrec.com rate him as the 71st Bantamweight on the planet (the 12th in his homeland!) and whilst I'll admit I've not seen footage of him, it's fair to say that he's not fought the competition with which to really create a true opinion of just how good he actually is. The lost to Tampus, his most notable opponent so far is perhaps the most telling result with Tampus himself losing 7 of 13 since then.

With the Filipino being pretty unknown it's fair to admit that the co-challenger Roberto Vasquez is much more known and well respected. The 29 year old Panamanian has been a professional for over 11 years and despite starting his career with a loss (a controversial one to Angelo Dottin) he has really forged a solid record.

After losing his debut on points, Vasquez would go 6 years before suffering his next loss. In that time he would record 23 straight victories including 16 by T/KO. Vasquez wasn't just beating scrubs though, he was quickly rising through the rankings and stopping the likes of Beibis Mendoza to claim the WBA World Light Flyweight title, a title he would defend 3 times before moving up to Flyweight.

After moving up to Flyweight in 2006 Vasquez swiftly moved on to the title scene and claimed the interim WBA World Flyweight title thanks to a victory over Japanese fighter Takefumi Sakata. Sadly a rematch the following year saw Sakata earn some measure of revenge by defeating Vasquez to end the Panamanian's long unbeaten run.

Since losing to Sakata, Vasquez has had mixed fortune winning 8 of his subsequent 11 bouts. Whilst his wins have come at a "lesser" level two of his losses have come at the highest level thanks to Hugo Fidel Cazares and Drian Francisco, however his most recent loss, to Oscar Gonzalez is highly debatable.

Vasquez is currently on a 2 fight winning streak, including a notable victory over Mario Briones, however both of those fights too place well above the Bantamweight limit. It's fair to assume that that if Vasquez has any real problem with this bout, it may well be in making the 118lbs limit as I don't think Apolinario will have anything to worry Vasquez.

In terms of Vasquez as a fighter, the southpaw is a hard hitting fighter who despite having been down a number of times in his career is durable with only the monstrously hard hitting Drian Francisco managing to stop him. It's fair to say that Vasquez will bring the pressure here and look to take Apolinario out within 6 rounds, he certainly has the power to do it and certainly has the experience to know that Apolinario isn't going to be able to throw anything new at him.

Prediction-Vasquez TKO5