In a hugely busy weekend it may be easy to over look some notable fights, including the IBF Minimumweight title fight which sees the champion, South African Nkosinathi Joyi (22-0-0-1, 15) making the 3rd defence of his title as he travels to Mexico to face Mario Rodriguez (14-6-4, 10).
Despite being one of the best fighters in the lower weights over the past few years Joyi has been criminally over looked by the boxing world. Whilst it's partly down to fans perceptions of lower weight boxers it's also down to the fact he's a bit of a star in South Africa and has had no real need to go to Mexico or Japan where he would have been able to get the exposure he so deserves. All that changes on Saturday when, for the first time in a career dating back to 2002, Joyi fights outside of his homeland, traveling to Sinaloa, Mexico to defend his title.
Whilst Joyi's talents have been hidden from the wider boxing public he has proven he's a very high caliber fighter having been incredibly impressive in defeating a number of well regarded fighters in the 105lb division. Amongst those that Joyi has faced, and defeated are Sammy Gutierrez (who would later claim the WBA interim title), former IBF champion Florante Condes, the then IBF champion Raul Garcia and former WBC and WBA interim champion Katsunari Takayama. Amazingly 3 of those men are still in Ring Magazine's top 10 at the weight, showing just how high of a stand Joyi has been fighting, with only Gutierrez dropping out of the rankings.
Having been a professional since 2002 it maybe surprising to read that Joyi has only fought 23 times, though sadly, for the talented South African, he has had a number of issues in recent years which saw him fighting just once in each of the last 3 years. It seems however that those issues have been sorted and Joyi intends to try and make his mark on the boxing world, rather than just becoming a footnote in sports encyclopedias.
With power in both hands, Joyi is an exceptional boxer puncher who, at 5'6" is very tall for a Minimumweight though has no issues makes the weight limit. He's powerful, strong, quick and technically sound with a solid guard, accurate hard jab and very hurtful straight left, in fact he has every punch in the book. There is very little negative to say about Joyi in the ring, though if pushed to note negatives Joyi has been dropped (by Sammy Gutierrez) and did suffer a broken hand last time out against Takayama. To fair Joyi's biggest issue has been his recent inactivity, aside from that there is little to complain about.
Despite being a massive under dog the challenger, Mexico's Mario Rodriguez will know he has nothing to lose and everything to gain and will be cheered on by a home crowd as the bout takes place in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. Despite having a pretty sketchy record with just 14 wins from his 24 fights he has started to come good with a 5 fight unbeaten run, including a draw with recent title contender Pedro Guevara (who's fight with John Riel Casimero was covered here) which many felt Rodriguez deserved to win and wins over recent title challenger Karluis Diaz (who's fight with Alberto Rossel was covered here) and former champion Gilberto Keb Baas. This victories have helped move Rodriguez up to #5 on Boxrec.com's Minimuweight rankings.
Rodriguez's record was bad from the off. He lost his debut (in 2005) by TKO to Geovanny Lopez (Rodriguez's only TKO loss to date) before losing his 3rd fight on points to David Marquez. He later suffered losses to Julio Cesar Felix (who fought for a world title just a few months ago), Jose Alfredo Rodriguez (a recent WBA interim Champion at 108lbs, who lost his title to Alberto Rossel), Raul Castaneda (avenged 7 months later) and current world champion Donnie Nietes. The loss to Nietes, in a WBO Minimumweight title bout has been Rodriguez's only previous world title bout and whilst he clearly lose he was still hanging in at the final bell.
It's fair to say Rodriguez is a fighter who is better than his record shows. He's tough and he hits hard (having taken out Karluis Diaz in just 128 seconds) however he's not a a world level boxer. He is however a hell of a fighter who comes to go to war and always looks to get inside his opponent to fight up close. Despite apparently being 5'7" (according to Televisa) Rodriguez does give away his height fighting out of a crouch though really knows how to bring the action.
Whilst on paper this looks like a mismatch, it's almost certainly going to be a fun mismatch. Joyi should have too much for Rodriguez in almost every way imaginable but the heart and style of the challenger means that it will be fun to watch, even if it does end up being a bit of a beat down in the end. Rodriguez may be too tough and too brave for his own good here and may take a bit of a hiding if the referee and his corner allow it, which would be a shame, though he will, almost certainly, try his heart out.
Prediction-Joyi TKO8
This bout will be televised in Mexico on Televisa, if you have a chance try to catch the full card which not only features this world title bout but also the next bout in the career of the exciting young prospect Julio Ceja (20-0, 19)
Thursday 30 August 2012
Tuesday 28 August 2012
Tepparith Kokietgym v Nobuo Nashiro
With there being 5 world title fights it could be difficult to decide which one to watch though for me personally the pick of the bunch takes place in Japan as the unheralded Thai Tepparith Kokietgym (20-2, 13) defends his WBA Super Flyweight title against former 2-time champion Nobuo Nashiro (18-4-1, 12) in what promises to be something special.
In a bit of an oddity the challenger Nobuo Nashiro, will be the home town favourite with the bout taking place in Osaka, Osaka though is actually likely to go into the bout as the under-dog due to his recent results in world title fights, which includes losses in his last 3. In fact of Nashiro's fights so far all 4 of his losses have come in world title fights, as has his draw as he's spent much of the last 6 years facing the worlds best.
Nashiro started his career in 2003 and quickly raced to Japanese title beating the experienced Seiji Tanaka by TKO10 (sadly Tanaka passed away from the injuries he suffered in this bout). After making just a single defence of his national title (defeating Prosper Matsuura) Nashiro gave up the belt to fight for the WBA world title against Mexican Martin Castillo, who had twice traveled to Japan to defeat Hideyasu Ishihara. In a notable upset Nashiro, who had had only 7 professional contests prior to facing Castillo managed to stop the Mexican in the 10th round on cuts.
Nashiro's title reign lasted less than 10 months and consisted of just a single successful defense as he out pointed Eduardo Garcia before losing the belt to former champion Alexander Munoz by a wide decision. After Munoz made 2 successful defences he attempted to unify the WBA belt with the WBC belt by taking on the extremely talented Cristian Mijares, this left the WBA in a position of having a "Super" champion, so they vacated the "regular belt" and allowed Nashiro to face fellow Japanese hard man Kohei Kono in a bout for the vacant "regular belt". The two men fought each other hard with Nashiro taking a narrow split decision to become a 2-time world champion.
Nashiro's second reign as a world champion lasted notably longer than his original reign and this time featured 2 successful defenses. In his first defense Nashiro defeated fellow Japanese fighter Konosuke Tomiyama in an enthralling battle that saw Nashiro dropped in the opening minute and again in round 6 before battling back to stop Tomiyama in an exhilarating 8th round that had the crowd in a frenzy. In his second defense Nashiro managed to score a draw with excellent Mexican Hugo Fidel Cazares before losing his title in a rematch wit Cazares less than 8 months later.
Since the loss to Cazares, Nashiro has twice challenged for the WBC Super Flyweight title, losing decisions to both Tomas Rojas and Suriyan Sor Rungvisai to take his record in world title fights to 4-4-1 (2).
Due to often being the shorter man in the ring Nashiro depends on his pressure and his ox like strength which has seen him often able to just out power or out tough opponents.His key weapon in the ring is his thunderous straight right hand which really seems to rattle opponents at world level and whilst he's not got the longest arms he has an effective jab which seems to always be hurtful. Despite this if fighters can keep Nashiro at range with their movement and jab they can out point him, though no one will ever have an easy night with the hard hitting and fearless warrior.
Whilst the challenger has been around the world level for the better part of the last 6 years Tepparith, the champion is a bit of a new kid on the block having only claimed the WBA "interim" Super Flyweight title around 15 months ago by upsetting the then fast rising Filipino Drian Francisco scoring a clear decision over the highly touted Francisco. Since then however he has really started to make a name for himself with 2 very impressive defenses.
The 23 year old Thai debuted in 2008 aged just 19 and after winning his debut he went on to lose 2 of his following 4 bouts (including one to future champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai) as his record fell to 3-2 in December 2008. Since then however Tepparith has developed amazingly having claimed the interim PABA Flyweight title in just his 10th professional contest before adding the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Flyweight title just 3 fights later.
Despite developing well it was until his victory over Drian Francisco (who entered 20-0-1, 16) in 2011 that the boxing world really sat up and took any notice of the young Thai. Not only had he beaten Francisco, who at the time looked like a rising phenom but he'd scored a knockdown of the highly fancied Filipino in the 4rd round to claim the interim WBA Super Flyweight title.
Despite the victory over Francisco some thought little of Tepparith who, after being upgraded to the WBA's full champion, traveled to Japan to face the former WBA Flyweight champion Daiki Kameda who had moved up to the Super Flyweight division. Although Kameda was the home fighter, with the bout taking place in Osaka, the crowd couldn't help Kameda who was was pretty clearly beaten by an excellent champion who looked fantastic on the night.
Having beaten both Francisco and Kameda it was perhaps time that Tepparith had started to get some serious acclaim that however didn't come until earlier this year as Tepparith faced the WBA Super Flyweight champion in Recess Tomonobu Shimizu. Shimizu, a credible fighter had upset Hugo Fidel Cazares by split decision in August 2011 to claim the WBA Super Flyweight title, his reign was to be short lived as Tepparith stopped him in round 9.
Whilst not a particularly big puncher Tepparith is well schooled and has excellent movement with both his head and his feet allowing him to move out of danger with his feet or moving his head as he looks for a counter. Like his feet and head he has quick hands and can really catch unsuspecting opponents with razor sharp shorts from a variety of angles. Whilst skilled defensively he's also an extremely good finisher when he lets his hands go, as he did against Shimizu in round 9 stopping his Japanese opponent with a series of hurtful shots against the ropes.
Going into this fight it's hard to actually predict who will win. Whilst Nashiro has been on a poor run at world title level he is by far the more experienced man at the top level with 9 world title fights to Tepparith's 3 and he will also have the home crowd support as well as a clear edge in power. Though Tepparith will certainly not hold any fear by fighting in Japan having fought his last 2 bouts there and is clearly the faster, younger fighter though he's never been hit by anything like Nashiro's right hand which could well lead to a lights out moment if it lands cleanly on Tepparith who's chin is also pretty untested.
If Tepparith fights to the most of his ability I feel he should be able to use his youth (7 years difference), speed, movement and counters to out point Nashiro who genuinely never gives up. The Thai will have to be very cautious of Nashiro's right hand which if it lands, well, anything could happen, if can he avoid it however he should run out a winner and further cement his place as one of the world's top Super Flyweights.
Prediction-Tepparith Kokietgym by decision
Please note-Tepparith Kokietgym was previously known as Tepparith Singwancha
In a bit of an oddity the challenger Nobuo Nashiro, will be the home town favourite with the bout taking place in Osaka, Osaka though is actually likely to go into the bout as the under-dog due to his recent results in world title fights, which includes losses in his last 3. In fact of Nashiro's fights so far all 4 of his losses have come in world title fights, as has his draw as he's spent much of the last 6 years facing the worlds best.
Nashiro started his career in 2003 and quickly raced to Japanese title beating the experienced Seiji Tanaka by TKO10 (sadly Tanaka passed away from the injuries he suffered in this bout). After making just a single defence of his national title (defeating Prosper Matsuura) Nashiro gave up the belt to fight for the WBA world title against Mexican Martin Castillo, who had twice traveled to Japan to defeat Hideyasu Ishihara. In a notable upset Nashiro, who had had only 7 professional contests prior to facing Castillo managed to stop the Mexican in the 10th round on cuts.
Nashiro's title reign lasted less than 10 months and consisted of just a single successful defense as he out pointed Eduardo Garcia before losing the belt to former champion Alexander Munoz by a wide decision. After Munoz made 2 successful defences he attempted to unify the WBA belt with the WBC belt by taking on the extremely talented Cristian Mijares, this left the WBA in a position of having a "Super" champion, so they vacated the "regular belt" and allowed Nashiro to face fellow Japanese hard man Kohei Kono in a bout for the vacant "regular belt". The two men fought each other hard with Nashiro taking a narrow split decision to become a 2-time world champion.
Nashiro's second reign as a world champion lasted notably longer than his original reign and this time featured 2 successful defenses. In his first defense Nashiro defeated fellow Japanese fighter Konosuke Tomiyama in an enthralling battle that saw Nashiro dropped in the opening minute and again in round 6 before battling back to stop Tomiyama in an exhilarating 8th round that had the crowd in a frenzy. In his second defense Nashiro managed to score a draw with excellent Mexican Hugo Fidel Cazares before losing his title in a rematch wit Cazares less than 8 months later.
Since the loss to Cazares, Nashiro has twice challenged for the WBC Super Flyweight title, losing decisions to both Tomas Rojas and Suriyan Sor Rungvisai to take his record in world title fights to 4-4-1 (2).
Due to often being the shorter man in the ring Nashiro depends on his pressure and his ox like strength which has seen him often able to just out power or out tough opponents.His key weapon in the ring is his thunderous straight right hand which really seems to rattle opponents at world level and whilst he's not got the longest arms he has an effective jab which seems to always be hurtful. Despite this if fighters can keep Nashiro at range with their movement and jab they can out point him, though no one will ever have an easy night with the hard hitting and fearless warrior.
Whilst the challenger has been around the world level for the better part of the last 6 years Tepparith, the champion is a bit of a new kid on the block having only claimed the WBA "interim" Super Flyweight title around 15 months ago by upsetting the then fast rising Filipino Drian Francisco scoring a clear decision over the highly touted Francisco. Since then however he has really started to make a name for himself with 2 very impressive defenses.
The 23 year old Thai debuted in 2008 aged just 19 and after winning his debut he went on to lose 2 of his following 4 bouts (including one to future champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai) as his record fell to 3-2 in December 2008. Since then however Tepparith has developed amazingly having claimed the interim PABA Flyweight title in just his 10th professional contest before adding the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Flyweight title just 3 fights later.
Despite developing well it was until his victory over Drian Francisco (who entered 20-0-1, 16) in 2011 that the boxing world really sat up and took any notice of the young Thai. Not only had he beaten Francisco, who at the time looked like a rising phenom but he'd scored a knockdown of the highly fancied Filipino in the 4rd round to claim the interim WBA Super Flyweight title.
Despite the victory over Francisco some thought little of Tepparith who, after being upgraded to the WBA's full champion, traveled to Japan to face the former WBA Flyweight champion Daiki Kameda who had moved up to the Super Flyweight division. Although Kameda was the home fighter, with the bout taking place in Osaka, the crowd couldn't help Kameda who was was pretty clearly beaten by an excellent champion who looked fantastic on the night.
Having beaten both Francisco and Kameda it was perhaps time that Tepparith had started to get some serious acclaim that however didn't come until earlier this year as Tepparith faced the WBA Super Flyweight champion in Recess Tomonobu Shimizu. Shimizu, a credible fighter had upset Hugo Fidel Cazares by split decision in August 2011 to claim the WBA Super Flyweight title, his reign was to be short lived as Tepparith stopped him in round 9.
Whilst not a particularly big puncher Tepparith is well schooled and has excellent movement with both his head and his feet allowing him to move out of danger with his feet or moving his head as he looks for a counter. Like his feet and head he has quick hands and can really catch unsuspecting opponents with razor sharp shorts from a variety of angles. Whilst skilled defensively he's also an extremely good finisher when he lets his hands go, as he did against Shimizu in round 9 stopping his Japanese opponent with a series of hurtful shots against the ropes.
Going into this fight it's hard to actually predict who will win. Whilst Nashiro has been on a poor run at world title level he is by far the more experienced man at the top level with 9 world title fights to Tepparith's 3 and he will also have the home crowd support as well as a clear edge in power. Though Tepparith will certainly not hold any fear by fighting in Japan having fought his last 2 bouts there and is clearly the faster, younger fighter though he's never been hit by anything like Nashiro's right hand which could well lead to a lights out moment if it lands cleanly on Tepparith who's chin is also pretty untested.
If Tepparith fights to the most of his ability I feel he should be able to use his youth (7 years difference), speed, movement and counters to out point Nashiro who genuinely never gives up. The Thai will have to be very cautious of Nashiro's right hand which if it lands, well, anything could happen, if can he avoid it however he should run out a winner and further cement his place as one of the world's top Super Flyweights.
Prediction-Tepparith Kokietgym by decision
Please note-Tepparith Kokietgym was previously known as Tepparith Singwancha
Monday 27 August 2012
Moruti Mthalane v Ricardo Nunez
In Panama this coming weekend we have another over looked world title fight, and one that promises a lot as the IBF Flyweight champion Moruti Mthalane (28-2, 19) defends against Panama's very own hard hitter, Ricardo Nunez (24-2, 20). Whilst I know many fans aren't particularly interested in the Flyweight division (or for that matter any of the smaller divisions) some fights in those divisions have "exciting" written on them, and this is certainly one of them.
South African Mthalane is, like compatriot Nkosinathi Joyi (who defends against Mario Rodriguez on the same night), very under-rated by the international boxing community. This is due to 3 separate reasons firstly his weight (112lbs) which generally doesn't appeal to US, secondly he's not been featured much on US television (thus hiding him from the US TV audience) and thirdly in his only US fight to date he was stopped, on cuts by the highly touted Nonito Donaire. Despite the lack of exposure he is very talented and he does a lot of things very well. Whilst he's not lighting quick, or has dynamite in his fists he is a very solid fighter with a good defense, hurtful power and solid technique as well as excellent composure.
Mthalane made his professional debut way back in 2000 and won his first 14 fights before being shockingly stopped in 2004 by the then national Flyweight champion Nkqubela Gwazela in round 11. Mthalane bounced back well from his first defeat and claimed the South African Flyweight title less than 2 years later by stopping Akhona Aliva in 6 rounds.
Having made a number of defenses of his South African title Mthalane moved into the world level with an excellent victory over former world title challenger Hussein Hussein in an IBF eliminator. Having got the #1 ranking Mthalane went to the US to face the then champion Nonito Donaire. Despite putting up a solid effort against Donaire, Mthalane was cut in round 6 and unfortunately it took the steam out of his attack before the doctor stopped the bout. Prior to the 6th round Mthalane had out landed Donaire and had appeared to have won rounds 4 and 5 as he seriously pushed the highly rated Filipino hard.
Since losing to Donaire, Mthalane has been on a 6 fight winning streak which has seen him claiming the IBF Flyweight title (that had been vacated by Donaire) by defeating the teak tough Julio Cesar Miranda. As well as winning the title Mthalane has made 3 defenses of the belt by defeating fellow South African Zolani Tete (TKO5), current IBF Light Flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (TKO5) and former WBO title challenger challenger Andrea Sarritzu (TKO7). Whilst looking more impressive in every outing. However, despite 3 solid title defences (including beating Sarritzu in Italy) Mthalane has been inactive since October 2011, a notably absence from the ring.
The challenger, Ricardo Nunez, who will be fighting at home will go into this bout with the feeling that he's probably a slight favourite, due to the home field advantage with Mthalane needing to go from South Africa to Panama. Though if he's expecting anything other than a tough night ahead I'd be very surprised.
Nunez debuted back in 2006 and showed some really impressive power and finishing as he stopped his first 6 opponents, 5 of them in the opening round and actually started his career 10-0 (9) before suffering the first loss of his career in 2008. It what could only be described as a giant upset Nunez was stopped by the hard hitting journeyman William De Sousa in just 37 seconds.
Despite suffering his first loss Nunez swiftly rebuilt his career and ran up 7 more wins (6 by T/KO) as he moved to 17-1 (15). Sadly his winning run would again come to an end prematurely, this time at the hands of power and exciting Filipino Drian Francisco who almost beheaded Nunez in round 5 before eventually knocking him out in what turned out to be a real beat down. Despite looking really poor against Francisco (and I mean really poor) Nunez proved his chin as he literally ate power shots from Francisco before finally being laid out.
Since losing to Francisco we've seen Nunez dropping down to Flyweight from Super Flyweight a change that seems to have really helped him rebuild career once again. Nunez is now on a 7 fight winning streak which has seen him stopping 5 opponents including Carlos Tamara the former IBF Light Flyweight champion, a win that helped Nunez to get this world title opportunity.
With an aggressive mindset Nunez is very fun to watch and whilst he's not particularly quick he has has a must watch style of fighting. Not only does Nunez have genuinely hurtful power but he also really likes to let his hands go with a bit of a reckless abandon at times and whilst his defense is sloppy (to say the least) he appears to be able to take a solid shot or two, in fact from the number of shots he took from Francisco he can take an awful lot of flush shots. He appears to like to grind opponents down and whilst having heavy hands he's probably not quite what you'd term as a concussive puncher, certainly not at the top level.
Despite the fact Nunez will have the crowd behind him I just don't think that'll be enough to win him the bout. Mthalane is the more talented fighter, he's much more defensively sound, more technical in the ring and whilst possible not quite as powerful he's more likely to land his blows cleanly than Nunez. Whilst a decision would likely favour Nunez I don't see it going that far as I don't think Nunez will be able to cope with the hard accurate counters of Mthalane.
Prediction-Mthalane TKO8
Interestingly in the same division just weeks later the WBA "super" title and the WBO title will be unified as Hernan "Tyson" Maruqez (34-2, 25) faces Brian Viloria (31-3-0-3, 18), a bout between the winners would be a huge fight for the division and the sort of bout that would deserve a major TV slot in the US.
South African Mthalane is, like compatriot Nkosinathi Joyi (who defends against Mario Rodriguez on the same night), very under-rated by the international boxing community. This is due to 3 separate reasons firstly his weight (112lbs) which generally doesn't appeal to US, secondly he's not been featured much on US television (thus hiding him from the US TV audience) and thirdly in his only US fight to date he was stopped, on cuts by the highly touted Nonito Donaire. Despite the lack of exposure he is very talented and he does a lot of things very well. Whilst he's not lighting quick, or has dynamite in his fists he is a very solid fighter with a good defense, hurtful power and solid technique as well as excellent composure.
Mthalane made his professional debut way back in 2000 and won his first 14 fights before being shockingly stopped in 2004 by the then national Flyweight champion Nkqubela Gwazela in round 11. Mthalane bounced back well from his first defeat and claimed the South African Flyweight title less than 2 years later by stopping Akhona Aliva in 6 rounds.
Having made a number of defenses of his South African title Mthalane moved into the world level with an excellent victory over former world title challenger Hussein Hussein in an IBF eliminator. Having got the #1 ranking Mthalane went to the US to face the then champion Nonito Donaire. Despite putting up a solid effort against Donaire, Mthalane was cut in round 6 and unfortunately it took the steam out of his attack before the doctor stopped the bout. Prior to the 6th round Mthalane had out landed Donaire and had appeared to have won rounds 4 and 5 as he seriously pushed the highly rated Filipino hard.
Since losing to Donaire, Mthalane has been on a 6 fight winning streak which has seen him claiming the IBF Flyweight title (that had been vacated by Donaire) by defeating the teak tough Julio Cesar Miranda. As well as winning the title Mthalane has made 3 defenses of the belt by defeating fellow South African Zolani Tete (TKO5), current IBF Light Flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (TKO5) and former WBO title challenger challenger Andrea Sarritzu (TKO7). Whilst looking more impressive in every outing. However, despite 3 solid title defences (including beating Sarritzu in Italy) Mthalane has been inactive since October 2011, a notably absence from the ring.
The challenger, Ricardo Nunez, who will be fighting at home will go into this bout with the feeling that he's probably a slight favourite, due to the home field advantage with Mthalane needing to go from South Africa to Panama. Though if he's expecting anything other than a tough night ahead I'd be very surprised.
Nunez debuted back in 2006 and showed some really impressive power and finishing as he stopped his first 6 opponents, 5 of them in the opening round and actually started his career 10-0 (9) before suffering the first loss of his career in 2008. It what could only be described as a giant upset Nunez was stopped by the hard hitting journeyman William De Sousa in just 37 seconds.
Despite suffering his first loss Nunez swiftly rebuilt his career and ran up 7 more wins (6 by T/KO) as he moved to 17-1 (15). Sadly his winning run would again come to an end prematurely, this time at the hands of power and exciting Filipino Drian Francisco who almost beheaded Nunez in round 5 before eventually knocking him out in what turned out to be a real beat down. Despite looking really poor against Francisco (and I mean really poor) Nunez proved his chin as he literally ate power shots from Francisco before finally being laid out.
Since losing to Francisco we've seen Nunez dropping down to Flyweight from Super Flyweight a change that seems to have really helped him rebuild career once again. Nunez is now on a 7 fight winning streak which has seen him stopping 5 opponents including Carlos Tamara the former IBF Light Flyweight champion, a win that helped Nunez to get this world title opportunity.
With an aggressive mindset Nunez is very fun to watch and whilst he's not particularly quick he has has a must watch style of fighting. Not only does Nunez have genuinely hurtful power but he also really likes to let his hands go with a bit of a reckless abandon at times and whilst his defense is sloppy (to say the least) he appears to be able to take a solid shot or two, in fact from the number of shots he took from Francisco he can take an awful lot of flush shots. He appears to like to grind opponents down and whilst having heavy hands he's probably not quite what you'd term as a concussive puncher, certainly not at the top level.
Despite the fact Nunez will have the crowd behind him I just don't think that'll be enough to win him the bout. Mthalane is the more talented fighter, he's much more defensively sound, more technical in the ring and whilst possible not quite as powerful he's more likely to land his blows cleanly than Nunez. Whilst a decision would likely favour Nunez I don't see it going that far as I don't think Nunez will be able to cope with the hard accurate counters of Mthalane.
Prediction-Mthalane TKO8
Interestingly in the same division just weeks later the WBA "super" title and the WBO title will be unified as Hernan "Tyson" Maruqez (34-2, 25) faces Brian Viloria (31-3-0-3, 18), a bout between the winners would be a huge fight for the division and the sort of bout that would deserve a major TV slot in the US.
Thursday 23 August 2012
Gennady Golovkin v Grzegorz Proksa
It's rare for HBO to showcase fights between two European fighters though this coming Saturday HBO do just that as they show the WBA Middleweight title fight between Kazakhstan's hard punching phenom Gennady Golovkin (23-0, 20) and Poland's exciting Grzegorz Proksa (28-1, 21).
The champion (Golovkin) will go into this bout as a clear favourite (around 1/3 with the sports books) though on paper this will be his toughest fight as a professional having had an exceptional amateur career. As an amateur Golovkin was special. He was a 1 time World Junior Championships (2000), 1 time Asian Games Champion (2002), 1 time World Amateur Champion (2003), 1 time Olympic Silver Medal winner (2004) and a 2 time medal winner in the Boxing World cup (Silver-2002, Bronze-2005). As an amateur he scored notable victories over Matvey Korobov, Andy Lee, Lucien Bute, Yordanis Despaigne and Andre Dirrell further proving his credentials prior to turning professional.
After his excellent days as an amateur Golovkin finally turned professional in 2006 and swiftly advanced his record with 7 wins inside a year (all by T/KO). His first notable victory came in his 8th bout as his T/KO streak continued and he took out the well regarded Belorussian Siarhei Khomitski in the 5th round. His stoppage streak just a fight later as Frenchman Mehdi Bouadla took him the 8 round distance. Golovkin was taken the distance again just 2 fights later, this time by the experienced Ian Gardner who again survived the 8 round schedule. Golovkin was taken the schedule for the 3rd (and final) time 2 fights later as Amar Amari again survived the 8 round distance.
Since defeating Amari in July 2008 Golovkin's power has been the key with him scoring 10 straight by T/KO to move his record to an excellent 23-0 (20) whilst also claiming the WBA Middleweight title, a title he has now defended 4 times since winning it back in August 2010. He first won the belt by swiftly disposing of Colombian Milton Nunez before defending against another Colombian in the form of Nilson Julio Tapia. Following the defense over Tapia, Golovkin has made defenses over veterans Kassim Ouma and Lujuan Simon as well as the over matched Japanese challenge Makoto Fuchigami.
Despite having an excellent amateur pedigree and fantastic skills with seriously heavy hands and technical proficiency Golovkin has had issues. The most obvious issue is that Golovkin hasn't yet fought anyone worth mentioning. His best wins so far have been over Simon-who had been out of the ring for over a year and Ouma-who was old and 2-5 in his previous 7 bouts. Whilst this has been put down to promotional difficulties Golovkin's last fight, promoted by the Klitschko's K2 East was against the awful Makoto Fuchigamai an inexcusable bout. As well as the poor quality of opposition Golovkin faced, he has also not been featured on mainstream US TV before meaning that, outside of the hardcore fan base, very few actually know about him, despite his skill set and amateur exploits.
Despite being a solid former amateur and European Golovkin's style really isn't that "European", he doesn't use a solid technical jab to control the range and pace of the fight but instead looks to use his defensive skills to land powerful counter punches. Although he can brawl (as he did against Ouma) he's at his best when he walks down an opponent behind his guard whilst looking to land his dynamite power on an over-committed opponent with a deadly counter. When he lands those counters opponents know about it.
Originally Golovkin's opponent was supposed to be the current WBO Middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog, though Pirog unfortunately suffered an injury and was replaced by British based Pole Grzegorz Proksa. Whilst Proksa, like Golovkin, is only really known by the hardcore boxing community he has had a number of fights televised in the UK, including his latest two bouts with Welshman Kerry Hope.
Proksa has been a professional since 2005 and actually debuted in the US scoring an opening round stoppage over Adam Capo before adding 3 more wins before the end of the year to move to 4-0 (3) fighting between the US and the UK. Inside a year of being professional Proksa would claim his first professional titles winning both the IBF Youth Middleweight title and the WBC Youth World Middleweight title in just his 6th bout.
Despite winning a number of titles Proksa had faced no one of note in his first 23 bouts, often taking out journeymen like Alex Spitko or Lee Noble, however a victory over Tyan Booth had seen Proksa claiming the European Union Middleweight title in February 2010. It wasn't until fight #23 that Proksa first faced a recognised opponent in the form of Spaniard Pablo Navascues. Navascues managed to survive until round 9 before laid out by a Proksa left hand up close that forced the referee to wave off the bout. Just two bouts later Proksa really put his name on the map as he dominated former world champion Sebastian Sylvester who retired at the end of the 3rd round thoroughly beaten.
Looking on the verge of a world title fight Proksa was given a chance to show his talent in front of an excited British crowd live on Sky Sports against Welshman Kerry Hope. On paper the bout was a complete mismatch in favour of the then unbeaten Proksa, though, after a bright start Proksa started to look more and more ragged and was narrowly out pointed by Hope in one of the British upsets of 2012. The two rematched a few months later and this time a determined Proksa dominated Hope before scoring an 8th round stoppage over the Welshman and gained his revenge. The rematch over Hope was the most recent bout for Proksa who whilst not looking tremendous did look better than in his previous bout with Hope.
Like Golovkin, Proksa doesn't have a "European" style, in fact Proksa's style is very loose with his hands by his waist as he relies on reflexes and speed. He's fun to watch and whilst defensively poor he's usually got the skills and natural speed to get away with his low guard. Whilst he has showed excellent movement and shot selection (notably against Sylvester) he can get ragged and wild, especially in the later rounds as he starts to show his tiredness, as he did against Hope the first time around.
On paper this appears to be a noticeable step up for both men, and with it happening on HBO it gives hardcore boxing fans a chance to see both men with the winner having a chance to move into another major fight next year (with the winner of the Sergio Martinez v Julio Cesar Chavez Jr being a possible opponent). Golovkin is rightfully the favourite, the Ouma fight aside he has looked exceptional and whilst not hugely active he is incredibly powerful and accurate. He takes advantage of opponents when they make mistakes and rather fortunately for him Proksa makes a lot of mistakes especially when he's getting tired. Whilst Proksa has the activity to win a number of the early rounds he will have to seriously think twice about having low hands against Golovkin who will take advantage of them. Unless Proksa has spent the last few months on his stamina I'd be shocked if he manages to hear the final bell.
Prediction-Golovkin TKO7
Note-This fight will on the same day as the WBA "super" and IBF middleweight titles are unified as Felix Sturm faces Australian Daniel Geale.
The champion (Golovkin) will go into this bout as a clear favourite (around 1/3 with the sports books) though on paper this will be his toughest fight as a professional having had an exceptional amateur career. As an amateur Golovkin was special. He was a 1 time World Junior Championships (2000), 1 time Asian Games Champion (2002), 1 time World Amateur Champion (2003), 1 time Olympic Silver Medal winner (2004) and a 2 time medal winner in the Boxing World cup (Silver-2002, Bronze-2005). As an amateur he scored notable victories over Matvey Korobov, Andy Lee, Lucien Bute, Yordanis Despaigne and Andre Dirrell further proving his credentials prior to turning professional.
After his excellent days as an amateur Golovkin finally turned professional in 2006 and swiftly advanced his record with 7 wins inside a year (all by T/KO). His first notable victory came in his 8th bout as his T/KO streak continued and he took out the well regarded Belorussian Siarhei Khomitski in the 5th round. His stoppage streak just a fight later as Frenchman Mehdi Bouadla took him the 8 round distance. Golovkin was taken the distance again just 2 fights later, this time by the experienced Ian Gardner who again survived the 8 round schedule. Golovkin was taken the schedule for the 3rd (and final) time 2 fights later as Amar Amari again survived the 8 round distance.
Since defeating Amari in July 2008 Golovkin's power has been the key with him scoring 10 straight by T/KO to move his record to an excellent 23-0 (20) whilst also claiming the WBA Middleweight title, a title he has now defended 4 times since winning it back in August 2010. He first won the belt by swiftly disposing of Colombian Milton Nunez before defending against another Colombian in the form of Nilson Julio Tapia. Following the defense over Tapia, Golovkin has made defenses over veterans Kassim Ouma and Lujuan Simon as well as the over matched Japanese challenge Makoto Fuchigami.
Despite having an excellent amateur pedigree and fantastic skills with seriously heavy hands and technical proficiency Golovkin has had issues. The most obvious issue is that Golovkin hasn't yet fought anyone worth mentioning. His best wins so far have been over Simon-who had been out of the ring for over a year and Ouma-who was old and 2-5 in his previous 7 bouts. Whilst this has been put down to promotional difficulties Golovkin's last fight, promoted by the Klitschko's K2 East was against the awful Makoto Fuchigamai an inexcusable bout. As well as the poor quality of opposition Golovkin faced, he has also not been featured on mainstream US TV before meaning that, outside of the hardcore fan base, very few actually know about him, despite his skill set and amateur exploits.
Despite being a solid former amateur and European Golovkin's style really isn't that "European", he doesn't use a solid technical jab to control the range and pace of the fight but instead looks to use his defensive skills to land powerful counter punches. Although he can brawl (as he did against Ouma) he's at his best when he walks down an opponent behind his guard whilst looking to land his dynamite power on an over-committed opponent with a deadly counter. When he lands those counters opponents know about it.
Originally Golovkin's opponent was supposed to be the current WBO Middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog, though Pirog unfortunately suffered an injury and was replaced by British based Pole Grzegorz Proksa. Whilst Proksa, like Golovkin, is only really known by the hardcore boxing community he has had a number of fights televised in the UK, including his latest two bouts with Welshman Kerry Hope.
Proksa has been a professional since 2005 and actually debuted in the US scoring an opening round stoppage over Adam Capo before adding 3 more wins before the end of the year to move to 4-0 (3) fighting between the US and the UK. Inside a year of being professional Proksa would claim his first professional titles winning both the IBF Youth Middleweight title and the WBC Youth World Middleweight title in just his 6th bout.
Despite winning a number of titles Proksa had faced no one of note in his first 23 bouts, often taking out journeymen like Alex Spitko or Lee Noble, however a victory over Tyan Booth had seen Proksa claiming the European Union Middleweight title in February 2010. It wasn't until fight #23 that Proksa first faced a recognised opponent in the form of Spaniard Pablo Navascues. Navascues managed to survive until round 9 before laid out by a Proksa left hand up close that forced the referee to wave off the bout. Just two bouts later Proksa really put his name on the map as he dominated former world champion Sebastian Sylvester who retired at the end of the 3rd round thoroughly beaten.
Looking on the verge of a world title fight Proksa was given a chance to show his talent in front of an excited British crowd live on Sky Sports against Welshman Kerry Hope. On paper the bout was a complete mismatch in favour of the then unbeaten Proksa, though, after a bright start Proksa started to look more and more ragged and was narrowly out pointed by Hope in one of the British upsets of 2012. The two rematched a few months later and this time a determined Proksa dominated Hope before scoring an 8th round stoppage over the Welshman and gained his revenge. The rematch over Hope was the most recent bout for Proksa who whilst not looking tremendous did look better than in his previous bout with Hope.
Like Golovkin, Proksa doesn't have a "European" style, in fact Proksa's style is very loose with his hands by his waist as he relies on reflexes and speed. He's fun to watch and whilst defensively poor he's usually got the skills and natural speed to get away with his low guard. Whilst he has showed excellent movement and shot selection (notably against Sylvester) he can get ragged and wild, especially in the later rounds as he starts to show his tiredness, as he did against Hope the first time around.
On paper this appears to be a noticeable step up for both men, and with it happening on HBO it gives hardcore boxing fans a chance to see both men with the winner having a chance to move into another major fight next year (with the winner of the Sergio Martinez v Julio Cesar Chavez Jr being a possible opponent). Golovkin is rightfully the favourite, the Ouma fight aside he has looked exceptional and whilst not hugely active he is incredibly powerful and accurate. He takes advantage of opponents when they make mistakes and rather fortunately for him Proksa makes a lot of mistakes especially when he's getting tired. Whilst Proksa has the activity to win a number of the early rounds he will have to seriously think twice about having low hands against Golovkin who will take advantage of them. Unless Proksa has spent the last few months on his stamina I'd be shocked if he manages to hear the final bell.
Prediction-Golovkin TKO7
Note-This fight will on the same day as the WBA "super" and IBF middleweight titles are unified as Felix Sturm faces Australian Daniel Geale.
Monday 20 August 2012
Robert Stieglitz v Arthur Abraham
Whilst this coming weekend features just a single world title fight though it's an intriguing one as WBO Super Middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (42-2, 23) makes the seventh defense of his title as he faces the hard hitting, former IBF Middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (34-3, 27). Despite not being interesting on paper, at least in terms of real value, it's a fight that either allows Stieglitz to get some respect or allows Abraham to finally become a 2-weight champion and beat a long term title holder.
Despite being the champion the 31 year old Stieglitz is pretty unknown outside of Europe, specifically Germany, having fought just twice in the US and only 4 times outside of Germany. As a result of being unknown few will really give Stieglitz a chance despite not having seen him or really having known much about him. So lets take a look at the defending champion before moving on the the challenger.
Born in Yeysk, Russia, Stieglitz has been based in Germany for much of his life and it was in his adopted homeland that he made his professional debut back in 2001. With in 18 months of his professional debut he had raced away to 15-0 having been kept ridiculously active against very low level opponents. Stieglitz's first step up came when he faced Siarhei Karanevich for the IBF Youth Light Heavyweight title, out pointing Karanevich over 10 rounds to claim the belt.
After making a number of defenses of his IBF Youth Light Heavyweight title Stieglitz moved down a division, then claimed the IBF Youth Super Middleweight title before gradually climbing the IBF's Super Middleweight rankings. It wasn't until 2005 that Stieglitz first beat a recognised "name" fighter when he faced Alejandro Berrio (who had made his own name by stopping Syd Vanderpool 8 months earlier). Against Berrio Stieglitz claimed an 11th round TKO victory that was not only the biggest win of is career but also a fight that moved him into a mandatory contender position to fight for the vacant title. Sadly for Stieglitz, a rematch between the two was ordered for the world title and Berrio managed to avenge his loss stopping Stieglitz in 3 rounds.
A little over a year after losing to Berrio in his first world title fight Stieglitz would be stopped by Librado Andrade in the US in an IBF eliminator. For many fans in the US this will be the most famous bout of Stieglitz's career with it being part of the main feature on a HBO card headlined by Joel Casamayor v Michael Katsidis.
Since the loss to Andrade in 2008 Stieglitz has gone on an 11 fight winning streak which has seen him stopping the then unbeaten Karoly Balzsay (to claim the WBO world title) and making 6 successful defenses against the likes of Ruben Eduardo Acosta, Eduard Gutknecht, Enrique Ornelas and Khoren Gevor.
Sadly for the fans that haven't seen much of Stieglitz there little to really want to chase down. He's a hard working fighter who has solid technique but nothing really stands out about him, he lacks killer speed or fight ending power, he's not a whirling dervish in the ring and he's not particularly exciting. In all honesty he's everything wrong with the multiple-championship era that we live in. He's not like Felix Sturm where you can slate him for various reasons but respect him for his jab as he doesn't even have a single great, fight controlling weapon, in fact there is really little positive to say about Stieglitz other than that he's distinctly average.
Despite being positively average Stieglitz does appear to have a major flaw and one that will have Arthur Abraham rubbing his hands with glee, Stieglitz's durability is questionable at best. He's been stopped by both Librado Andrade and Alejandro Berrio and dropped a number of times through out his career. Whilst he's looked a bit sturdier in recent fights there is always going to be question marks about how he reacts when he is tagged.
So that's the champion, what about the challenger? Well the man formerly known as "King" Arthur Abraham, is a king no more, in fact in recent bouts he's been made to look somewhat like a pauper.
The 32 year old born in Yerevan, Armenia made his professional debut in 2003 though rose through the ranks a lot quicker than Stieglitz and by the end of 2005 Abraham had become the IBF Middleweight champion thanks to a 5th round KO over Kingsley Ikeke. At Middleweight Abraham was blessed with ungodly power which saw him taking out a huge number of his foes in memorable fashion, such as the KO that left Khoren Gevor unconscious despite the fact he was on his knees looking almost ready to pray.
Sadly despite being a clinical finisher Abraham's reign at Middleweight is best remember for his gory and controversial bout with Colombian banger Edison Miranda. In that bout Miranda had no less than 5 points deducted after repeatedly breaking the rules as he broke Abraham's jaw in the 4th round. Abraham showed the heart of a lion as he fought with a gruesomely disfigured face and managed to claim a hugely controversial win.
Whilst at Middleweight Abraham was a dominant title holder relying on his power to take out opponents at any time, his move to Super Middleweight has been a lot less impressive. As one of the fighters in the "Super 6 Boxing Classic" Abraham had high expectations, his reputation as a serious banger was well known and he was seen as one of the pre-tournement favourites. In his first bout he lived up to his reputation, wiping out former world champion Jermain Taylor in the 12th and final round. Sadly for Abraham he would then lose his following 3 Super 6 bouts, being embarrassingly frustrated and DQ'd as well as dropped (for the first time as a professional) by Andre Dirrel, being dominated by Carl Froch and being completely out performed by Andre Ward.
Following the Super 6 Abraham has rebuilt his confidence with 2 wins and now looks to claim a world title at the third time of asking in the Super Middleweight division. It's this part that makes the bout intriguing, Abraham has never beaten a top Super Middleweight, in fact he's never gotten close to beating a top Super Middleweight. His power doesn't seem to effect guys like it did down at 160lbs and with his style, which is built on his power and explosive changes in pace he can really be seen to struggle. If Abraham's power doesn't have the expected effect on Stieglitz it's unlikely Abraham can work hard enough to pick up the rounds.
Whilst both fighters are technically sound, the actually styles differ massively. In Stieglitz we have a fighter who will work and will spend periods of time working in and around range with a, well, average work rate. He may not have the power to trouble Abraham but he has the sort of cautious but steady work rate that can bag him rounds. Abraham on the other hand is slow (very slow) especially with his feet, he doesn't work a lot and he prefers to hide behind a solid high guard before working his way up close and launching a salvo before getting back behind his guard. Despite having a strong and hurtful jab Abraham rarely uses it to full effect, instead looking to move in close.
If (and this is a huge if) Stieglitz can stand up to the power of the challenger then I'd expect him to retain the title by clear decision, a victory that would seriously elevate Stieglitz's standing in professional boxing. Problem with that however is that Stieglitz has been stopped twice in the past so it's doubtful he can stand up to Abraham's thudding power. If Abraham can land a bomb, at any time, I suspect Stieglitz will be stopped soon afterwards with Abraham then claiming a second divisional title and becoming a fixture once more on the title stage.
This is a bit of a funny bout in regard to the fact that the loser will be downplayed no matter who wins. If Stieglitz wins we will hear about how Abraham's record at 168lbs is dreadful (which it is) yet Stieglitz will still be able to gain from the win by joining the likes of Froch and Ward. If Abraham wins he'll have claimed a "big one" at 168lbs and dethroned a fighter who has been champion for 3 years. He'll be able to open the doors either locally for easy defences or internationally if he wishes to unify the title.
Prediction-Abraham by TKO 9
By it's self this isn't an important match, at least not on paper, though the fact the winner throws themselves straight back into the mix with the other champions is a very notable issue.
Despite being the champion the 31 year old Stieglitz is pretty unknown outside of Europe, specifically Germany, having fought just twice in the US and only 4 times outside of Germany. As a result of being unknown few will really give Stieglitz a chance despite not having seen him or really having known much about him. So lets take a look at the defending champion before moving on the the challenger.
Born in Yeysk, Russia, Stieglitz has been based in Germany for much of his life and it was in his adopted homeland that he made his professional debut back in 2001. With in 18 months of his professional debut he had raced away to 15-0 having been kept ridiculously active against very low level opponents. Stieglitz's first step up came when he faced Siarhei Karanevich for the IBF Youth Light Heavyweight title, out pointing Karanevich over 10 rounds to claim the belt.
After making a number of defenses of his IBF Youth Light Heavyweight title Stieglitz moved down a division, then claimed the IBF Youth Super Middleweight title before gradually climbing the IBF's Super Middleweight rankings. It wasn't until 2005 that Stieglitz first beat a recognised "name" fighter when he faced Alejandro Berrio (who had made his own name by stopping Syd Vanderpool 8 months earlier). Against Berrio Stieglitz claimed an 11th round TKO victory that was not only the biggest win of is career but also a fight that moved him into a mandatory contender position to fight for the vacant title. Sadly for Stieglitz, a rematch between the two was ordered for the world title and Berrio managed to avenge his loss stopping Stieglitz in 3 rounds.
A little over a year after losing to Berrio in his first world title fight Stieglitz would be stopped by Librado Andrade in the US in an IBF eliminator. For many fans in the US this will be the most famous bout of Stieglitz's career with it being part of the main feature on a HBO card headlined by Joel Casamayor v Michael Katsidis.
Since the loss to Andrade in 2008 Stieglitz has gone on an 11 fight winning streak which has seen him stopping the then unbeaten Karoly Balzsay (to claim the WBO world title) and making 6 successful defenses against the likes of Ruben Eduardo Acosta, Eduard Gutknecht, Enrique Ornelas and Khoren Gevor.
Sadly for the fans that haven't seen much of Stieglitz there little to really want to chase down. He's a hard working fighter who has solid technique but nothing really stands out about him, he lacks killer speed or fight ending power, he's not a whirling dervish in the ring and he's not particularly exciting. In all honesty he's everything wrong with the multiple-championship era that we live in. He's not like Felix Sturm where you can slate him for various reasons but respect him for his jab as he doesn't even have a single great, fight controlling weapon, in fact there is really little positive to say about Stieglitz other than that he's distinctly average.
Despite being positively average Stieglitz does appear to have a major flaw and one that will have Arthur Abraham rubbing his hands with glee, Stieglitz's durability is questionable at best. He's been stopped by both Librado Andrade and Alejandro Berrio and dropped a number of times through out his career. Whilst he's looked a bit sturdier in recent fights there is always going to be question marks about how he reacts when he is tagged.
So that's the champion, what about the challenger? Well the man formerly known as "King" Arthur Abraham, is a king no more, in fact in recent bouts he's been made to look somewhat like a pauper.
The 32 year old born in Yerevan, Armenia made his professional debut in 2003 though rose through the ranks a lot quicker than Stieglitz and by the end of 2005 Abraham had become the IBF Middleweight champion thanks to a 5th round KO over Kingsley Ikeke. At Middleweight Abraham was blessed with ungodly power which saw him taking out a huge number of his foes in memorable fashion, such as the KO that left Khoren Gevor unconscious despite the fact he was on his knees looking almost ready to pray.
Sadly despite being a clinical finisher Abraham's reign at Middleweight is best remember for his gory and controversial bout with Colombian banger Edison Miranda. In that bout Miranda had no less than 5 points deducted after repeatedly breaking the rules as he broke Abraham's jaw in the 4th round. Abraham showed the heart of a lion as he fought with a gruesomely disfigured face and managed to claim a hugely controversial win.
Whilst at Middleweight Abraham was a dominant title holder relying on his power to take out opponents at any time, his move to Super Middleweight has been a lot less impressive. As one of the fighters in the "Super 6 Boxing Classic" Abraham had high expectations, his reputation as a serious banger was well known and he was seen as one of the pre-tournement favourites. In his first bout he lived up to his reputation, wiping out former world champion Jermain Taylor in the 12th and final round. Sadly for Abraham he would then lose his following 3 Super 6 bouts, being embarrassingly frustrated and DQ'd as well as dropped (for the first time as a professional) by Andre Dirrel, being dominated by Carl Froch and being completely out performed by Andre Ward.
Following the Super 6 Abraham has rebuilt his confidence with 2 wins and now looks to claim a world title at the third time of asking in the Super Middleweight division. It's this part that makes the bout intriguing, Abraham has never beaten a top Super Middleweight, in fact he's never gotten close to beating a top Super Middleweight. His power doesn't seem to effect guys like it did down at 160lbs and with his style, which is built on his power and explosive changes in pace he can really be seen to struggle. If Abraham's power doesn't have the expected effect on Stieglitz it's unlikely Abraham can work hard enough to pick up the rounds.
Whilst both fighters are technically sound, the actually styles differ massively. In Stieglitz we have a fighter who will work and will spend periods of time working in and around range with a, well, average work rate. He may not have the power to trouble Abraham but he has the sort of cautious but steady work rate that can bag him rounds. Abraham on the other hand is slow (very slow) especially with his feet, he doesn't work a lot and he prefers to hide behind a solid high guard before working his way up close and launching a salvo before getting back behind his guard. Despite having a strong and hurtful jab Abraham rarely uses it to full effect, instead looking to move in close.
If (and this is a huge if) Stieglitz can stand up to the power of the challenger then I'd expect him to retain the title by clear decision, a victory that would seriously elevate Stieglitz's standing in professional boxing. Problem with that however is that Stieglitz has been stopped twice in the past so it's doubtful he can stand up to Abraham's thudding power. If Abraham can land a bomb, at any time, I suspect Stieglitz will be stopped soon afterwards with Abraham then claiming a second divisional title and becoming a fixture once more on the title stage.
This is a bit of a funny bout in regard to the fact that the loser will be downplayed no matter who wins. If Stieglitz wins we will hear about how Abraham's record at 168lbs is dreadful (which it is) yet Stieglitz will still be able to gain from the win by joining the likes of Froch and Ward. If Abraham wins he'll have claimed a "big one" at 168lbs and dethroned a fighter who has been champion for 3 years. He'll be able to open the doors either locally for easy defences or internationally if he wishes to unify the title.
Prediction-Abraham by TKO 9
By it's self this isn't an important match, at least not on paper, though the fact the winner throws themselves straight back into the mix with the other champions is a very notable issue.
Thursday 16 August 2012
Alberto Rossel v Karluis Diaz Perez
Whilst I, like every other boxing fan in the world understands how interim titles can be used properly, to keep a title relevant whilst a fighter is suffering a long term injury, it seems they are now used just for the sake of having another title on the line. What we, as fans need to remember is that the sanctioning bodies manage to claim 3% of the fighters purse if a title is fought for, this includes interim titles, effectively allowing the sanctioning bodies a chance to profit from the numerous titles they have out. Sadly what interim titles have done is lead to a number of "world title bouts" that fans either aren't aware of, or simply don't care about, one such example is this weekend's WBA "interim" Light Flyweight bout between champion Alberto Rossel (28-8-0-1, 13) and challenger Karluis Diaz (17-3, 13). Sadly this bout isn't about being the best, it's about the WBA claiming their payment for a bout featuring two men that only the most hardcore of fans have even heard of, never mind seen.
Peruvian Rossel claimed the "interim" WBA Light Flyweight title earlier this year when he scored an upset win over young, and previously unbeaten Mexican Jose Alfredo Rodriguez (who at the time was 27-0). This victory over Rodriguez saw Rossel becoming the first Peruvian to claim a portion of any world title, quite an historic feat, though one that hasn't managed to make waves in the boxing world due in part to the titles "interim" status and also due to the fact very, very few know who he really is.
The diminutive (5'2") Peruvian, known as "Chiquito" is a true ring veteran, having been a professional since 1998 and has faced a genuine who's who of world class fighters ranging from Daniel Reyes to Ivan Calderon, from Brian Viloria to Hugo Fidel Cazares. Sadly however Rossel has never been able to beat one of the bigger names often being too small, to weak or just not good enough, despite this he has continued to plug away and eventually won the gold.
At 34 years old Rossel is certainly in the twilight of his career, though as he showed against Rodriguez he has a reliable jab, fast foot work and is savy enough to work to his strengths, which appear to be to box and move. Sadly, in most of Rossel's high profile bouts his jab simply hasn't been enough to keep away opponents who have often been able to walk through it (notable Cazares who never once looked bothered by the Rossel jab). As well as getting on a bit (certainly for a light Flyweight) Rossel also doesn't have the sort of power to really buzz a top fighter, in fact his highest profile stoppage victim is quite probably former world title challenger Reginaldo Martins Carvalho who has now been stopped 10 times in 13 losses (from 33 bouts).
Whilst Rossel is certainly an obscure fighter for a "champion" his opponent, Colombian Karluis Diaz Perez is even less well known with only two videos of his freely available (his 8 round decision win over Farid Cassiani and his 7th round TKO loss to Jose Alfredo Rodriguez). This means that, sadly, we need to look more at at his record than his actual footage, however from what we saw he looks very, very limited and worryingly wild.
From his record it maybe fair to assume that Karluis Diaz Perez can hit hard, though in all honesty it's very hard to be sure as he has faced seriously limited competition with only 1 T/KO over a fighter with a winning record at the time (Luis Carrillo, who was 7-0-1, when Diaz stopped in back in 2009). What we do however know is that he isn't the most durable having been stopped in all 3 of his losses to date (with those losses coming to Jose Alfredo Rodriguez, recent title challenger Pedro Guevara and up coming title challenger Mario Rodriguez). The most worrying of those being an opening round blow out by Mario Rodriguez just 2 fights ago.
As well as his record and his durability issues Karluis Diaz Perez also has another issue, geography. To date he is 17-0 (13) in his homeland of Colombia, when he has left Colombia however he is 0-3. Whilst it's fair to point out that those losses are to his best opponents it also needs to be noted that he is fighting Rossel in Peru and Rossel is yet again one of Perez Diaz's best opponents, in fact Rossel beat the fighter (Jose Alfredo Rodriguez) who inflicted the first loss on Diaz Perez.
Going into the bout I have to favour Rossel to retain his title by decision. Whilst Diaz Perez does have durability issues Rossel doesn't have the power to make him pay, he does however have nigh on hero status in Peru due to his historic position as Peru's first world champion. Rossel's status in Peru will make it very hard to get decision over him and in fact Rossel is unbeaten in Peru (25-0, 13).
Peruvian Rossel claimed the "interim" WBA Light Flyweight title earlier this year when he scored an upset win over young, and previously unbeaten Mexican Jose Alfredo Rodriguez (who at the time was 27-0). This victory over Rodriguez saw Rossel becoming the first Peruvian to claim a portion of any world title, quite an historic feat, though one that hasn't managed to make waves in the boxing world due in part to the titles "interim" status and also due to the fact very, very few know who he really is.
The diminutive (5'2") Peruvian, known as "Chiquito" is a true ring veteran, having been a professional since 1998 and has faced a genuine who's who of world class fighters ranging from Daniel Reyes to Ivan Calderon, from Brian Viloria to Hugo Fidel Cazares. Sadly however Rossel has never been able to beat one of the bigger names often being too small, to weak or just not good enough, despite this he has continued to plug away and eventually won the gold.
At 34 years old Rossel is certainly in the twilight of his career, though as he showed against Rodriguez he has a reliable jab, fast foot work and is savy enough to work to his strengths, which appear to be to box and move. Sadly, in most of Rossel's high profile bouts his jab simply hasn't been enough to keep away opponents who have often been able to walk through it (notable Cazares who never once looked bothered by the Rossel jab). As well as getting on a bit (certainly for a light Flyweight) Rossel also doesn't have the sort of power to really buzz a top fighter, in fact his highest profile stoppage victim is quite probably former world title challenger Reginaldo Martins Carvalho who has now been stopped 10 times in 13 losses (from 33 bouts).
Whilst Rossel is certainly an obscure fighter for a "champion" his opponent, Colombian Karluis Diaz Perez is even less well known with only two videos of his freely available (his 8 round decision win over Farid Cassiani and his 7th round TKO loss to Jose Alfredo Rodriguez). This means that, sadly, we need to look more at at his record than his actual footage, however from what we saw he looks very, very limited and worryingly wild.
From his record it maybe fair to assume that Karluis Diaz Perez can hit hard, though in all honesty it's very hard to be sure as he has faced seriously limited competition with only 1 T/KO over a fighter with a winning record at the time (Luis Carrillo, who was 7-0-1, when Diaz stopped in back in 2009). What we do however know is that he isn't the most durable having been stopped in all 3 of his losses to date (with those losses coming to Jose Alfredo Rodriguez, recent title challenger Pedro Guevara and up coming title challenger Mario Rodriguez). The most worrying of those being an opening round blow out by Mario Rodriguez just 2 fights ago.
As well as his record and his durability issues Karluis Diaz Perez also has another issue, geography. To date he is 17-0 (13) in his homeland of Colombia, when he has left Colombia however he is 0-3. Whilst it's fair to point out that those losses are to his best opponents it also needs to be noted that he is fighting Rossel in Peru and Rossel is yet again one of Perez Diaz's best opponents, in fact Rossel beat the fighter (Jose Alfredo Rodriguez) who inflicted the first loss on Diaz Perez.
Going into the bout I have to favour Rossel to retain his title by decision. Whilst Diaz Perez does have durability issues Rossel doesn't have the power to make him pay, he does however have nigh on hero status in Peru due to his historic position as Peru's first world champion. Rossel's status in Peru will make it very hard to get decision over him and in fact Rossel is unbeaten in Peru (25-0, 13).
Wednesday 15 August 2012
Juan Carlos Salgado v Jonathan Victor Barros
With Adrien Broner recently announcing that he was moving to the Lightweight division it's left the Super Featherweight division a bit devoid of big name fighters, that however doesn't leave the division void of good match ups and this weekends IBF Super Featherweight title between champion Juan Carlos Salgado (25-1-1-1, 16) and challenger Jonathan Victor Barros (34-2-1, 18) is proof of that. Whilst neither man is particularly well known, especially in the US, this is a bout that is genuinely deserving of an alphabet belt and sees two genuine top 10 fighters facing off for a title.
Champion Salgado, of Mexico, first made a name for himself back in 2009 when he scored a huge upset over the very highly regarded (and then WBA Super Featherweight champion) Jorge Linares, stopping Linares in just 73 seconds. Salgado's first reign as a champion however was short lived as he lost his title to the hard hitting Japanese fighter Takashi Uchiyama just 3 months later (in his first defence).
Since then Salgado has has managed to reclaim a version of the world title (the IBF belt) by defeating the once touted Argenis Mendez and defended it twice (including a No Contest with Miguel Beltran Jr). Though he still hasn't managed to get much acclaim despite being a 2-time world champion he is a very solid fighter who hits harder than his record indicates. Sadly however many fans will downplay him due to the fact he struggled with veteran Martin Honorio.
With Nacho Beristain in his corner Salgado not only has one of the best trainers in the sport but also a man who knows how to use a fighters natural advantages which means Salgado's height (he's 5'9", relatively huge for a Super Featherweight) and reach will come into play, and often do with Salgado having a very solid jab and a hard straight right. Though he is limited by slow hands and feet, which could well be an issue here.
The challenger, Argentinian Jonathan Victor Barros has been around for years (literally, he debuted back in 2004) and first came to the public's attention in 2010 when he faced Cuban cyclone Yuriorkis Gamboa in a WBA Featherweight title fight. Whilst he was often outclassed in the early and middle rounds of that bout Barros showed his toughness and fought hard down the stretch to win several of the later rounds in a brave losing effort. He proved against Gamboa that he was tough and whilst he wasn't the most skilled he refused to go away and fought hard.
Just 9 months after facing Gamboa, Barros would actually claim the then vacant WBA Featherweight title (after Gamboa unified the WBA and IBF titles to become the "WBA Unified Champion") by defeating Irving Berry (TKO7). Barros' reign however was short lived as he lost the title 10 months later, he did however manage to successfully defend the title twice by out pointing both Miguel Roman (UD) and the highly regarded Celestino Caballero (SD). Barros' reign came to an end as he suffered a reversal to Caballero when the two men rematched at the end of 2011.
Although Barros has spent most of his career so far at Featherweight he's now moving up to Super Featherweight to challenge Salgado. Despite this Barros is likely to be the quicker man (as I've mentioned Salgado is incredibly slow for Super Feather) and he is incredibly tough having taken the best that both Caballero and Gamboa had to offer. Whilst he has been dropped through his career (including by Gamboa, Caballero and the little known Adrian Marcelo Flamenco) he has shown great resiliency and a lot of heart which is likely to be on show again here.
I'm expecting to see Barros trying to make the bout messy and fought up close, not only is that his style but it also neutralises the natural size advantage of Salgado. This could make the bout rather frustrating with bursts of action interspersed with repeated breaks though if Barros is going to try and keep the bout up close and personal he needs to remember where he is, Mexico, Salgado's back yard. Barros will need to keep up a high work rate and try to back the rounds, if he's going to win it's going to be a close decision.
For Salgado to win he can hope that his extra size (and power) can hurt Barros enough to stop him, though in all honesty we would seriously doubt that he'd be able to score a stoppage, instead he'll need to try and slow Barros down. Whilst I favour Salgado to get the win if it's a close bout he'll likely have to fight hard against his challenger.
Both men are capable of out pointing the other however I seriously doubt if either man can hurt the other enough to force the stoppage. Sadly this by it's self is why I favour Salgado, who, as I've mentioned, will be fighting at home, it should however be a very fun fight with a lot of punches thrown, even if it does get scrappy at times.
Champion Salgado, of Mexico, first made a name for himself back in 2009 when he scored a huge upset over the very highly regarded (and then WBA Super Featherweight champion) Jorge Linares, stopping Linares in just 73 seconds. Salgado's first reign as a champion however was short lived as he lost his title to the hard hitting Japanese fighter Takashi Uchiyama just 3 months later (in his first defence).
Since then Salgado has has managed to reclaim a version of the world title (the IBF belt) by defeating the once touted Argenis Mendez and defended it twice (including a No Contest with Miguel Beltran Jr). Though he still hasn't managed to get much acclaim despite being a 2-time world champion he is a very solid fighter who hits harder than his record indicates. Sadly however many fans will downplay him due to the fact he struggled with veteran Martin Honorio.
With Nacho Beristain in his corner Salgado not only has one of the best trainers in the sport but also a man who knows how to use a fighters natural advantages which means Salgado's height (he's 5'9", relatively huge for a Super Featherweight) and reach will come into play, and often do with Salgado having a very solid jab and a hard straight right. Though he is limited by slow hands and feet, which could well be an issue here.
The challenger, Argentinian Jonathan Victor Barros has been around for years (literally, he debuted back in 2004) and first came to the public's attention in 2010 when he faced Cuban cyclone Yuriorkis Gamboa in a WBA Featherweight title fight. Whilst he was often outclassed in the early and middle rounds of that bout Barros showed his toughness and fought hard down the stretch to win several of the later rounds in a brave losing effort. He proved against Gamboa that he was tough and whilst he wasn't the most skilled he refused to go away and fought hard.
Just 9 months after facing Gamboa, Barros would actually claim the then vacant WBA Featherweight title (after Gamboa unified the WBA and IBF titles to become the "WBA Unified Champion") by defeating Irving Berry (TKO7). Barros' reign however was short lived as he lost the title 10 months later, he did however manage to successfully defend the title twice by out pointing both Miguel Roman (UD) and the highly regarded Celestino Caballero (SD). Barros' reign came to an end as he suffered a reversal to Caballero when the two men rematched at the end of 2011.
Although Barros has spent most of his career so far at Featherweight he's now moving up to Super Featherweight to challenge Salgado. Despite this Barros is likely to be the quicker man (as I've mentioned Salgado is incredibly slow for Super Feather) and he is incredibly tough having taken the best that both Caballero and Gamboa had to offer. Whilst he has been dropped through his career (including by Gamboa, Caballero and the little known Adrian Marcelo Flamenco) he has shown great resiliency and a lot of heart which is likely to be on show again here.
I'm expecting to see Barros trying to make the bout messy and fought up close, not only is that his style but it also neutralises the natural size advantage of Salgado. This could make the bout rather frustrating with bursts of action interspersed with repeated breaks though if Barros is going to try and keep the bout up close and personal he needs to remember where he is, Mexico, Salgado's back yard. Barros will need to keep up a high work rate and try to back the rounds, if he's going to win it's going to be a close decision.
For Salgado to win he can hope that his extra size (and power) can hurt Barros enough to stop him, though in all honesty we would seriously doubt that he'd be able to score a stoppage, instead he'll need to try and slow Barros down. Whilst I favour Salgado to get the win if it's a close bout he'll likely have to fight hard against his challenger.
Both men are capable of out pointing the other however I seriously doubt if either man can hurt the other enough to force the stoppage. Sadly this by it's self is why I favour Salgado, who, as I've mentioned, will be fighting at home, it should however be a very fun fight with a lot of punches thrown, even if it does get scrappy at times.
Friday 3 August 2012
John Riel Casimero v Pedro Guevara
Although the sporting week has been dominated by the London 2012 Olympic games it doesn't mean that all other sports are off. In Mexico this coming weekend boxing fans will get a chance to see IBF Light Flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (16-2, 10) defend his title against unbeaten Mexican Pedro Guevara (18-0-1, 13).
Filipino Casimero infamously claimed the Interim title earlier this year in bout with Argentinian Luis Alberto Lazarte, which ended in a riot after Casimero stopped the controversial Argentinian. The fall out from that bout saw Casimero hit with chairs and needing to hide under the ring before Lazarte was given a life ban by the IBF. Since then however Casimero has found his Interim title being upgraded to the full version of the IBF title due to the inactivity of Ulises Solis, despite not having fought himself since February.
Casimero, a youngster at just 22 years old has been mixing in world company for over 2 years and has fought a number of respected names in the lower divisions including Cesar Canchila (TKO11), Ramon Garcia Hirales (L-SD12), Moruti Mthalane (L-TKO5) and the aforementioned Lazarte (TKO10) gaining valuable experience against some genuinely excellent little fighters. So despite having less than 20 fights he has been fighting at a very high level and he has also been fighting away from home regularly having already fought in Nicaragua, Mexico, South Africa and Argentina. Going to Mexico to face Guevara really shouldn't bother the talented youngster.
Whilst the champion is a known quantity who has mixed with excellent competition (with varying degrees of success) the challenger is a little bit less well known. Over his first 13 fights Guervara faced no one of note, in fact the most well known fighter that Guervara faced early in his career was Mexican journeyman Charly Valenzuela, who's record boasts almost as many losses as wins. In recent fights however Guevara has stepped up well and scored slightly more notable results whilst claiming both the WBC Silver Light Flyweight title and the NABF title at the same weight. The most notable result of Guevara's is a controversial 12 round draw against fellow Sinaloa resident Mario Rodriguez, a former world title contender himself.
Just going on records alone the unbeaten record of Guevara is relatively weak with only a handful of solid fights whilst Casimero, although suffering losses has fought at a much, much higher standard for a much longer time. With this in mind it's fair to say that Casimero is a more proven fighter, but how about in the actual ring?
Guevara, like most Mexican's appears to be quite in your face, a fighter who likes to try to prove his machismo. He has stinging punches but not the sort of killer shots that he perhaps needs for his style, however he does appear to take a huge number of shots against much lesser skilled fighters than Casimero. Guevara's fight with Valenzuela saw Guevara just breaking down the journeyman whilst taking a number of right hands himself, I'd worry for him if he wanted to use that sort of strategy against Casimero who is very tough himself.
Like Guevara, Casimero can go to war as he did with Canchilla, though he's actually a very solid boxer when he's got his boxing head on allowing him to either box or brawl. Having shown more to his game than Guervara and having shown he can go toe-to-toe with hard punchers we've really got to favour the young Filipino.
Whilst I can't currently find any bets on this bout I do fancy Casimero to score a KO in the later half of the fight which I expect will be a very, very enjoyable action bout. Casimero's extra experience against top fighters will the difference for me whilst Guevara's 0 is pretty much a paper 0.
Filipino Casimero infamously claimed the Interim title earlier this year in bout with Argentinian Luis Alberto Lazarte, which ended in a riot after Casimero stopped the controversial Argentinian. The fall out from that bout saw Casimero hit with chairs and needing to hide under the ring before Lazarte was given a life ban by the IBF. Since then however Casimero has found his Interim title being upgraded to the full version of the IBF title due to the inactivity of Ulises Solis, despite not having fought himself since February.
Casimero, a youngster at just 22 years old has been mixing in world company for over 2 years and has fought a number of respected names in the lower divisions including Cesar Canchila (TKO11), Ramon Garcia Hirales (L-SD12), Moruti Mthalane (L-TKO5) and the aforementioned Lazarte (TKO10) gaining valuable experience against some genuinely excellent little fighters. So despite having less than 20 fights he has been fighting at a very high level and he has also been fighting away from home regularly having already fought in Nicaragua, Mexico, South Africa and Argentina. Going to Mexico to face Guevara really shouldn't bother the talented youngster.
Whilst the champion is a known quantity who has mixed with excellent competition (with varying degrees of success) the challenger is a little bit less well known. Over his first 13 fights Guervara faced no one of note, in fact the most well known fighter that Guervara faced early in his career was Mexican journeyman Charly Valenzuela, who's record boasts almost as many losses as wins. In recent fights however Guevara has stepped up well and scored slightly more notable results whilst claiming both the WBC Silver Light Flyweight title and the NABF title at the same weight. The most notable result of Guevara's is a controversial 12 round draw against fellow Sinaloa resident Mario Rodriguez, a former world title contender himself.
Just going on records alone the unbeaten record of Guevara is relatively weak with only a handful of solid fights whilst Casimero, although suffering losses has fought at a much, much higher standard for a much longer time. With this in mind it's fair to say that Casimero is a more proven fighter, but how about in the actual ring?
Guevara, like most Mexican's appears to be quite in your face, a fighter who likes to try to prove his machismo. He has stinging punches but not the sort of killer shots that he perhaps needs for his style, however he does appear to take a huge number of shots against much lesser skilled fighters than Casimero. Guevara's fight with Valenzuela saw Guevara just breaking down the journeyman whilst taking a number of right hands himself, I'd worry for him if he wanted to use that sort of strategy against Casimero who is very tough himself.
Like Guevara, Casimero can go to war as he did with Canchilla, though he's actually a very solid boxer when he's got his boxing head on allowing him to either box or brawl. Having shown more to his game than Guervara and having shown he can go toe-to-toe with hard punchers we've really got to favour the young Filipino.
Whilst I can't currently find any bets on this bout I do fancy Casimero to score a KO in the later half of the fight which I expect will be a very, very enjoyable action bout. Casimero's extra experience against top fighters will the difference for me whilst Guevara's 0 is pretty much a paper 0.
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