With a staggering 6 world title bouts taking place this weekend it's fair to say that some will be ignored by fans. My guess is that the most ignored will be in Peru as Peru's first ever world champion Alberto Rossel (30-8, 13) defends his WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title.
Rossel, looking for the third defense of his belt, will be facing Mexican Jose Alfredo Zuniga (11-4-1, 5) a man I must admit I know very, very little about.
Whilst Zuniga is a mystery to me Rossel has been a bit of a curiosity of mine. He's a man who is certainly not a genuine top fighter in the 108lbs division. He'd not stand a chance with fighter like Kazuto Ioka, Roman Gonzalez, Donnie Nietes, Moises Fuentes or Johnriel Casimero. Saying that however he's not completely awful.
Aged 35 Rossel has been in with a genuine who's who of the lower divisions. He has faced, and lost, to Daniel Reyes, Ivan Calderon, Brian Viloria, Luis Alberto Lazarte, Vusi Malinga and Hugo Fidel Cazares. Losing to those guys however isn't something that should shame any fighter, he tested himself and lost to some great names.
Since the loss to Cazares, Rossel has been on a 6 fight winning streak, highlighted by his victory over Jose Alfredo Rodriguez for the WBA interim belt, and subsequent defenses against Karluis Diaz and Walter Tello, who in all honesty were undeserving title challengers themselves.
In terms of his style Rossel is a scrappy fighter. He's not particularly exciting, or entertaining but due to his status as Peru's first, and only world champion he does have a solid following. His combination of little power and not the greatest of work rate causes many of his bouts to be tough to watch and hard to scored but whilst in Peru he's going to be very difficult to defeat.
Whilst Rossel has faced a string of quality names, Zuniga himself has faced one or two recognisable names, most notably Gannigan Lopez, who he is 1-1 against though also Ulises Lara and Luis Ceja, defeating both with the victory over Ceja coming just a few months ago. It's probably fair to say that Zuniga is getting this bout thanks to the victory over Ceja which is all well and good until you realise he was just 1-1-1 going in to that bout.
Ranked #10 by the WBA Zuniga is the third successive "weak" challenger to Rossel's throne and should again come up short. I actually do expect to see Rossel pushed hard, he's nothing great, but I expect, with the fight being in Peru he'll take a narrow decision, but there is a reason why this fight is being completely ignored by fans, and that's due to the quality of the match up and legitimacy of Rossel's title.
Prediction-Rossel UD12
Showing posts with label Alberto Rossel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alberto Rossel. Show all posts
Friday, 27 September 2013
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Alberto Rossel v Walter Tello
Peruvian fighter Alberto Rossel (29-8-0-1, 13) will attempt to defend his WBA interim Light Flyweight title for the second time this coming weekend as he faces Panamanian Walter Tello (18-6, 7) in what promising to be a major event in the champion's homeland, despite it not being a country known for it's boxing.
The 35 year old Rossel may not be a name on the lips of every boxing fan however in his homeland he's a legend, he's not only the first male Peruvian to claim a world title of some sort but he's also the boxing icon of the country. He's been a classy fighter who has mixed with some of the best (including Ivan Calderon, Brian Viloria, Luis Alberto Lazarte, Vusi Malinga and Hugo Fidel Cazares) and finally reaps the rewards of his long and excellent career.
Rossel's been a professional since 1998 and although he's fought around the world (Peru, USA, Puerto Rico, Argentina, South Africa and Mexico) it's only been the last year or so that he's managed to make a name for himself thanks to victories over Jose Alfredo Rodriguez and Karluis Diaz as he claimed, then defended his world title.
In terms of fighting style Rossel is still a quick fighter for someone who is now 35 and although he's tiny he's got genuine ability to fight from the outside as well as the inside. Sadly through his career Rossel has found himself facing genuinely world level fighters who have simply had that level of exceptional talent rather than just good skills and he's come out the loser at the top level as a result.
At just 26 years old the Panamanian challenger is by far the younger man going in to this bout though he's not only less experienced but also less tested having only been in with 2 noteworthy in Manuel Vargas and Giovani Segura, both of whom convincingly beat him in Mexico in world title fights. This also reflected in the quality of Tello's victories which have been very limited and his only title victory was when he won the WBO Latino Minimumweight title back in 2008.
Tello is genuinely very limited and his confidence will not be high, despite a 3 fight winning streak because he's 4-3 in his last 7 and 5-4 in his last 9, including 2 losses to fellow Panamanian Carlos Melo.
Although Tello has only been stopped twice (once bey Segura and once by Luis Alberto Rios, who fights this weekend against John Riel Casimero for the IBF Light Flyweight title) I wouldn't be shocked if the pressure of fighting in Peru sees him mentally wilting before being stopped late.
Prediction-Rossel to win by TKO11
The 35 year old Rossel may not be a name on the lips of every boxing fan however in his homeland he's a legend, he's not only the first male Peruvian to claim a world title of some sort but he's also the boxing icon of the country. He's been a classy fighter who has mixed with some of the best (including Ivan Calderon, Brian Viloria, Luis Alberto Lazarte, Vusi Malinga and Hugo Fidel Cazares) and finally reaps the rewards of his long and excellent career.
Rossel's been a professional since 1998 and although he's fought around the world (Peru, USA, Puerto Rico, Argentina, South Africa and Mexico) it's only been the last year or so that he's managed to make a name for himself thanks to victories over Jose Alfredo Rodriguez and Karluis Diaz as he claimed, then defended his world title.
In terms of fighting style Rossel is still a quick fighter for someone who is now 35 and although he's tiny he's got genuine ability to fight from the outside as well as the inside. Sadly through his career Rossel has found himself facing genuinely world level fighters who have simply had that level of exceptional talent rather than just good skills and he's come out the loser at the top level as a result.
At just 26 years old the Panamanian challenger is by far the younger man going in to this bout though he's not only less experienced but also less tested having only been in with 2 noteworthy in Manuel Vargas and Giovani Segura, both of whom convincingly beat him in Mexico in world title fights. This also reflected in the quality of Tello's victories which have been very limited and his only title victory was when he won the WBO Latino Minimumweight title back in 2008.
Tello is genuinely very limited and his confidence will not be high, despite a 3 fight winning streak because he's 4-3 in his last 7 and 5-4 in his last 9, including 2 losses to fellow Panamanian Carlos Melo.
Although Tello has only been stopped twice (once bey Segura and once by Luis Alberto Rios, who fights this weekend against John Riel Casimero for the IBF Light Flyweight title) I wouldn't be shocked if the pressure of fighting in Peru sees him mentally wilting before being stopped late.
Prediction-Rossel to win by TKO11
Sunday, 30 December 2012
Kazuto Ioka v Jose Alfredo Rodriguez
One of the final world title fights this year sees talented Japanese youngster Kazuto Ioka (10-0, 6) attempt to claim a second division world title as he tries to claim the vacant WBA Light Flyweight title against once beaten Mexican Jose Alfredo Rodriguez (28-1, 17). This is a fight all lower weight fans should be hugely excited by with both men looking to really fill the void of Roman Gonzalez who has vacated the title to campaign at Flyweight from next year.
For me personally the clear favourite is Ioka who, despite going up in weight, is a special talent as he proved earlier this year by unifying the WBA and WBC Minimumweight titles as he defeated fellow Japanese warrior Akira Yaegashi in an all out war. Though the win over Yaegashi is the standout win on his record, Ioka also holds wins over Oleydong Sithsamerchai, Juan Hernandez and Masayoshi Segawa, not bad for a guy with just 10 professional bouts under his belt.
Ioka's move to Light Flyweight always looked to be on the cards as the 5'4" 23 year old has simply out grown the 105lb weight division and he looked noticeably drained late in the fight with Yaegashi. At 108lbs I'd hope that Ioka's growing body has filled out with out too many negative effects to his speed as he's a fast, accurate boxer-puncher who can trade as well as box. At his best however I'd say he's a better boxer than puncher and his key punches are the jab and straight, though he does throw some lovely shots to the body as Oleydong found out.
Whilst I could wax lyrical about Ioka I find it much harder to be as complimentary about Rodriguez who despite having an excellent looking record has faced much lesser opponents than Ioka. In fact the best opponents Rodriguez has faced have been Karluis Diaz, Nethra Sasiprapa and current WBA interim champion Alberto Rossel, with his only loss so far coming to Rossel.
Like Ioka, Rodriguez is a growing youngster, in fact Rodriguez despite his huge edge in professional experience, is actually the younger man at just 23 years old. Sadly for him however he lacks the long amateur experience that Ioka has and he also lacks much in terms of international experience having only fought out of Mexico twice, including his loss to Rossel and a split decision victory in Japan over Sho Nakazawa.
Interestingly both men have only fought once this year, with Ioka's win over Yaegashi and Rodriguez's loss to Rossel being their only other action in 2012. I don't think this will play too much of a factor though if it does I'd guess it's more likely to effect Rodriguez who is with out a win in over a year.
I feel that Ioka's excellent amateur school and home field advantage will see him through to a clear win here. I'd fancy him to perhaps look for a stoppage late though thoroughly dominate the fight regardless of stopping Rodriguez who has never been stopped.
Prediction-Ioka TKO 11
For me personally the clear favourite is Ioka who, despite going up in weight, is a special talent as he proved earlier this year by unifying the WBA and WBC Minimumweight titles as he defeated fellow Japanese warrior Akira Yaegashi in an all out war. Though the win over Yaegashi is the standout win on his record, Ioka also holds wins over Oleydong Sithsamerchai, Juan Hernandez and Masayoshi Segawa, not bad for a guy with just 10 professional bouts under his belt.
Ioka's move to Light Flyweight always looked to be on the cards as the 5'4" 23 year old has simply out grown the 105lb weight division and he looked noticeably drained late in the fight with Yaegashi. At 108lbs I'd hope that Ioka's growing body has filled out with out too many negative effects to his speed as he's a fast, accurate boxer-puncher who can trade as well as box. At his best however I'd say he's a better boxer than puncher and his key punches are the jab and straight, though he does throw some lovely shots to the body as Oleydong found out.
Whilst I could wax lyrical about Ioka I find it much harder to be as complimentary about Rodriguez who despite having an excellent looking record has faced much lesser opponents than Ioka. In fact the best opponents Rodriguez has faced have been Karluis Diaz, Nethra Sasiprapa and current WBA interim champion Alberto Rossel, with his only loss so far coming to Rossel.
Like Ioka, Rodriguez is a growing youngster, in fact Rodriguez despite his huge edge in professional experience, is actually the younger man at just 23 years old. Sadly for him however he lacks the long amateur experience that Ioka has and he also lacks much in terms of international experience having only fought out of Mexico twice, including his loss to Rossel and a split decision victory in Japan over Sho Nakazawa.
Interestingly both men have only fought once this year, with Ioka's win over Yaegashi and Rodriguez's loss to Rossel being their only other action in 2012. I don't think this will play too much of a factor though if it does I'd guess it's more likely to effect Rodriguez who is with out a win in over a year.
I feel that Ioka's excellent amateur school and home field advantage will see him through to a clear win here. I'd fancy him to perhaps look for a stoppage late though thoroughly dominate the fight regardless of stopping Rodriguez who has never been stopped.
Prediction-Ioka TKO 11
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).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)