It's been a while since we've seen Panamanian Anselmo Moreno (33-2-1, 12) in the ring, 9 months in fact, though this Saturday he returns to action and defends the WBA "super" title at Bantamweight as he faces Colombian challenger William Urina (24-2, 20).
The last time we saw Moreno in action he suffered his first career defeat in a over decade as the highly talented Abner Mares claimed a very impressive decision over him up at Super Bantamweight. It's shocking to actually say he's fighting at Bantamweight for the first time since stopping David De La Mora last April, some 16 or so months ago.
At Bantamweight many regard Moreno as the #1 guy, his loss at Super Bantamweight really doesn't effect that. In fact losing to Mares, who now holds a title at Featherweight, is no great shame at all.
Moreno's resume at Bantamweight is genuine exceptional. He holds wins over Volodymyr Sydorenko, twice, Rolly "Matsushita" Lunas, Mahyar Monshipour, Nehomar Cermeno, twice, Lorenzo Parra, Vic Darchinyan and De La Mora.
It's not just the resume that has made "Chemito" stand out in the eyes of the hardcore fans but also his style of fighting. He is one of the truly elite pure boxers. He's as slippery as they come, has an accurate jab, is an outstanding counter puncher and uses the ring as good as any fighter not named "Mayweather" or "Rigondeaux".
I'll admit I was shocked by the way Mares beat Moreno though in all honesty it says more about how good Mares is than how bad Moreno is. I honestly cannot see any fighter at 118 doing the same to Moreno as Mares did, and that's despite the fact I think Shinsuke Yamanaka is an exceptional fighter.
Colombian challenger Urina is 27 and surprisingly only around 6 months younger than the champion. Despite the relatively close age of the two men in terms of raw years, the challenger is easily the younger man in terms of ring years. Moreno has fought 36 bouts and a combined 268 rounds, including more than 10 world title bouts, Urina has fought just 26 bouts for a combined 108 rounds and has just 1 world title bout behind him.
It's the previous world title bout of Urina's that is by far the most interesting bout of his career. In that bout he went to Argentina and was widely out pointed by Omar Narvaez in a bout for the WBO Super Flyweight title.
Against Narvaez, Urina tried hard and had some success though was widely outclassed by the talented and oft-overlooked Argentinian. Despite the loss he had impressed some with his desire to win and he has improved on the back of that loss.
In terms of his style Urina is a bit of the "typical Colombian". Hits hard, especially against the C grade opponents, is some what limited and seems to have little success out of his homeland, he is 0-2 outside of Colombia.
To me this bout is much less about Moreno defending his title but actually looking good and Urina has been selected as an opponent because he is made to order for Moreno. He'll come forward all night, he'll throw plenty and he'll give Moreno a lot of chances to counter and make him look stupid. Sure Urina may take a round or two early as Moreno shakes off the ring rust but for the most part he'll be chasing shadows and getting hitting by sharp shots through out the 12 round contest.
Prediction-Moreno UD12
Showing posts with label Anselmo Moreno. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anselmo Moreno. Show all posts
Saturday, 10 August 2013
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Abner Mares v Anselmo Moreno
This weekend's stand out fight in the world of boxing sees the unbeaten Mexican Abner Mares (24-0-1, 13) attempt to defend his WBC Super Bantamweight title against the supremely talented Panamanian Anselmo Moreno (33-1-1, 12). Whilst neither man is a massive name outside of boxing, every boxing fan knows that these two are two genuinely elite fighters, both meeting in their prime.
Mares goes into this fight as the slight betting favourite and probably with good reason, he's the "house" fighter, the Golden Boy Promotions fighter and the one seen as a marketable fighter, especially with the Mexican audiences. However it's unfair to actually view this as the only reason why Mares would win. In fact Mares is a very hard working fighter, who throws relentless to both the head and body, he's young, he's strong and he's relentless. Also he's quickly improving.
Mares first came to the attention of most boxing fans back in 2010 when he pushed the then IBF Bantamweight champion Yonnhy Perez to a very hard fought draw. Following the Perez bout, Mares become one of the 4 men involved in Showtimes' 4-man Bantamweight tournament, a tournament Mares would come out the winner of thanks to victories over Vic Darchinyan and Joseph Agbeko. Despite beating both Darchinyan and Agbeko, many were unimpressed by Mares who had been lucky to win both fights with some favourable officiating (especially by Pat Russell in the Agbeko fight).
Thankfully for Mares he showed real character and had a rematch with Agbeko, clearly defeating the tough Ghanian and making up for the controversy of their first match. Since then he has moved to Super Bantamweight where he defeated veteran Eric Morel for the then vacant WBC Super Bantamweight title.
As a fighter Mares is fun to watch, he throws some of the best combinations in the sport and really makes for exciting fights. Whilst he has a reputation as a bit of a ball breaker (literally) he's actually a very talented fighter and someone who would genuinely give anyone in and around 122lbs a hard night. Saying this however he can be out boxed as Joseph Agbeko showed in their first match and even Vic Darchinyan showed at points. It's fair to say that unless you have real KO power and a high work rate, a war with Mares is a bad idea as that's his fight.
On the same card as Mares' rematch with Agbeko we saw a new star born as Anselmo Moreno put on a boxing masterclass against former Mares opponent Vic Darchinyan. In the bout Moreno really opened the worlds eyes to his sensational talent as he made Vic look like a clueless, raw amateur. To those watching Moreno for the first time, this was a sensational performance, for those who had seen Moreno in the past however it was a case of "told you so".
Despite the Darchinyan fight being the "coming out party" for Moreno, he's actually been one of the best fighters for the last 3 or 4 years. In fact Moreno first claimed a world title, the WBA Bantamweight title, way back in 2008 as he out pointed the previously unbeaten Volodymyr Sydorenko in Germany. Since winning that title Moreno has faced a relative who's who including Sydorenko in a rematch, Mahyar Monshipour, Nehomar Cermeno (twice), Lorenzo Parra, Vic Darchinyan and most recently David De La Mora. Often facing those top fighters away from home.
In terms of his style the 27 year old Panamanian is slippery to say the least. He moves wonderfully well, using his jab to keep opponents at range whilst breaking opponents mentally. Although his work rate is often limited he's a fighter who can genuinely frustrate any opponent as they swing and miss time and time again, tiring them out with just his defensive prowess. This has lead to many fight fans referring to him as a modern day Pernell Whittaker, huge praise indeed.
In his most recent fight, Moreno proved not only to be a slippery fighter but also a spiteful fighter as he gave the unfortunate David De La Mora a real beating, hammering away at De La Mora's body and head and really proving that not only was there a gulf in class but that he could really hurt opponents. Though it's worth noting that this isn't the first time Moreno has shown that he's spiteful, it was an eye catching performance against someone who gave Koki Kameda a real nightmare.
What we have here is a very hard working and aggressive pressure fighter (Mares) against a very slippery counter-puncher (Moreno) in what really does look on paper to be an enthralling battle of both styles, fighters and minds. If Mares can apply constant pressure and have success with his body attack he could very easily slow the legs of Moreno and make the bout easy for himself. Like wise if Moreno can keep just movement going and make Mares miss then a tiring Mares could be there for the taking late, or even get Mares frustrated to the point he does something illegal.
Of those two, I favour Moreno by a close decision, it'll be competitive through out but Moreno, for my money, just has that extra bit of class. Do not be shocked however if the cards favour Mares under-controversial circumstances.
Prediction- Moreno UD12
Mares goes into this fight as the slight betting favourite and probably with good reason, he's the "house" fighter, the Golden Boy Promotions fighter and the one seen as a marketable fighter, especially with the Mexican audiences. However it's unfair to actually view this as the only reason why Mares would win. In fact Mares is a very hard working fighter, who throws relentless to both the head and body, he's young, he's strong and he's relentless. Also he's quickly improving.
Mares first came to the attention of most boxing fans back in 2010 when he pushed the then IBF Bantamweight champion Yonnhy Perez to a very hard fought draw. Following the Perez bout, Mares become one of the 4 men involved in Showtimes' 4-man Bantamweight tournament, a tournament Mares would come out the winner of thanks to victories over Vic Darchinyan and Joseph Agbeko. Despite beating both Darchinyan and Agbeko, many were unimpressed by Mares who had been lucky to win both fights with some favourable officiating (especially by Pat Russell in the Agbeko fight).
Thankfully for Mares he showed real character and had a rematch with Agbeko, clearly defeating the tough Ghanian and making up for the controversy of their first match. Since then he has moved to Super Bantamweight where he defeated veteran Eric Morel for the then vacant WBC Super Bantamweight title.
As a fighter Mares is fun to watch, he throws some of the best combinations in the sport and really makes for exciting fights. Whilst he has a reputation as a bit of a ball breaker (literally) he's actually a very talented fighter and someone who would genuinely give anyone in and around 122lbs a hard night. Saying this however he can be out boxed as Joseph Agbeko showed in their first match and even Vic Darchinyan showed at points. It's fair to say that unless you have real KO power and a high work rate, a war with Mares is a bad idea as that's his fight.
On the same card as Mares' rematch with Agbeko we saw a new star born as Anselmo Moreno put on a boxing masterclass against former Mares opponent Vic Darchinyan. In the bout Moreno really opened the worlds eyes to his sensational talent as he made Vic look like a clueless, raw amateur. To those watching Moreno for the first time, this was a sensational performance, for those who had seen Moreno in the past however it was a case of "told you so".
Despite the Darchinyan fight being the "coming out party" for Moreno, he's actually been one of the best fighters for the last 3 or 4 years. In fact Moreno first claimed a world title, the WBA Bantamweight title, way back in 2008 as he out pointed the previously unbeaten Volodymyr Sydorenko in Germany. Since winning that title Moreno has faced a relative who's who including Sydorenko in a rematch, Mahyar Monshipour, Nehomar Cermeno (twice), Lorenzo Parra, Vic Darchinyan and most recently David De La Mora. Often facing those top fighters away from home.
In terms of his style the 27 year old Panamanian is slippery to say the least. He moves wonderfully well, using his jab to keep opponents at range whilst breaking opponents mentally. Although his work rate is often limited he's a fighter who can genuinely frustrate any opponent as they swing and miss time and time again, tiring them out with just his defensive prowess. This has lead to many fight fans referring to him as a modern day Pernell Whittaker, huge praise indeed.
In his most recent fight, Moreno proved not only to be a slippery fighter but also a spiteful fighter as he gave the unfortunate David De La Mora a real beating, hammering away at De La Mora's body and head and really proving that not only was there a gulf in class but that he could really hurt opponents. Though it's worth noting that this isn't the first time Moreno has shown that he's spiteful, it was an eye catching performance against someone who gave Koki Kameda a real nightmare.
What we have here is a very hard working and aggressive pressure fighter (Mares) against a very slippery counter-puncher (Moreno) in what really does look on paper to be an enthralling battle of both styles, fighters and minds. If Mares can apply constant pressure and have success with his body attack he could very easily slow the legs of Moreno and make the bout easy for himself. Like wise if Moreno can keep just movement going and make Mares miss then a tiring Mares could be there for the taking late, or even get Mares frustrated to the point he does something illegal.
Of those two, I favour Moreno by a close decision, it'll be competitive through out but Moreno, for my money, just has that extra bit of class. Do not be shocked however if the cards favour Mares under-controversial circumstances.
Prediction- Moreno UD12
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