Although I believe Srisaket Sor Rungvisai is the best fighter at 115lbs the best boxer there, at least for now, is Argentinian veteran Omar Andres Narvaez (40-1-2, 21). Narvaez, the long term WBO champion is a man who, at 38 years old, has been denying father time like no one else in the lower weights.
Although thoroughly ancient for a Super Flyweight Narvaez has shown he still has all the traits of a man who isn't really on the slide as much as some would like. He's still sharp, fast, able to throw lovely blazing combinations and is still light on his feet. He may be 38 but he fighters like a man who is only in his 20's.
Whilst he still has the speed and style of a younger man Narvaez's key issue is that he lacks lights out power. He can break guys down over the course but no single shot he lands will have guys thinking twice and as a result he can be forced to fight a little harder than a man of his skills perhaps should. Thankfully his flurries of shots do tend to wear opponents down either physically or mentally.
Narvaez defends his title once again this weekend as he takes on the once beaten David Carmona (16-1-4, 8) of Mexico. Carmona the WBO Youth Super Flyweight champion is by far the younger man though with that also comes the fact he is untested near the same level as Narvaez.
In his 21 bouts to date Carmona's most notable foe has been been, well none of them really. Carmona has fought no one of note, no one nearly world class and no one who could possibly have prepared him for someone like Narvaez. That's not to say Carmona isn't talented but his talented has only been shown as a much, much, much lower level than that of Narvaez.
As for the bout it's fair to say that gulf in opponent will show up here. Carmona will go to win but will quickly discover that Narvaez isn't just an old man. Carmona's shots will be picked off and his body and head tagged almost at will by Narvaez.
Whilst Carmona hasn't shown durability issues he's also not shown the ability to do 12 rounds. With that in mind I expect Narvaez to pick up the pace late and force a stoppage against a tiring Carmona in the final 3 rounds.
Prediction-Narvaez TKO11
Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Saturday, 23 November 2013
Scott Quigg v Diego Oscar Silva
Some world title fights can look good on paper though be awful in the ring. This weekend looks almost certain to have one such fight as WBA Super Bantamweight champion Scott Quigg (26-0-2, 19) defends his title against Argentinian Diego Oscar Silva (29-2-4, 15). On paper it looks fine, in reality however I expect this to be the equivalent of a massacre.
Quigg, although less than impressive last time out when he scored a draw with Cuban Yoandris Salinas, is a fighter with genuine potential. He hit hard, he has an excellent engine and is developing into one of the sports best body punchers. Sure he can be made to look somewhat limited technically and he can be hurt but he's solid enough all round to be a world level fighter.
In Silva however we have a C rate challenger and one who was proven to be a poor challenger at Bantamweight, never mind Super Bantamweight.
Silva's career, which began way back in 2004, has been like many "decent" South Americans. He has been able to pile up numerous victories on the domestic scheme with several coming against the same fighters such as Carlos Gustavo Palacios and Diego Miguel Ramirez. In fact Silva's only fight against a "known" quality came in 2009 when he was stopped by Fernando Montiel.
Whilst it's fair to say that Quigg has never beaten someone of Montiel's class it's also fair to say that Quigg is better than anyone else that Silva has faced. That will be shown up here as the Brit stops Silva around the mid-way point.
Prediction-Quigg TKO 5
Quigg, although less than impressive last time out when he scored a draw with Cuban Yoandris Salinas, is a fighter with genuine potential. He hit hard, he has an excellent engine and is developing into one of the sports best body punchers. Sure he can be made to look somewhat limited technically and he can be hurt but he's solid enough all round to be a world level fighter.
In Silva however we have a C rate challenger and one who was proven to be a poor challenger at Bantamweight, never mind Super Bantamweight.
Silva's career, which began way back in 2004, has been like many "decent" South Americans. He has been able to pile up numerous victories on the domestic scheme with several coming against the same fighters such as Carlos Gustavo Palacios and Diego Miguel Ramirez. In fact Silva's only fight against a "known" quality came in 2009 when he was stopped by Fernando Montiel.
Whilst it's fair to say that Quigg has never beaten someone of Montiel's class it's also fair to say that Quigg is better than anyone else that Silva has faced. That will be shown up here as the Brit stops Silva around the mid-way point.
Prediction-Quigg TKO 5
Friday, 8 November 2013
Hekkie Budler v Hugo Hernan Verchelli
The lower divisions seem to be always evolving in one way or another. Whether it's fighters moving up to prove themselves, fighters moving up because they can't make weight or fighters skipping division to find themselves a meaningful challenger.
One such drastic change has seen the WBA Minimumweight title passed from Kazuto Ioka to Ryo Miyazaki in the last 12 months. That title now seems likely to be made vacant in the coming weeks with Miyazaki likely to vacate the belt before new year. The WBA have thought one step ahead of Miyazaki and have ordered an interim title fight, actually fulfilling one of the few reason's that interim titles exist.
For this interim belt South African Hekkie Budler (23-1, 6) will fight little known Argentinian Hugo Hernan Verchelli (11-1, 6). I'll admit that plenty of fans will know something about Budler but even the hardcore of the hardcore will be hard pushed to say much about Verchelli a very obscure challenger in the most obscure of weight divisions.
The 25 year old Budler is a fighter who has been on the fringes of world level for several years. Although he regularly been over-shadowed by several of his countrymen is now appears that this is his time to shine and in fact his win last time over Nkosinathi Joyi seemed to be the sign that South Africa now has a new force in the 105lb division.
Although far from a big puncher Budler is an incredibly talented fighter. He has solid skills, good movement, fantastic hand speed and a genuine desire to win. He's not going to knock people but he will refuse to lose.
With victories already notched over Joyi, Juanito Rubillar, Florante Condes and Michael Landero it seems fair to say that Budler has genuinely earned a world title fight. On the other hand Verchelli really hasn't earned the opportunity to fight for a world title.
Like Joyi, Verchelli is a 25 year old. Though unlike the South African it's hard to find a recognisable name on Verchelli's record. The most notable opponent that Verchelli has faced is arguably Adrian Eduardo Mendoza, the then reigning South American and Argentinian Light Flyweight champion, who lasted just 3 rounds with Verchelli last year.
Whilst both men have the same amount of stoppages it's fair to say that Verchelli is the bigger puncher. His 6 stoppages have come in just 12 bouts whilst Budler has taken 24 bouts for stoppages. Sure there is more to it than that but I'm happy to say that Verchelli is bigger single punch puncher, after all Argentinians do seem to have this knock of having some serious power in their hands. The power of Verchelli has seen him stopping his last 5 straight and he will go in to this bout with real belief in his punching power.
Despite the belief in Verchelli's power I feel that Budler's skills, speed and the fact the fight is in South Africa will see Budler taking a victory here. It's rare for Budler to score stoppages but this could be one of those rare ones, especially when you consider that Verchelli has never been beyond 6 rounds.
Prediction-Budler TKO10
One such drastic change has seen the WBA Minimumweight title passed from Kazuto Ioka to Ryo Miyazaki in the last 12 months. That title now seems likely to be made vacant in the coming weeks with Miyazaki likely to vacate the belt before new year. The WBA have thought one step ahead of Miyazaki and have ordered an interim title fight, actually fulfilling one of the few reason's that interim titles exist.
For this interim belt South African Hekkie Budler (23-1, 6) will fight little known Argentinian Hugo Hernan Verchelli (11-1, 6). I'll admit that plenty of fans will know something about Budler but even the hardcore of the hardcore will be hard pushed to say much about Verchelli a very obscure challenger in the most obscure of weight divisions.
The 25 year old Budler is a fighter who has been on the fringes of world level for several years. Although he regularly been over-shadowed by several of his countrymen is now appears that this is his time to shine and in fact his win last time over Nkosinathi Joyi seemed to be the sign that South Africa now has a new force in the 105lb division.
Although far from a big puncher Budler is an incredibly talented fighter. He has solid skills, good movement, fantastic hand speed and a genuine desire to win. He's not going to knock people but he will refuse to lose.
With victories already notched over Joyi, Juanito Rubillar, Florante Condes and Michael Landero it seems fair to say that Budler has genuinely earned a world title fight. On the other hand Verchelli really hasn't earned the opportunity to fight for a world title.
Like Joyi, Verchelli is a 25 year old. Though unlike the South African it's hard to find a recognisable name on Verchelli's record. The most notable opponent that Verchelli has faced is arguably Adrian Eduardo Mendoza, the then reigning South American and Argentinian Light Flyweight champion, who lasted just 3 rounds with Verchelli last year.
Whilst both men have the same amount of stoppages it's fair to say that Verchelli is the bigger puncher. His 6 stoppages have come in just 12 bouts whilst Budler has taken 24 bouts for stoppages. Sure there is more to it than that but I'm happy to say that Verchelli is bigger single punch puncher, after all Argentinians do seem to have this knock of having some serious power in their hands. The power of Verchelli has seen him stopping his last 5 straight and he will go in to this bout with real belief in his punching power.
Despite the belief in Verchelli's power I feel that Budler's skills, speed and the fact the fight is in South Africa will see Budler taking a victory here. It's rare for Budler to score stoppages but this could be one of those rare ones, especially when you consider that Verchelli has never been beyond 6 rounds.
Prediction-Budler TKO10
Friday, 11 October 2013
Juan Carlos Reveco v Ricardo Nunez
In a bout that screams the word "fun", Argentinian Juan Carlos Reveco (31-1, 17) will defend his WBA Flyweight title against Panamanian puncher Ricardo Nunez (26-3, 22). Although the bout, televised on TYC Sports, is unlikely to capture the attention of most boxing fans it's potentially the fight of the weekend, and I don't say that lightly.
Reveco is a fighter I've come to like, I'll never be a flat out fan, but I will happily admire his talent. He's hard working, skilled, has lovely snap on his punches and most tellingly judges distance amazingly, this quality is why he is one of the elite body punchers currently in the sport.
Sadly the reason why I will never be a "fan" of Reveco's is that his matchmaking has, so far, left much to be desired. After taking a good win he usually faces an appalling opponent. For example after beating Nethra Sasiprapa he then took on Humberto Pool; after beating Karim Guerfi he then defeated Julian Rivera and after traveling to Japan to defeat Masayuki Kuroda he returned home to beat Ulises Lara.
In the current Flyweight division there is no excuses for defending against the likes of Lara and the fight it's self saw Lara dropped 5 times by Reveco.
Thankfully Reveco is stepping back up to genuine world level here as he fights Nunez, a man who has proven to be around world level and is always fun to watch, win or lose.
Whilst Reveco is a skilled fighter with some textbook moves in the ring Nunez is a pure puncher. The Panamanian isn't going to win awards for beauty in the ring, he's not an artist in the ring and he won't paint pictures with his punches. Though he will do is take the canvas, smash it over your head then bash you with a paint can. His style can only be described as crude but exciting, every punch is thrown with the intentions of beheading and opponents and whilst this leaves him open he is tough enough to take a fair few shots.
Unfortunately for Nunez all 3 of his losses have come by stoppage, with the most recent of those coming coming 12 months ago to Moruti Mthalane via a vicious stoppage in round 8. Thankfully for Nunez's brain cells and long term health Reveco isn't a concussive puncher, though he's stylistically a type of fighter who will take advantage of Nunez's looping shots.
Although Reveco has the style to pick Nunez apart the Panamanian's danger cannot be over-stated. He has stopped world class opponents such as Carlos Tamara and Oscar Blanquet whilst also taking a decision over Liborio Solis and dropping Mthalane. To be frankly honest if he can tag Reveco he can scramble Reveco's senses and possibly stop him. Reveco might have the style to beat Nunez, but Nunez has the power to stop Reveco. That's what makes this fight so much fun.
I'd say that if Nunez is going to win he probably has 6 rounds to score the stoppage, after that things swing strongly in favour of Reveco who should manage to defeat a tiring and mentally weakening Nunez in the later rounds. One thing is for certain, this will have fireworks!
Prediction-Reveco UD12 (after getting himself off the canvas at least once)
Reveco is a fighter I've come to like, I'll never be a flat out fan, but I will happily admire his talent. He's hard working, skilled, has lovely snap on his punches and most tellingly judges distance amazingly, this quality is why he is one of the elite body punchers currently in the sport.
Sadly the reason why I will never be a "fan" of Reveco's is that his matchmaking has, so far, left much to be desired. After taking a good win he usually faces an appalling opponent. For example after beating Nethra Sasiprapa he then took on Humberto Pool; after beating Karim Guerfi he then defeated Julian Rivera and after traveling to Japan to defeat Masayuki Kuroda he returned home to beat Ulises Lara.
In the current Flyweight division there is no excuses for defending against the likes of Lara and the fight it's self saw Lara dropped 5 times by Reveco.
Thankfully Reveco is stepping back up to genuine world level here as he fights Nunez, a man who has proven to be around world level and is always fun to watch, win or lose.
Whilst Reveco is a skilled fighter with some textbook moves in the ring Nunez is a pure puncher. The Panamanian isn't going to win awards for beauty in the ring, he's not an artist in the ring and he won't paint pictures with his punches. Though he will do is take the canvas, smash it over your head then bash you with a paint can. His style can only be described as crude but exciting, every punch is thrown with the intentions of beheading and opponents and whilst this leaves him open he is tough enough to take a fair few shots.
Unfortunately for Nunez all 3 of his losses have come by stoppage, with the most recent of those coming coming 12 months ago to Moruti Mthalane via a vicious stoppage in round 8. Thankfully for Nunez's brain cells and long term health Reveco isn't a concussive puncher, though he's stylistically a type of fighter who will take advantage of Nunez's looping shots.
Although Reveco has the style to pick Nunez apart the Panamanian's danger cannot be over-stated. He has stopped world class opponents such as Carlos Tamara and Oscar Blanquet whilst also taking a decision over Liborio Solis and dropping Mthalane. To be frankly honest if he can tag Reveco he can scramble Reveco's senses and possibly stop him. Reveco might have the style to beat Nunez, but Nunez has the power to stop Reveco. That's what makes this fight so much fun.
I'd say that if Nunez is going to win he probably has 6 rounds to score the stoppage, after that things swing strongly in favour of Reveco who should manage to defeat a tiring and mentally weakening Nunez in the later rounds. One thing is for certain, this will have fireworks!
Prediction-Reveco UD12 (after getting himself off the canvas at least once)
Saturday, 24 August 2013
Omar Andres Narvaez v Hiroyuki Hisataka
It's often said that fighters in the smaller divisions age significantly quicker than their heavier counterparts. If that's true Argentinian veteran Omar Andres Narvaez (39-1-2, 20) must be boxing's version of a octogenarian holding the WBO Super Flyweight title despite being 38.
Narvaez, who was the first of the 2000 Olympians to claim a world title, is a fighter who widely splits the opinion of the boxing world depending on whether or not you've actually followed him or not. If you've not followed him you've probably only seen his bout with Nonito Donaire, a bout that he was out-gunned in from the off and a fight that he stood no chance in. Rather than giving Donaire a chance to behead him Narvaez covered up and actually showed how poor Donaire was when he was forced to make the action, something we saw again when Donaire fought Guillermo Rigondeaux.
If you've instead followed Narvaez's career you'll be fully aware of what a talented fighter he is. He's quick, skilled, slippery and a nightmare to fight. He's not strong or hard hitting but he's slippery, intelligent and knows how to get in and out whilst landing his own flurry of shots. From the outside he can be neutralised but he's got unbelievable quickness for such an "old man" that he tends to find his way inside whenever he wants.
Although it's fair to say that Narvaez is slipping as a fighter and I certainly wouldn't fancy his chances against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, he's still a more than capable fighter. Despite still be good we did see him showing cracks in his armour last time out as Mexican Felipe Orucuta almost dethroned him and he looks like he's certainly becoming more beatable fight after fight.
Narvaez looks for the 8th defense of his WBO Super Flyweight title this coming weekend when he takes on Japanese fighter Hiroyuki Hisataka (22-10-1, 10) a fighter who's record makes him look like an easy mark for Narvaez.
Surprisingly Hisataka has one of those misleading records. His record really looks much worse than it should simply because he's been matched so very hard and it's left his record looking like a who's who which includes Tomonobu Shimizu, Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym, Takefumi Sakata, Denkaosan Kaovichit, Hugo Fidel Cazares and Oleydong Sithsamerchai.
At 28 years old Hisataka is notably younger than the champion and is probably just coming into his boxing prime. He's no longer a child but he's a fully grown man who is tough, hard working and has given good fighters, Kaovichit for example, a very good run for their money.
Although Hisataka isn't near the skill level of Narvaez, very few are, the intangibles do oddly favour Hisataka to really give Narvaez a very tough night. I'm not saying Hisataka will win but he will certainly give a very good account of himself and maybe help open doors to another world title fight.
This it a bout that the under-dog has been written off before he's stepped foot in the ring though is a surprisingly live under-dog.
Prediction-UD12 Narvaez
Narvaez, who was the first of the 2000 Olympians to claim a world title, is a fighter who widely splits the opinion of the boxing world depending on whether or not you've actually followed him or not. If you've not followed him you've probably only seen his bout with Nonito Donaire, a bout that he was out-gunned in from the off and a fight that he stood no chance in. Rather than giving Donaire a chance to behead him Narvaez covered up and actually showed how poor Donaire was when he was forced to make the action, something we saw again when Donaire fought Guillermo Rigondeaux.
If you've instead followed Narvaez's career you'll be fully aware of what a talented fighter he is. He's quick, skilled, slippery and a nightmare to fight. He's not strong or hard hitting but he's slippery, intelligent and knows how to get in and out whilst landing his own flurry of shots. From the outside he can be neutralised but he's got unbelievable quickness for such an "old man" that he tends to find his way inside whenever he wants.
Although it's fair to say that Narvaez is slipping as a fighter and I certainly wouldn't fancy his chances against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, he's still a more than capable fighter. Despite still be good we did see him showing cracks in his armour last time out as Mexican Felipe Orucuta almost dethroned him and he looks like he's certainly becoming more beatable fight after fight.
Narvaez looks for the 8th defense of his WBO Super Flyweight title this coming weekend when he takes on Japanese fighter Hiroyuki Hisataka (22-10-1, 10) a fighter who's record makes him look like an easy mark for Narvaez.
Surprisingly Hisataka has one of those misleading records. His record really looks much worse than it should simply because he's been matched so very hard and it's left his record looking like a who's who which includes Tomonobu Shimizu, Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym, Takefumi Sakata, Denkaosan Kaovichit, Hugo Fidel Cazares and Oleydong Sithsamerchai.
At 28 years old Hisataka is notably younger than the champion and is probably just coming into his boxing prime. He's no longer a child but he's a fully grown man who is tough, hard working and has given good fighters, Kaovichit for example, a very good run for their money.
Although Hisataka isn't near the skill level of Narvaez, very few are, the intangibles do oddly favour Hisataka to really give Narvaez a very tough night. I'm not saying Hisataka will win but he will certainly give a very good account of himself and maybe help open doors to another world title fight.
This it a bout that the under-dog has been written off before he's stepped foot in the ring though is a surprisingly live under-dog.
Prediction-UD12 Narvaez
Friday, 21 June 2013
Juan Carlos Reveco v Ulises Lara
When we talk about "world title fights" we often want to see the best fighting the best and instead end up with a very good fighter facing a very undeserving challenger. We end up with yet another mismatch in a world title bout this coming weekend as WBA Flyweight champion Juan Carlos Reveco (30-1, 16) defends against the undeserving Ulises Lara (12-13-2, 7).
The Flyweight division is, for me, one of the best out there. The likes of Juan Francisco Estrada, Brian Viloria, Akira Yaegashi, Edgar Sosa, Moruti Mthalane, Rocky Fuentes, Hernan Marquez, Milan Melindo, Giovani Segura, Kompayak Porpramook, Ulises Solis, Toshiyuki Igarashi and Froilan Saludar leave the division looking like an amazingly deep division.
Sadly when we go through those names there is no Ulises Lara who, despite a good result against Omar Soto last time out, is a journeyman.
Other than the Soto result there are "names" on Lara's record though all of them have beaten him. Fighters like Jesus Silvestre, Juan Hernandez and Javier Martinez Resendiz have all competed on the world stage and all beaten Lara.
As well as his sub .500 record Lara has also suffered 4 stoppage losses, been knocked down numerous times and really isn't a world class fighter. His boxrec ranking of #18 at Flyweight is genuinely generous and over-inflated due to the victory over Soto (who had himself been inactive and had been stopped 5 times previously).
In Reveco we have a genuinely talented fighter. The 29 year old Argentinian is one of the sports best body punchers, he's a proven fighter who's only loss was a controversial one in France to Brahim Asloum. Sure he's not a big name fighter around the world but he's big news at home and has fought solid competition such as Nethra Sasiprapa, Asloum, Francisco Rosas, Ronald Barrera, Karim Guerfi and most recently Masayuki Kuroda.
With a solid jab, decent work rate and hurtful power Reveco is possibly the 4th best fighter in the division (which as mentioned is very deep). I think we'll see a showcase performance in what really should be considered a stay busy fight more than anything else.
Hopefully Reveco will get the job done nice and quickly and then face a more notable opponent, for example Kompayak Porpramook (the WBA "interim" champion), Rocky Fuentes or the winner of the upcoming bout between Milan Melindo and Juan Francisco Estrada.
Prediction-Reveco TKO6
The Flyweight division is, for me, one of the best out there. The likes of Juan Francisco Estrada, Brian Viloria, Akira Yaegashi, Edgar Sosa, Moruti Mthalane, Rocky Fuentes, Hernan Marquez, Milan Melindo, Giovani Segura, Kompayak Porpramook, Ulises Solis, Toshiyuki Igarashi and Froilan Saludar leave the division looking like an amazingly deep division.
Sadly when we go through those names there is no Ulises Lara who, despite a good result against Omar Soto last time out, is a journeyman.
Other than the Soto result there are "names" on Lara's record though all of them have beaten him. Fighters like Jesus Silvestre, Juan Hernandez and Javier Martinez Resendiz have all competed on the world stage and all beaten Lara.
As well as his sub .500 record Lara has also suffered 4 stoppage losses, been knocked down numerous times and really isn't a world class fighter. His boxrec ranking of #18 at Flyweight is genuinely generous and over-inflated due to the victory over Soto (who had himself been inactive and had been stopped 5 times previously).
In Reveco we have a genuinely talented fighter. The 29 year old Argentinian is one of the sports best body punchers, he's a proven fighter who's only loss was a controversial one in France to Brahim Asloum. Sure he's not a big name fighter around the world but he's big news at home and has fought solid competition such as Nethra Sasiprapa, Asloum, Francisco Rosas, Ronald Barrera, Karim Guerfi and most recently Masayuki Kuroda.
With a solid jab, decent work rate and hurtful power Reveco is possibly the 4th best fighter in the division (which as mentioned is very deep). I think we'll see a showcase performance in what really should be considered a stay busy fight more than anything else.
Hopefully Reveco will get the job done nice and quickly and then face a more notable opponent, for example Kompayak Porpramook (the WBA "interim" champion), Rocky Fuentes or the winner of the upcoming bout between Milan Melindo and Juan Francisco Estrada.
Prediction-Reveco TKO6
Friday, 24 May 2013
Omar Andres Narvaez v Felipe Orucuta
Argentinian veteran Omar Andres Narvaez (38-1-2, 20) may be fast heading to his 38th birthday but the skilled and slippery fighter is still rated by many as the premier Super Flyweight on the planet. The WBO champion will need to show why he is so highly regard this coming weekend as he takes on the very dangerous Mexican Felipe Orucuta (27-1, 23), a younger, stronger and bigger fighter.
The once beaten Narvaez, a 2-time Olympian, has been one of the hardcore boxing fans favourite boxers over the past decade or so. He's proven to be hugely skilled and intelligent fighter who has been able to thrive at the top for years thanks to his fast hands and elusiveness which has seen him making a trademark out of slipping opponents shots, landing a flurry then getting away.
Although clearly slowing as he nears his 40th birthday Narvaez is still surprisingly fast and in recent bouts he has started to show a spitefulness, especially in his stoppage of Johnny Garcia late last year. Saying that however Narvaez was never a powerful fighter (despite the ridiculous comments of both Steve Bunce and Steve Lillis back in 2011 on Boxnation) and that was also the case when he was carving out his career at Flyweight, now at Super Flyweight his power is even less significant.
With retirement looming it's hard to really say what Narvaez has left, though we've been saying that for the past few years and he's kept pushing challengers back such as Victor Zaleta, Cesar Seda, William Urina and Jose Cabrera, rarely losing a round in the fights. In all honesty, the Donaire fight aside, Narvaez has really been forced to do things he doesn't want to do in the ring, it's fair to say however that Orucuta will be looking to change that.
Aged 27, Orucuta is a much younger fighter with some 9 years of youth on his side as well as a stunning 5" in height and a notable physical advantage with longer arms and a thicker body. It's likely that the Mexican could well be a division, if not 2, bigger than Narvaez in the ring.
Orucuta debuted back in 2006 and after winning his first 18 fights he suffered his sole professional loss to Daniel Rosas, a close decision. Since the loss to Rosas, Orucuta has gone 9-0 (9) and scored notable victories over Julio David Roque Ler, Roberto Castaneda Julio Cesar Miranda and Fernando Lumacad. It's the manner of those victories that have seen many tipping Orucuta here as he's been blasting out experienced and talented opponents time and time again.
With age, size, power and energy on his side Orucuta should well be a betting favourite though the skill, experience and edge do all favour Narvaez, as does the fact that the Argentinian fighter will be at home in front of his loyal fans whilst Orucuta will be fighting his first fight outside of his native Mexico. The fact that Orucuta has never fought outside of Mexico will be a major disadvantage here and could well be what swings the fight in the way of Narvaez.
This is seen by the bookies as a genuine toss up fight, we don't get many of those in this sport. I'm actually very much split here but always find it hard to pick against Narvaez who could make Orucuta look silly if he's as sharp as he once was.
Prediction-Narvaez UD12 (but very competitively)
The once beaten Narvaez, a 2-time Olympian, has been one of the hardcore boxing fans favourite boxers over the past decade or so. He's proven to be hugely skilled and intelligent fighter who has been able to thrive at the top for years thanks to his fast hands and elusiveness which has seen him making a trademark out of slipping opponents shots, landing a flurry then getting away.
Although clearly slowing as he nears his 40th birthday Narvaez is still surprisingly fast and in recent bouts he has started to show a spitefulness, especially in his stoppage of Johnny Garcia late last year. Saying that however Narvaez was never a powerful fighter (despite the ridiculous comments of both Steve Bunce and Steve Lillis back in 2011 on Boxnation) and that was also the case when he was carving out his career at Flyweight, now at Super Flyweight his power is even less significant.
With retirement looming it's hard to really say what Narvaez has left, though we've been saying that for the past few years and he's kept pushing challengers back such as Victor Zaleta, Cesar Seda, William Urina and Jose Cabrera, rarely losing a round in the fights. In all honesty, the Donaire fight aside, Narvaez has really been forced to do things he doesn't want to do in the ring, it's fair to say however that Orucuta will be looking to change that.
Aged 27, Orucuta is a much younger fighter with some 9 years of youth on his side as well as a stunning 5" in height and a notable physical advantage with longer arms and a thicker body. It's likely that the Mexican could well be a division, if not 2, bigger than Narvaez in the ring.
Orucuta debuted back in 2006 and after winning his first 18 fights he suffered his sole professional loss to Daniel Rosas, a close decision. Since the loss to Rosas, Orucuta has gone 9-0 (9) and scored notable victories over Julio David Roque Ler, Roberto Castaneda Julio Cesar Miranda and Fernando Lumacad. It's the manner of those victories that have seen many tipping Orucuta here as he's been blasting out experienced and talented opponents time and time again.
With age, size, power and energy on his side Orucuta should well be a betting favourite though the skill, experience and edge do all favour Narvaez, as does the fact that the Argentinian fighter will be at home in front of his loyal fans whilst Orucuta will be fighting his first fight outside of his native Mexico. The fact that Orucuta has never fought outside of Mexico will be a major disadvantage here and could well be what swings the fight in the way of Narvaez.
This is seen by the bookies as a genuine toss up fight, we don't get many of those in this sport. I'm actually very much split here but always find it hard to pick against Narvaez who could make Orucuta look silly if he's as sharp as he once was.
Prediction-Narvaez UD12 (but very competitively)
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Sergio Gabriel Martinez v Martin Murray
WBC Middleweight champion Sergio Gabriel Martinez (50-2-2, 28) has been out of the ring since suffering various injuries in his bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr last September. He returns to the ring this week as he goes back to Argentina for his first fight there in over a decade, his opponent, the unbeaten Brit Martin Murray (25-0-1, 11) will be looking to score his biggest victory and arguably the biggest upset of the year.
At 38 years old Martinez is certainly a fighter coming to the end of his career. Sure he completely out boxed and outsped Chavez last time out but after suffering a nasty injury to his knee there is every chance he'll have slowed. In all honesty if Martinez loses his wheels he'll be a much more limited fighter than the one we are used to.
At his best Martinez is a skilled fighter who combines very quick reactions with a great engine, a fantastic jab and the ability either counter an opponent or beat them with work-rate from a distance, especially his straight shots.
Fighting from a Southpaw stance and with a 73" wingspan Martinez is an incredibly tricky fighter. Whilst his biggest fault might be that he isn't a huge puncher (despite a memorable KO over Paul Williams) he has more than respectable power and can hurt fighters, though admittedly it's rare that he hurts a guy with a single shot, instead of an accumulation of sharp punches. It's those accumulated shots that Martinez can break fighters down with mentally and physically, though if his opponents leaves themselves open he will counter with power.
Going in to this bout it's fair to say that Murray is a big under-dog and it's with good reason. Not only is the bout a big step up for the 30 year old from St Helens but it's also away from home (only his second bout outside of the UK). Despite being the under-dog however Murray will feel he has more than just half a chance. Not only is he unbeaten but he is also a fighter coming in to his peak years physically.
Although Murray has really been a British level fighter for much of his career he has already fought on the world stage notably drawing in Germany to Felix Sturm in a WBA title bout. The draw with Sturm announced Murray as a fighter to keep an eye on though in all honesty the result was hugely unexpected as Murray hadn't been fighting opponents that were even nearing fringe world level.
Since the draw with Sturm, Murray has scored 2 victories with the most recent of those coming in November when he stopped Jorge Navarro for the WBA "interim" Middleweight title.
Murray is over-all solid, he's not the type to over-whelms fighters or to take them out with a single head shot but his body work is very good, and although he has been stopping fighters with shots to the midsection I get the feeling that his shots there are more about placement than power. It's with the body shots that he arguably stand his best chance of beating Martinez though it's more through grinding Martinez down with them than taking him out with a single shot.
Although Murray can pull off the upset,I don't see it happening if truth be told. Martinez's might not be the fighter he was but I still see him being too good and too fast.
Prediction-Martinez TKO10
At 38 years old Martinez is certainly a fighter coming to the end of his career. Sure he completely out boxed and outsped Chavez last time out but after suffering a nasty injury to his knee there is every chance he'll have slowed. In all honesty if Martinez loses his wheels he'll be a much more limited fighter than the one we are used to.
At his best Martinez is a skilled fighter who combines very quick reactions with a great engine, a fantastic jab and the ability either counter an opponent or beat them with work-rate from a distance, especially his straight shots.
Fighting from a Southpaw stance and with a 73" wingspan Martinez is an incredibly tricky fighter. Whilst his biggest fault might be that he isn't a huge puncher (despite a memorable KO over Paul Williams) he has more than respectable power and can hurt fighters, though admittedly it's rare that he hurts a guy with a single shot, instead of an accumulation of sharp punches. It's those accumulated shots that Martinez can break fighters down with mentally and physically, though if his opponents leaves themselves open he will counter with power.
Going in to this bout it's fair to say that Murray is a big under-dog and it's with good reason. Not only is the bout a big step up for the 30 year old from St Helens but it's also away from home (only his second bout outside of the UK). Despite being the under-dog however Murray will feel he has more than just half a chance. Not only is he unbeaten but he is also a fighter coming in to his peak years physically.
Although Murray has really been a British level fighter for much of his career he has already fought on the world stage notably drawing in Germany to Felix Sturm in a WBA title bout. The draw with Sturm announced Murray as a fighter to keep an eye on though in all honesty the result was hugely unexpected as Murray hadn't been fighting opponents that were even nearing fringe world level.
Since the draw with Sturm, Murray has scored 2 victories with the most recent of those coming in November when he stopped Jorge Navarro for the WBA "interim" Middleweight title.
Murray is over-all solid, he's not the type to over-whelms fighters or to take them out with a single head shot but his body work is very good, and although he has been stopping fighters with shots to the midsection I get the feeling that his shots there are more about placement than power. It's with the body shots that he arguably stand his best chance of beating Martinez though it's more through grinding Martinez down with them than taking him out with a single shot.
Although Murray can pull off the upset,I don't see it happening if truth be told. Martinez's might not be the fighter he was but I still see him being too good and too fast.
Prediction-Martinez TKO10
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Juan Carlos Reveco v Masayuki Kuroda
The first of 5 world title fights this week sees Argentinian Juan Carlos Revecco (29-1, 16) travel to Japan to defend his WBA Flyweight title against Japanese fighter Masayuki Kuroda (21-3-2, 13) in what promises to be an intriguing contest.
The once beaten Revecco is seen as one of the best kept secrets in boxing mainly due to the fact he's spent much of his career fighting in his homeland. Despite this Revecco has faced notable names through his almost 9 year career which has seen him claiming world titles at both Light Flyweight and Flyweight.
In his first notable bout Revecco claimed the previously vacant WBA Light Flyweight title stopping the previously unbeaten Thai Nethra Sasiprapa in the 8th round. The victory over Sasiprapa was followed by an impressive defense over Humberto Pool before Revecco suffered his lone defeat on points, in France, to the talented Brahim Asloum.
Revecco would bounce back well from his solitary defeat and less than 2 years later Revecco would once again claim a world title as he defeated Mexican Francisco Rosas by split decision to pick up the WBA interim Light Flyweight title. Rather than attempt to make a name for himself at the time in what was a hot division, Revecco instead defended his belt twice against limited opponents including (Ronald Barrera and Armando Torres).
In 2011 Revecco moved up to 112lbs and swiftly claimed the interim WBA Flyweight title, a title he defended twice, including and impressive and hard fought defense against Karim Guerfi, before his status was upgraded to being the full WBA Flyweight champion, a title he will defend for the first time against Kuroda.
Although he has been mixing in world level for around 6 years Revecco has unfortunately been over-looked time and time again due to his relatively poor level of opposition. For example defenses against Humberto Pool and Julian Rivera have done little to reaffirm Revecco as a top level fighter, despite this he has shown very solid skills, fantastic speed and hurtful (though not concussive) punching ability. It's due to his level of competition that Boxrec.com rank him at a relatively poor 13 whilst Ring Magazine currently rank him at a much loftier #7.
Whilst Revecco is a settled fighter at Flyweight the first thing to note about Japanese challenger Kuroda is that he's actually stepping up to the Flyweight division having been a career Light Flyweight and the most recent Japanese Light Flyweight champion. It's as a Light Flyweight that Ring Magazine rank him (#6) and Boxrec rank him (#11) though in all honesty his competition hasn't been great at 108lbs.
Aged 26 Kuroda is a fighter reaching his physical, though unlike many 26 years olds in the sport, he's also a hardened veteran having been a professional for almost 8 years and compiling 142 rounds of professional activity. Though admittedly many of those rounds have come at a limited level and his most notable opponents are probably fringe contender Shigetaka Ikehara and former OPBF champion Katsuhiko Iezumi. Not exactly names on the world stage.
Whilst Kuroda certainly hasn't mixed with the level of opponents that Revecco has (despite Revecco having not faced many genuinely top tier opponents) he does have one very notable advantage going in to this fight and that's home field advantage. The Todoroki Arena in Kawasaki has become a home in recent fights for Kuroda who has fought 3 of his last 4 bouts there (including a draw last time out to the brilliantly named Toshimasa Ouchi). When you factor in that Revecco is 2-1 outside of Argentina and 0-1 out side of the American continent, it's a notable advantage for Kuroda.
Sadly footage of Kuroda is limited and the most notable video I've seen is of Kuroda's loss in 2009 to Richard Garcia in which Kuroda looks slow and a bit too green. Since then he has fought 11 times (winning 9 and drawing 2) and is by all accounts an improved fighter. Despite this however a story from Japan was that hot prospect Naoya Inoue really beat him up in Inoue's test fight for a Japanese license, if that's true then Kuroda may be in trouble here.
This isn't an easy pick, Revecco is a very good fighter but traveling from South America to Asia is never an easy task for a fighter. If Revecco was at home, it'd be a no brainer, though the travel, jet lag and change of environment is likely to be a major factor and with that, I feel Kuroda may just eek out a controversial decision.
Interestingly IF Kuroda does win, a bout between the new champion and Inoue (who is currently just 2-0) could well attract a lot of attention with Inoue attempting to tie the long standing record of Saensak Muangsurin.
Prediction-Kuroda by Split Decision
The once beaten Revecco is seen as one of the best kept secrets in boxing mainly due to the fact he's spent much of his career fighting in his homeland. Despite this Revecco has faced notable names through his almost 9 year career which has seen him claiming world titles at both Light Flyweight and Flyweight.
In his first notable bout Revecco claimed the previously vacant WBA Light Flyweight title stopping the previously unbeaten Thai Nethra Sasiprapa in the 8th round. The victory over Sasiprapa was followed by an impressive defense over Humberto Pool before Revecco suffered his lone defeat on points, in France, to the talented Brahim Asloum.
Revecco would bounce back well from his solitary defeat and less than 2 years later Revecco would once again claim a world title as he defeated Mexican Francisco Rosas by split decision to pick up the WBA interim Light Flyweight title. Rather than attempt to make a name for himself at the time in what was a hot division, Revecco instead defended his belt twice against limited opponents including (Ronald Barrera and Armando Torres).
In 2011 Revecco moved up to 112lbs and swiftly claimed the interim WBA Flyweight title, a title he defended twice, including and impressive and hard fought defense against Karim Guerfi, before his status was upgraded to being the full WBA Flyweight champion, a title he will defend for the first time against Kuroda.
Although he has been mixing in world level for around 6 years Revecco has unfortunately been over-looked time and time again due to his relatively poor level of opposition. For example defenses against Humberto Pool and Julian Rivera have done little to reaffirm Revecco as a top level fighter, despite this he has shown very solid skills, fantastic speed and hurtful (though not concussive) punching ability. It's due to his level of competition that Boxrec.com rank him at a relatively poor 13 whilst Ring Magazine currently rank him at a much loftier #7.
Whilst Revecco is a settled fighter at Flyweight the first thing to note about Japanese challenger Kuroda is that he's actually stepping up to the Flyweight division having been a career Light Flyweight and the most recent Japanese Light Flyweight champion. It's as a Light Flyweight that Ring Magazine rank him (#6) and Boxrec rank him (#11) though in all honesty his competition hasn't been great at 108lbs.
Aged 26 Kuroda is a fighter reaching his physical, though unlike many 26 years olds in the sport, he's also a hardened veteran having been a professional for almost 8 years and compiling 142 rounds of professional activity. Though admittedly many of those rounds have come at a limited level and his most notable opponents are probably fringe contender Shigetaka Ikehara and former OPBF champion Katsuhiko Iezumi. Not exactly names on the world stage.
Whilst Kuroda certainly hasn't mixed with the level of opponents that Revecco has (despite Revecco having not faced many genuinely top tier opponents) he does have one very notable advantage going in to this fight and that's home field advantage. The Todoroki Arena in Kawasaki has become a home in recent fights for Kuroda who has fought 3 of his last 4 bouts there (including a draw last time out to the brilliantly named Toshimasa Ouchi). When you factor in that Revecco is 2-1 outside of Argentina and 0-1 out side of the American continent, it's a notable advantage for Kuroda.
Sadly footage of Kuroda is limited and the most notable video I've seen is of Kuroda's loss in 2009 to Richard Garcia in which Kuroda looks slow and a bit too green. Since then he has fought 11 times (winning 9 and drawing 2) and is by all accounts an improved fighter. Despite this however a story from Japan was that hot prospect Naoya Inoue really beat him up in Inoue's test fight for a Japanese license, if that's true then Kuroda may be in trouble here.
This isn't an easy pick, Revecco is a very good fighter but traveling from South America to Asia is never an easy task for a fighter. If Revecco was at home, it'd be a no brainer, though the travel, jet lag and change of environment is likely to be a major factor and with that, I feel Kuroda may just eek out a controversial decision.
Interestingly IF Kuroda does win, a bout between the new champion and Inoue (who is currently just 2-0) could well attract a lot of attention with Inoue attempting to tie the long standing record of Saensak Muangsurin.
Prediction-Kuroda by Split Decision
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Lucas Martin Matthysse v Mike Dallas Jr
This weekend sees WBC interim Light Welterweight champion Lucas Martin Matthysse (32-2-0-1, 30) make the the first defense of his title as he faces American challenger Mike Dallas Jr (19-2-1, 8) who is rightfully seen as a big underdog.
As the under-dog it's only fair to look at the challenger first as in all honesty, he will need a miracle, though same may say he actually got one to even get this fight after Henry Lundy was originally scheduled to face Matthysse.
Dallas Jr is a pretty decent boxer and comes from a solid amateur background that almost saw him qualifying for the 2008 Olympics (losing to Danny Garcia in the trials). He moves well, he has solid technique and impressive hand speed though sadly he lacks the power to keep anyone around world level honest and will need to use his skills as opposed to anything else if he intends to go as far as his potential would have suggested a few years ago.
Sadly for Dallas Jr he's been "exposed" and suffered 2 losses in 2011, losing his unbeaten record via 7th round TKO to Josesito Lopez and then losing a decision to the unheralded Mauricio Herrera. Since then however Dallas Jr has bounced back with 2 wins over decent competition and rebuilt his once shattered confidence.
Dallas at his best is a very talented boxer, who uses his skills wonderfully to stay out of trouble whilst landing his own clean, crisp shots. At his worst however he can be dragged in to a brawl where his lack of power really puts him at a disadvantage, and against Matthysse the worst thing you can do is brawl with him and show you're a man.
Whilst Dallas Jr is a bit of a pure boxer, Argentinian Matthysse is a true animal in the ring with a combination of aggressive pressure and a nasty hurtful punch that has made him one of the most feared men in world boxing. He's relentless, teak tough and attempts to destroy his opponent bit by bit, as he did last time out against Ajose Olusegun, who bravely took a beating for 10 rounds.
Despite having 2 losses on his record many view Matthysse as an unbeaten fighter with both of his losses being very controversial split decisions to the promoters fighters in their home towns. Though in all honesty I think those losses have made Matthysse a meaner fighter more determined to end the show early rather than risk a decision.
With Matthysse's mean streak and the fact Dallas likes to get involved in a brawl when he shouldn't I can't see this ending any other way than Dallas getting stopped, probably in the middle rounds as Matthysse's power and tenacity breaks down the challenger.
Prediction-Matthysse TKO6
As the under-dog it's only fair to look at the challenger first as in all honesty, he will need a miracle, though same may say he actually got one to even get this fight after Henry Lundy was originally scheduled to face Matthysse.
Dallas Jr is a pretty decent boxer and comes from a solid amateur background that almost saw him qualifying for the 2008 Olympics (losing to Danny Garcia in the trials). He moves well, he has solid technique and impressive hand speed though sadly he lacks the power to keep anyone around world level honest and will need to use his skills as opposed to anything else if he intends to go as far as his potential would have suggested a few years ago.
Sadly for Dallas Jr he's been "exposed" and suffered 2 losses in 2011, losing his unbeaten record via 7th round TKO to Josesito Lopez and then losing a decision to the unheralded Mauricio Herrera. Since then however Dallas Jr has bounced back with 2 wins over decent competition and rebuilt his once shattered confidence.
Dallas at his best is a very talented boxer, who uses his skills wonderfully to stay out of trouble whilst landing his own clean, crisp shots. At his worst however he can be dragged in to a brawl where his lack of power really puts him at a disadvantage, and against Matthysse the worst thing you can do is brawl with him and show you're a man.
Whilst Dallas Jr is a bit of a pure boxer, Argentinian Matthysse is a true animal in the ring with a combination of aggressive pressure and a nasty hurtful punch that has made him one of the most feared men in world boxing. He's relentless, teak tough and attempts to destroy his opponent bit by bit, as he did last time out against Ajose Olusegun, who bravely took a beating for 10 rounds.
Despite having 2 losses on his record many view Matthysse as an unbeaten fighter with both of his losses being very controversial split decisions to the promoters fighters in their home towns. Though in all honesty I think those losses have made Matthysse a meaner fighter more determined to end the show early rather than risk a decision.
With Matthysse's mean streak and the fact Dallas likes to get involved in a brawl when he shouldn't I can't see this ending any other way than Dallas getting stopped, probably in the middle rounds as Matthysse's power and tenacity breaks down the challenger.
Prediction-Matthysse TKO6
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Omar Andres Narvaez v David Quijano
Argentinian veteran Omar Andres Narvaez (37-1-2, 20) looks to make the sixth defense of his WBO Super Flyweight title this weekend as he faces the relatively unknown Puerto Rican David Quijano (15-2-1, 9).
On paper this appears to be a bit of a mismatch, as Narvaez, arguably a top 20 pound-for-pound fighter faces someone who's lacking not only name recognition but also any stand out wins. However at 37 years old the defending champion is a fighter who is getting on and may well be on the slide.
Narvaez last fought back in October (stopping Johnny Garcia in 11 rounds) and for much of that fight didn't look himself. His fast handed combinations from the pocket and ability to slip punches often looked lacking as he instead used his movement to frustrate Garcia whilst leaping in with his own shots. The big question is why did Narvaez fight like that? Was it because he was getting old and can't fight with the intensity he used to be able to, or was it because of personal issues, including his father's death just days earlier.
At his best Narvaez was a little demon, he was quick, smart, and whilst not a hard puncher he was hurtful enough to stop fighters walking him down. Oddly the stoppage over Garcia was his first for over 3 years (the previous stoppage being a TKO11 over Omar Soto) and perhaps showed a lot about Narvaez's mental state and how he had some spent up emotion to be throwing at a faded fighter. If however it was Narvaez realising that 12 rounds is a long time to be fighting, he may well be looking for a bow out fight in the coming months.
With an astonishing 334 professional rounds under his belt from his 40 fights (average of 8.35 rounds a fight) Narvaez is very experienced as a professional and also as an amateur having twice competed at the Olympics. Though what's even more impressive is that he's been fighting at a world level since 2002 with over 20 title fights, as impressively as that is that Narvaez is 23-1-1 in world title bouts across 3 weight divisions!
Unlike the champion, the challenger is yet to fight in a world title bout however at 26 years old Quijano he is coming in to his own physical prime and will certainly have youth on his side. Though sadly from his competition I think youth is his only real advantage as his best win to date (a 10 round technical decision over Juanito Rubillar) isn't even nearing the quality of Narvaez's top 10 or so wins.
In terms of his style Quijano is a fighter with a very good guard who comes to fight. In his bout with Rubillar he showed an excellent jab, very good movement and and the ability to slip shots wonderfully, however aside from his jab he did look clumsy and left himself open at times and had it been a fighter better than Rubillar I think Quijano would have been punished.
Interestingly, for once perhaps, Narvaez won't actually be the smaller man in the ring with a 1" height advantage. Despite this I think if Narvaez is 80% of the fighter he was he'll use his usual tactic, fight from the pocket and we'll have a very fun to watch bout between two very short men with similar movement, but a whole world of difference in class. I don't see a stoppage here as Quijano does have a good guard, though I think he'll be dropped with a counter at some point before going into survival mode for the final few rounds.
Prediction- Narvaez UD12
On paper this appears to be a bit of a mismatch, as Narvaez, arguably a top 20 pound-for-pound fighter faces someone who's lacking not only name recognition but also any stand out wins. However at 37 years old the defending champion is a fighter who is getting on and may well be on the slide.
Narvaez last fought back in October (stopping Johnny Garcia in 11 rounds) and for much of that fight didn't look himself. His fast handed combinations from the pocket and ability to slip punches often looked lacking as he instead used his movement to frustrate Garcia whilst leaping in with his own shots. The big question is why did Narvaez fight like that? Was it because he was getting old and can't fight with the intensity he used to be able to, or was it because of personal issues, including his father's death just days earlier.
At his best Narvaez was a little demon, he was quick, smart, and whilst not a hard puncher he was hurtful enough to stop fighters walking him down. Oddly the stoppage over Garcia was his first for over 3 years (the previous stoppage being a TKO11 over Omar Soto) and perhaps showed a lot about Narvaez's mental state and how he had some spent up emotion to be throwing at a faded fighter. If however it was Narvaez realising that 12 rounds is a long time to be fighting, he may well be looking for a bow out fight in the coming months.
With an astonishing 334 professional rounds under his belt from his 40 fights (average of 8.35 rounds a fight) Narvaez is very experienced as a professional and also as an amateur having twice competed at the Olympics. Though what's even more impressive is that he's been fighting at a world level since 2002 with over 20 title fights, as impressively as that is that Narvaez is 23-1-1 in world title bouts across 3 weight divisions!
Unlike the champion, the challenger is yet to fight in a world title bout however at 26 years old Quijano he is coming in to his own physical prime and will certainly have youth on his side. Though sadly from his competition I think youth is his only real advantage as his best win to date (a 10 round technical decision over Juanito Rubillar) isn't even nearing the quality of Narvaez's top 10 or so wins.
In terms of his style Quijano is a fighter with a very good guard who comes to fight. In his bout with Rubillar he showed an excellent jab, very good movement and and the ability to slip shots wonderfully, however aside from his jab he did look clumsy and left himself open at times and had it been a fighter better than Rubillar I think Quijano would have been punished.
Interestingly, for once perhaps, Narvaez won't actually be the smaller man in the ring with a 1" height advantage. Despite this I think if Narvaez is 80% of the fighter he was he'll use his usual tactic, fight from the pocket and we'll have a very fun to watch bout between two very short men with similar movement, but a whole world of difference in class. I don't see a stoppage here as Quijano does have a good guard, though I think he'll be dropped with a counter at some point before going into survival mode for the final few rounds.
Prediction- Narvaez UD12
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Juan Carlos Reveco v Julian Rivera
Although we have a number of high profile title fights this coming weekend everyone should know by know that I'm probably more interested in the lower division than the big, household names. Sadly even with that in mind, I can't actually get excited about this weekend's WBA "interim" Flyweight title bout between Juan Carlos Reveco (28-1, 16) and challenger Julian Rivera (13-6, 2). In fact this is probably one of the very worst title bouts this year at any weight.
The 29 year old Reveco, from Malargüe on the west of Argentina is one of the many genuinely class fighters at Flyweight. Whilst not seen as one of the genuine champions he is still a fantastic fighter who has shown some real glimpses of world level class talent at both Light Flyweight, where he first made his name and Flyweight.
Reveco debuted way back in 2004 and quickly rose through the rankings before claiming the then vacant WBA World Light Flyweight title in 2007 thanks to an 8th round stoppage of the previously unbeaten Thai Nethra Sasiprapa. Sadly for Reveco his reign would last only 6 months and he would lose his belt in his second defense as he was narrowly out pointed in France by Brahim Asloum.
Despite the loss to Asloum, Reveco remained at Light Flyweight and later went on to claim the WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title by narrowly beating Francisco Rosas in Mexico. Reveco's reign as the "interim" Light Flyweight champion lasted significantly longer than his reign as the regular champion as he racked up up 2 title defenses before moving up a division after a year long reign. Whilst the full reasons for his move have never been fully known, many feel that he moved up solely to avoid Nicaraguan super star Roman Gonzalez who was hot on Reveco's tail.
Since moving to Flyweight Reveco has not only claimed the WBA "interim" Flyweight title but has also defended it once, defeating the previously unbeaten Frenchman Karim Guerfi. Despite this, and his evident talent, Reveco is yet to prove himself at Flyweight, however in terms of just talent he is up there in the chasing pack to the likes of Brian Viloria, Moruti Mthalane and Hernan Marquez.
Despite not having KO power, especially at Flyweight, Reveco is skilled and can fighter excellently from his jab as well as using a very effective one two and appears to have all the punches in the book. His work rate isn't amazing but he seems to generally be able to control the pace and distance of fights using solid footwork, and he also seems to often be a fighter fighting with in himself.
Whilst we know plenty about Reveco I need to be honest, Julian Rivera is a bit of a new one on me. The Mexican is currently ranked #36 in the division on Boxrec and doesn't appear to have anything really outstanding on his record. Since turning professional in 2006 Rivera has been a win some-lose some type of fighter who's best winning runs have been 3 fights. Also, perhaps tellingly he's not scored a stoppage since 2006 (scoring stoppages in his first and third bouts).
It's fair to say that whilst Rivera has sprung an upset or two in his career, namely defeating Odilon Zaleta (then 11-0) and Faustino Cupul (then 24-5) he has also been beaten by much, much less fighters than Reveco. In fact Rivera's last loss came to a fighter who was 8-9-2 (prior to beating Rivera) and his loss before that came to a 4-3 fighter (again prior to beating Rivera.
Oddly the WBA seem to be allowing this to be a title fight despite the fact that Rivera isn't ranked in the most recent rankings by the organisation (last updated 1st of October), that means they are allowing their interim champion to defend against a fighter they don't feel is in the top 15 in the world. The WBC oddly do rank Rivera, giving him a #12 ranking helped somewhat by the fact Rivera holds the WBC Latino Flyweight title.
Sadly for Rivera even the WBA feel they know the out come of this bout, actually reprinting an article from Boxingscene labeling the bout as a "stay busy" bout for Reveco. I think this sums it up.
Prediction: Reveco, TKO7
The 29 year old Reveco, from Malargüe on the west of Argentina is one of the many genuinely class fighters at Flyweight. Whilst not seen as one of the genuine champions he is still a fantastic fighter who has shown some real glimpses of world level class talent at both Light Flyweight, where he first made his name and Flyweight.
Reveco debuted way back in 2004 and quickly rose through the rankings before claiming the then vacant WBA World Light Flyweight title in 2007 thanks to an 8th round stoppage of the previously unbeaten Thai Nethra Sasiprapa. Sadly for Reveco his reign would last only 6 months and he would lose his belt in his second defense as he was narrowly out pointed in France by Brahim Asloum.
Despite the loss to Asloum, Reveco remained at Light Flyweight and later went on to claim the WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title by narrowly beating Francisco Rosas in Mexico. Reveco's reign as the "interim" Light Flyweight champion lasted significantly longer than his reign as the regular champion as he racked up up 2 title defenses before moving up a division after a year long reign. Whilst the full reasons for his move have never been fully known, many feel that he moved up solely to avoid Nicaraguan super star Roman Gonzalez who was hot on Reveco's tail.
Since moving to Flyweight Reveco has not only claimed the WBA "interim" Flyweight title but has also defended it once, defeating the previously unbeaten Frenchman Karim Guerfi. Despite this, and his evident talent, Reveco is yet to prove himself at Flyweight, however in terms of just talent he is up there in the chasing pack to the likes of Brian Viloria, Moruti Mthalane and Hernan Marquez.
Despite not having KO power, especially at Flyweight, Reveco is skilled and can fighter excellently from his jab as well as using a very effective one two and appears to have all the punches in the book. His work rate isn't amazing but he seems to generally be able to control the pace and distance of fights using solid footwork, and he also seems to often be a fighter fighting with in himself.
Whilst we know plenty about Reveco I need to be honest, Julian Rivera is a bit of a new one on me. The Mexican is currently ranked #36 in the division on Boxrec and doesn't appear to have anything really outstanding on his record. Since turning professional in 2006 Rivera has been a win some-lose some type of fighter who's best winning runs have been 3 fights. Also, perhaps tellingly he's not scored a stoppage since 2006 (scoring stoppages in his first and third bouts).
It's fair to say that whilst Rivera has sprung an upset or two in his career, namely defeating Odilon Zaleta (then 11-0) and Faustino Cupul (then 24-5) he has also been beaten by much, much less fighters than Reveco. In fact Rivera's last loss came to a fighter who was 8-9-2 (prior to beating Rivera) and his loss before that came to a 4-3 fighter (again prior to beating Rivera.
Oddly the WBA seem to be allowing this to be a title fight despite the fact that Rivera isn't ranked in the most recent rankings by the organisation (last updated 1st of October), that means they are allowing their interim champion to defend against a fighter they don't feel is in the top 15 in the world. The WBC oddly do rank Rivera, giving him a #12 ranking helped somewhat by the fact Rivera holds the WBC Latino Flyweight title.
Sadly for Rivera even the WBA feel they know the out come of this bout, actually reprinting an article from Boxingscene labeling the bout as a "stay busy" bout for Reveco. I think this sums it up.
Prediction: Reveco, TKO7
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Roberto Vasquez v John Mark Apolinario
This weekends most "overlooked" title fight is the WBA "interim" Bantamweight title bout between Panamanian Roberto Vasquez (32-5, 22) and Filipino John Mark Apolinario (17-2-1, 4), that is scheduled to take place in the Argentinian city of Colón. As with many "interim" title bouts, the fight really lacks too much to get excited about, however could it be a sleeper classic?
With the belt being a vacant one, both men are challenger, however one man has a bit more pedigree to than the other, in fact poor John Mark Apolinario is so unknown that...well I'd never heard of him (or most of his opponents) until I saw this bout listed. So lets look at him first.
Aged 22 the Filipino challenger John Mark Apolinario has been a professional for almost 6 years (making his debut on November 25th 2006) and since then has compiled a list of fights against very limited opposition.
Apolinario's career started well as he ran up 11 straight wins in the first 15 months of his career before suffering a loss to the novice Jessie Albaracin (who would later go on to claim the WBO Oriental Super Bantamweight title). Sadly for Apolinario this loss soon put the breaks on his rapid climb up the rankings and a year later his record fell to 12-2 as he suffered a stoppage loss to Marvin Tampus.
Since the loss to Tampus, Apolinario's career has recovered somewhat with a several wins, including a notable one in 2010 which saw him claiming his first professional title, the WBO Oriental Super Flyweight title. As well as the wins Apolinario also has a draw on his record, coming in November 2010 to the tough Armando Casa.
Whilst the highlight of Apolinario's career so far may have been the WBO Oriental Super Flyweight title fight, the most interesting thing about his record was actually his last fight. Last time out Apolinario scored a 2nd round TKO over Menard Zaragosa...who had to run off to the toilet forcing the referee to end the bout whilst Zaragosa, relieved himself. Worryingly however this means Apolinario has only fought 2 rounds in the last year and in fact Apolinario has only fought 12 rounds (2 bouts) in the past 24 months!
From what I can see with Apolinario we have an inactive fighter, who lacks any power and has only really been beating very low level domestic opponents. It's with good reason that Boxrec.com rate him as the 71st Bantamweight on the planet (the 12th in his homeland!) and whilst I'll admit I've not seen footage of him, it's fair to say that he's not fought the competition with which to really create a true opinion of just how good he actually is. The lost to Tampus, his most notable opponent so far is perhaps the most telling result with Tampus himself losing 7 of 13 since then.
With the Filipino being pretty unknown it's fair to admit that the co-challenger Roberto Vasquez is much more known and well respected. The 29 year old Panamanian has been a professional for over 11 years and despite starting his career with a loss (a controversial one to Angelo Dottin) he has really forged a solid record.
After losing his debut on points, Vasquez would go 6 years before suffering his next loss. In that time he would record 23 straight victories including 16 by T/KO. Vasquez wasn't just beating scrubs though, he was quickly rising through the rankings and stopping the likes of Beibis Mendoza to claim the WBA World Light Flyweight title, a title he would defend 3 times before moving up to Flyweight.
After moving up to Flyweight in 2006 Vasquez swiftly moved on to the title scene and claimed the interim WBA World Flyweight title thanks to a victory over Japanese fighter Takefumi Sakata. Sadly a rematch the following year saw Sakata earn some measure of revenge by defeating Vasquez to end the Panamanian's long unbeaten run.
Since losing to Sakata, Vasquez has had mixed fortune winning 8 of his subsequent 11 bouts. Whilst his wins have come at a "lesser" level two of his losses have come at the highest level thanks to Hugo Fidel Cazares and Drian Francisco, however his most recent loss, to Oscar Gonzalez is highly debatable.
Vasquez is currently on a 2 fight winning streak, including a notable victory over Mario Briones, however both of those fights too place well above the Bantamweight limit. It's fair to assume that that if Vasquez has any real problem with this bout, it may well be in making the 118lbs limit as I don't think Apolinario will have anything to worry Vasquez.
In terms of Vasquez as a fighter, the southpaw is a hard hitting fighter who despite having been down a number of times in his career is durable with only the monstrously hard hitting Drian Francisco managing to stop him. It's fair to say that Vasquez will bring the pressure here and look to take Apolinario out within 6 rounds, he certainly has the power to do it and certainly has the experience to know that Apolinario isn't going to be able to throw anything new at him.
Prediction-Vasquez TKO5
With the belt being a vacant one, both men are challenger, however one man has a bit more pedigree to than the other, in fact poor John Mark Apolinario is so unknown that...well I'd never heard of him (or most of his opponents) until I saw this bout listed. So lets look at him first.
Aged 22 the Filipino challenger John Mark Apolinario has been a professional for almost 6 years (making his debut on November 25th 2006) and since then has compiled a list of fights against very limited opposition.
Apolinario's career started well as he ran up 11 straight wins in the first 15 months of his career before suffering a loss to the novice Jessie Albaracin (who would later go on to claim the WBO Oriental Super Bantamweight title). Sadly for Apolinario this loss soon put the breaks on his rapid climb up the rankings and a year later his record fell to 12-2 as he suffered a stoppage loss to Marvin Tampus.
Since the loss to Tampus, Apolinario's career has recovered somewhat with a several wins, including a notable one in 2010 which saw him claiming his first professional title, the WBO Oriental Super Flyweight title. As well as the wins Apolinario also has a draw on his record, coming in November 2010 to the tough Armando Casa.
Whilst the highlight of Apolinario's career so far may have been the WBO Oriental Super Flyweight title fight, the most interesting thing about his record was actually his last fight. Last time out Apolinario scored a 2nd round TKO over Menard Zaragosa...who had to run off to the toilet forcing the referee to end the bout whilst Zaragosa, relieved himself. Worryingly however this means Apolinario has only fought 2 rounds in the last year and in fact Apolinario has only fought 12 rounds (2 bouts) in the past 24 months!
From what I can see with Apolinario we have an inactive fighter, who lacks any power and has only really been beating very low level domestic opponents. It's with good reason that Boxrec.com rate him as the 71st Bantamweight on the planet (the 12th in his homeland!) and whilst I'll admit I've not seen footage of him, it's fair to say that he's not fought the competition with which to really create a true opinion of just how good he actually is. The lost to Tampus, his most notable opponent so far is perhaps the most telling result with Tampus himself losing 7 of 13 since then.
With the Filipino being pretty unknown it's fair to admit that the co-challenger Roberto Vasquez is much more known and well respected. The 29 year old Panamanian has been a professional for over 11 years and despite starting his career with a loss (a controversial one to Angelo Dottin) he has really forged a solid record.
After losing his debut on points, Vasquez would go 6 years before suffering his next loss. In that time he would record 23 straight victories including 16 by T/KO. Vasquez wasn't just beating scrubs though, he was quickly rising through the rankings and stopping the likes of Beibis Mendoza to claim the WBA World Light Flyweight title, a title he would defend 3 times before moving up to Flyweight.
After moving up to Flyweight in 2006 Vasquez swiftly moved on to the title scene and claimed the interim WBA World Flyweight title thanks to a victory over Japanese fighter Takefumi Sakata. Sadly a rematch the following year saw Sakata earn some measure of revenge by defeating Vasquez to end the Panamanian's long unbeaten run.
Since losing to Sakata, Vasquez has had mixed fortune winning 8 of his subsequent 11 bouts. Whilst his wins have come at a "lesser" level two of his losses have come at the highest level thanks to Hugo Fidel Cazares and Drian Francisco, however his most recent loss, to Oscar Gonzalez is highly debatable.
Vasquez is currently on a 2 fight winning streak, including a notable victory over Mario Briones, however both of those fights too place well above the Bantamweight limit. It's fair to assume that that if Vasquez has any real problem with this bout, it may well be in making the 118lbs limit as I don't think Apolinario will have anything to worry Vasquez.
In terms of Vasquez as a fighter, the southpaw is a hard hitting fighter who despite having been down a number of times in his career is durable with only the monstrously hard hitting Drian Francisco managing to stop him. It's fair to say that Vasquez will bring the pressure here and look to take Apolinario out within 6 rounds, he certainly has the power to do it and certainly has the experience to know that Apolinario isn't going to be able to throw anything new at him.
Prediction-Vasquez TKO5
Monday, 29 October 2012
Toshiyuki Igarashi v Nestor Daniel Narvaes
This coming weekend sees Ring, Linear and WBC Flyweight champion Toshiyuki Igarashi (16-1-1, 10) making the fist defense of his titles as he faces little known Argentinian Nestor Daniel Narvaes (19-0-2-1, 9). Despite being unbeaten Narvaes is a hugely underwhelming opponent for a Linear title bout such as this, however could he spring an upset?
Although most boxing fans won't really know who Igarashi is, the Japanese fighter is a well regarded fighter who ran up an impressive amateur record of 77-18 and competed at both the 2004 Olympic games and the 2005 World Amateur Championships.
Aged 28 Igarashi is seen as one of the rising stars of Japanese boxing and despite having been a professional since 2006 it's only been in the last year or so that he's really made any sort of an impact on the world stage. In fact Igarashi's rise to success seems to have arisen from his short reign as the Japanese Flyweight champion in early 2011, a title he would defend just once.
After defending the Japanese title Igarashi was swiftly pushed up the WBC rankings and given a title eliminator against highly rated Mexican Wilbert Uicab. Igarashi managed to claim a narrow decision victory over Uicab to earn his shot at the WBC Champion, and after Sonny Boy Jaro defeated Pongsaklek Wonjongkam for the title the match up was made for Igarashi to face Jaro.
Igarashi made the most of his opportunity against Jaro and claimed a narrow decision to win the titles in an enthralling battle between two tough men. Although Igarashi was tagged numerous times he never seemed that hurt as he landed his own flush shots on Jaro in a genuinely fun to watch fight and one that told us a lot about Igarashi's heart as well as his skills. He appeared to be a powerful punching, tough fighter who had very solid boxing skills even if he lacked a massive work-rate, however he still looked "fresh" in rounds 11 and 12 which would suggest he probably could go up a gear if he felt he needed to.
Whilst we might not know a huge amount about Igarashi we certainly know more about him than we know about Nestor Daniel Narvaes a fighter who has yet to face anyone with a pulse. Despite being unbeaten Narvaes hasn't faced anyone to really gauge him against and as a result it's hard to really tell how good, how powerful and how durable he actually is.
From the footage I have seen of Narvaes he appears to be crude and very open. He does have some hurtful body shots though against the likes of Marcelo Antonio Gomez it's hard to really see just how hard he actually hits. Despite this it's worth noting that Narvaes has fought as high as Super Bantamweight, perhaps suggesting that he will be the naturally bigger man against Igarashi.
So far the best win on Narvaes' record has come against Luis Singo, a veteran Ecuador and this really says everything about this match up. One man has beaten Jaro, and Uicab the other has beaten nobody of worthy, with this is mind I have to go with Igarashi to score the victory, almost certainly by stoppage. When Igarashi lands a solid shot I expect Narvaes to crumble.
Prediction-Igarashi TKO4
Although most boxing fans won't really know who Igarashi is, the Japanese fighter is a well regarded fighter who ran up an impressive amateur record of 77-18 and competed at both the 2004 Olympic games and the 2005 World Amateur Championships.
Aged 28 Igarashi is seen as one of the rising stars of Japanese boxing and despite having been a professional since 2006 it's only been in the last year or so that he's really made any sort of an impact on the world stage. In fact Igarashi's rise to success seems to have arisen from his short reign as the Japanese Flyweight champion in early 2011, a title he would defend just once.
After defending the Japanese title Igarashi was swiftly pushed up the WBC rankings and given a title eliminator against highly rated Mexican Wilbert Uicab. Igarashi managed to claim a narrow decision victory over Uicab to earn his shot at the WBC Champion, and after Sonny Boy Jaro defeated Pongsaklek Wonjongkam for the title the match up was made for Igarashi to face Jaro.
Igarashi made the most of his opportunity against Jaro and claimed a narrow decision to win the titles in an enthralling battle between two tough men. Although Igarashi was tagged numerous times he never seemed that hurt as he landed his own flush shots on Jaro in a genuinely fun to watch fight and one that told us a lot about Igarashi's heart as well as his skills. He appeared to be a powerful punching, tough fighter who had very solid boxing skills even if he lacked a massive work-rate, however he still looked "fresh" in rounds 11 and 12 which would suggest he probably could go up a gear if he felt he needed to.
Whilst we might not know a huge amount about Igarashi we certainly know more about him than we know about Nestor Daniel Narvaes a fighter who has yet to face anyone with a pulse. Despite being unbeaten Narvaes hasn't faced anyone to really gauge him against and as a result it's hard to really tell how good, how powerful and how durable he actually is.
From the footage I have seen of Narvaes he appears to be crude and very open. He does have some hurtful body shots though against the likes of Marcelo Antonio Gomez it's hard to really see just how hard he actually hits. Despite this it's worth noting that Narvaes has fought as high as Super Bantamweight, perhaps suggesting that he will be the naturally bigger man against Igarashi.
So far the best win on Narvaes' record has come against Luis Singo, a veteran Ecuador and this really says everything about this match up. One man has beaten Jaro, and Uicab the other has beaten nobody of worthy, with this is mind I have to go with Igarashi to score the victory, almost certainly by stoppage. When Igarashi lands a solid shot I expect Narvaes to crumble.
Prediction-Igarashi TKO4
Friday, 19 October 2012
Omar Andres Narvaez v Johnny Garcia
Despite the fact Argentina has historically been a notable boxing country, it's on a real high at the moment with a number of world champions and top contenders. One of the top Argentinian fighters, the WBO Super Flyweight champion, Omar Andres Narvaez (36-1-2, 19) looks to make the fifth defense of his title as he faces Mexican Johnny Garcia (16-3-1, 8).
At 37 years old Narvaez is coming to the twilight years of his exceptional career which has seen him become a 2-weight world champion and a fighter who has reigned at the top for almost a decade despite staying in relative obscurity.
Sadly most boxing fans who have seen Narvaez have only seen his fight with Donaire, a mismatch from the offer in which Narvaez clearly spent more time trying to survive against a fighter who was simply too big and too strong. Against men of a similar natural size to himself however, Narvaez is something special with tricky defense, fast hands and some lovely combinations that he rattles off over and over despite his advanced age.
Narvaez first made his name as an amateur and actually appeared in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympics before turning professional in 2000. Within 2 years of his professional debut Narvaez had already claimed his first professional title (the WBO Flyweight title) by defeating Adonis Rivas. As the Flyweight champion Narvaez made 16 title defenses and defeated the likes of Luis Alberto Lazarte, Andrea Sarritzu, Bernard Inom, Brahim Asloum and Carlos Tamara before giving up the title in 2009 and moving up to Super Flyweight looking for a challenge.
After moving to Super Flyweight Narvaez swiftly won the WBO title as he defeated Everth Briceno and followed that up with 3 title defenses before his loss to Donaire. Following the loss to Donaire, Narvaez has fought once, defending his title once more by defeating Jose Cabrera.
Despite the claims of Steve Lillis (prior to the Donaire fight), Narvaez has surprisingly fought around the world with fights in Italy, France and Spain as well as the Donaire fight (in America), however this will be his 33rd fight in his native homeland of Argentina, a country in which he is 31-0-1 and 16-0 in title fights.
The challenger for the title, 23 year old Johnny Garcia, is seen as huge betting under-dog and with good reason, and not just because Narvaez is extremely talented. Sadly for Garcia he's really up against it because he himself is unproven at this level.
Garcia made his professional debut back in 2007 when he was just an 18 year old kid. Sadly for Garcia his career started slowly as his record swiftly fell to 3-2-1 after just 14 months. Since then however Garcia has really gotten his career going and has gone 13-1 over the last 4 years.
Not only has Garcia been on an excellent run of results over the past 4 years but he has also been scoring notable victories including wins over Jesus Ruiz, William Urina and most recently Manuel Vargas. The only loss in that time came at the hands of the very highly regarded Carlos Cuadras who stopped Garcia in 2 rounds a little over a year ago.
In terms of pure technique Garcia is quite raw and very aggressively minded however it'd by harsh to flat out call him crude as he does seem to have some technical skills in his arsenal. Sadly, on a technical basis he can't hope to match Narvaez, however in terms of brute power he'll feel that he's easily the more powerful man, and is certainly the younger, more energetic man. Despite the youth, it's fair to say that Narvaez is probably the faster fighter however.
Personally whilst I think Narvaez has slipped a fair bit he is still a fighter who is amongst the top guys in his division and whilst Garcia may have his moments, especially if he starts fast, he won't have enough of the to win a decision. I'd go with Narvaez by a clear decision, I don't think he'll manage to really hurt Garcia too badly but I'd be shocked if Garcia manages to win more than 3 rounds.
Prediction-Narvaez by unanimous decision
At 37 years old Narvaez is coming to the twilight years of his exceptional career which has seen him become a 2-weight world champion and a fighter who has reigned at the top for almost a decade despite staying in relative obscurity.
Sadly most boxing fans who have seen Narvaez have only seen his fight with Donaire, a mismatch from the offer in which Narvaez clearly spent more time trying to survive against a fighter who was simply too big and too strong. Against men of a similar natural size to himself however, Narvaez is something special with tricky defense, fast hands and some lovely combinations that he rattles off over and over despite his advanced age.
Narvaez first made his name as an amateur and actually appeared in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympics before turning professional in 2000. Within 2 years of his professional debut Narvaez had already claimed his first professional title (the WBO Flyweight title) by defeating Adonis Rivas. As the Flyweight champion Narvaez made 16 title defenses and defeated the likes of Luis Alberto Lazarte, Andrea Sarritzu, Bernard Inom, Brahim Asloum and Carlos Tamara before giving up the title in 2009 and moving up to Super Flyweight looking for a challenge.
After moving to Super Flyweight Narvaez swiftly won the WBO title as he defeated Everth Briceno and followed that up with 3 title defenses before his loss to Donaire. Following the loss to Donaire, Narvaez has fought once, defending his title once more by defeating Jose Cabrera.
Despite the claims of Steve Lillis (prior to the Donaire fight), Narvaez has surprisingly fought around the world with fights in Italy, France and Spain as well as the Donaire fight (in America), however this will be his 33rd fight in his native homeland of Argentina, a country in which he is 31-0-1 and 16-0 in title fights.
The challenger for the title, 23 year old Johnny Garcia, is seen as huge betting under-dog and with good reason, and not just because Narvaez is extremely talented. Sadly for Garcia he's really up against it because he himself is unproven at this level.
Garcia made his professional debut back in 2007 when he was just an 18 year old kid. Sadly for Garcia his career started slowly as his record swiftly fell to 3-2-1 after just 14 months. Since then however Garcia has really gotten his career going and has gone 13-1 over the last 4 years.
Not only has Garcia been on an excellent run of results over the past 4 years but he has also been scoring notable victories including wins over Jesus Ruiz, William Urina and most recently Manuel Vargas. The only loss in that time came at the hands of the very highly regarded Carlos Cuadras who stopped Garcia in 2 rounds a little over a year ago.
In terms of pure technique Garcia is quite raw and very aggressively minded however it'd by harsh to flat out call him crude as he does seem to have some technical skills in his arsenal. Sadly, on a technical basis he can't hope to match Narvaez, however in terms of brute power he'll feel that he's easily the more powerful man, and is certainly the younger, more energetic man. Despite the youth, it's fair to say that Narvaez is probably the faster fighter however.
Personally whilst I think Narvaez has slipped a fair bit he is still a fighter who is amongst the top guys in his division and whilst Garcia may have his moments, especially if he starts fast, he won't have enough of the to win a decision. I'd go with Narvaez by a clear decision, I don't think he'll manage to really hurt Garcia too badly but I'd be shocked if Garcia manages to win more than 3 rounds.
Prediction-Narvaez by unanimous decision
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Diego Gabriel Chaves v Jose Miranda
This weekend sees unbeaten Argentinian Diego Gabriel Chaves (21-0, 17) make the first defense of his WBA "interim" Welterweight title as he faces the somewhat uninspiring Jose Miranda (12-11-3, 8) in what appears to be a mismatch from the off.
The hard hitting Chaves claimed the title earlier this year when he stopped Frenchman Ismael El Massoudi in 3 rounds and made his first major mark on the boxing world. Although unknown by many in Europe and even North America, the hard core fans had been been following him for a while, with fans in his homeland dubbing him "La Joya" -The Jewel.
Chaves turned professional in 2008 after a credible amateur career and debuted in July '08. Within a year of being a professional he had swiftly raced out to 10-0 (9) with 8 victories in the first 2 rounds as he simply blew opponents away with hurtful nasty shots. It would take much longer for him to add his first professional title as he claimed the WBO Latino Light Middleweight title just a fight later.
After defending the WBO Latino Light Middleweight title once, Chaves dropped down to the Welterweight division and swiftly claimed the WBO Latino Welterweight title. He defend this second title 5 times as he moved his record to 20-0 (16) and defeated veterans Omar Gabriel Weis and Jorge Daniel Miranda.
Following the 5 WBO Latino Welterweight title defenses Chaves would then go on to defeat El Massoudi for the WBA "interim" Welterweight title.
Whilst he's a noted puncher Chaves does have some solid skills there to rely on if needed. He's never going to become a true slickster but he will make enjoyable fights with his aggressiveness and power which is deadly to both the head and body. This does often leave him there to be hit, and he can be hurt, in fact he's been down several times so far in his career, however he appears to be able to regroup and get back to work with out too many issues.
Sadly for Chaves' first defense he will be facing the very limited Panamanian Jose Miranda who's career so far has been really unspectacular in terms of results and performances.
Miranda made his professional debut way back in 2000 as a Super Bantamweight and despite starting with 4 wins it didn't take long for his record to become somewhat patchy as he swiftly fell to 4-2-2 (2).
Despite scoring 3 successive wins between September 2002 and August 2003 it didn't take long for Miranda's record to really falter as he scored only 2 wins in his next 12 bouts as he fell to 9-11-3 (6). Whilst some of those losses came to decent fighters, including the likes of Darley Perez, Alberto Mosquera, Johan Perez and former world champion Vicente Mosquera they were still career damaging losses.
Surprisingly Miranda has won his last 3 fights, including scoring a notable victory over William Gonzalez. Despite scoring those 3 victories they were, at best, a level or two below world title level (yes, even some interim titles).
Going in to this bout it's almost impossible to see how Miranda can win. With some 6 stoppage losses to his name we know that Miranda isn't that tough and having started his career way down at Super Bantamweight we also know that Miranda is naturally the smaller man. Perhaps most tellingly, at least from the footage that I've seen, is that Miranda is quite easy to hit and Darley Perez had no issue at all in dropping him twice. Whilst Perez hits hard Chaves hits much harder.
Whilst Miranda has been given a bit of a "Rocky" type chance here it's hard to see him lasting more than a round or two against a fearsome hard hitter like Chaves. Expect this one to be over early.
Prediction-Chaves TKO3
The hard hitting Chaves claimed the title earlier this year when he stopped Frenchman Ismael El Massoudi in 3 rounds and made his first major mark on the boxing world. Although unknown by many in Europe and even North America, the hard core fans had been been following him for a while, with fans in his homeland dubbing him "La Joya" -The Jewel.
Chaves turned professional in 2008 after a credible amateur career and debuted in July '08. Within a year of being a professional he had swiftly raced out to 10-0 (9) with 8 victories in the first 2 rounds as he simply blew opponents away with hurtful nasty shots. It would take much longer for him to add his first professional title as he claimed the WBO Latino Light Middleweight title just a fight later.
After defending the WBO Latino Light Middleweight title once, Chaves dropped down to the Welterweight division and swiftly claimed the WBO Latino Welterweight title. He defend this second title 5 times as he moved his record to 20-0 (16) and defeated veterans Omar Gabriel Weis and Jorge Daniel Miranda.
Following the 5 WBO Latino Welterweight title defenses Chaves would then go on to defeat El Massoudi for the WBA "interim" Welterweight title.
Whilst he's a noted puncher Chaves does have some solid skills there to rely on if needed. He's never going to become a true slickster but he will make enjoyable fights with his aggressiveness and power which is deadly to both the head and body. This does often leave him there to be hit, and he can be hurt, in fact he's been down several times so far in his career, however he appears to be able to regroup and get back to work with out too many issues.
Sadly for Chaves' first defense he will be facing the very limited Panamanian Jose Miranda who's career so far has been really unspectacular in terms of results and performances.
Miranda made his professional debut way back in 2000 as a Super Bantamweight and despite starting with 4 wins it didn't take long for his record to become somewhat patchy as he swiftly fell to 4-2-2 (2).
Despite scoring 3 successive wins between September 2002 and August 2003 it didn't take long for Miranda's record to really falter as he scored only 2 wins in his next 12 bouts as he fell to 9-11-3 (6). Whilst some of those losses came to decent fighters, including the likes of Darley Perez, Alberto Mosquera, Johan Perez and former world champion Vicente Mosquera they were still career damaging losses.
Surprisingly Miranda has won his last 3 fights, including scoring a notable victory over William Gonzalez. Despite scoring those 3 victories they were, at best, a level or two below world title level (yes, even some interim titles).
Going in to this bout it's almost impossible to see how Miranda can win. With some 6 stoppage losses to his name we know that Miranda isn't that tough and having started his career way down at Super Bantamweight we also know that Miranda is naturally the smaller man. Perhaps most tellingly, at least from the footage that I've seen, is that Miranda is quite easy to hit and Darley Perez had no issue at all in dropping him twice. Whilst Perez hits hard Chaves hits much harder.
Whilst Miranda has been given a bit of a "Rocky" type chance here it's hard to see him lasting more than a round or two against a fearsome hard hitter like Chaves. Expect this one to be over early.
Prediction-Chaves TKO3
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr v Sergio Gabriel Martinez
Undeniably the biggest fight of this coming weekend is the WBC and Ring Magazine Middleweight title bout between unbeaten Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (46-0-1-1, 32) and the very highly regarded Argentinian Sergio Gabriel Martinez (49-2-2, 28). A bout many thought would never happen.
Going into this fight Sergio Gabriel Martinez, 37, is seen as one of the sports premier fighters. He is widely regarded as being a top 10 pound-for-pound boxer and has been on a roll in recent years with victories over a list of highly respectable opponents, often by knockout, proving that he hits harder than his record indicates.
Despite the fact Martinez is an old fighter in terms of "years" he's not a fighter who shows his age. Not only does Martinez's face look unmarked but his natural speed and timing are also spot on, not something we expect from a fighter in their late 30's. In fact whilst I'm on the subject of Martinez's speed, this is probably his best trait, he's got incredibly fast hands for a Middleweight and also great foot movement allowing him to set up counters with his speed and control the distance and tempo of a bout.
Despite still looking like a "young" fighter Martinez has been around since late 1990's having turned professional in 1997. He started his career 16-0-1 (6) before facing the first recognisable name on his record, Antonio Margarito. Margarito would show his superior experience and manage to wear down Martinez forcing a TKO in round 7 to inflict the first loss on Martinez. Since this loss however Martinez has honed his trade excellently, having spent several years fighting in Europe.
It wasn't until the late 00's that Martinez first started to really get any attention from the boxing community as he defeated Alex Bunema for the interim WBC Light Middleweight title and then faced Kermit Cintron. The bout with Cintron really caught the public's eye with Martinez only getting a draw despite arguably beating Cintron twice. Despite being jobbed to Cintron the fight turned out to be a launch pad for Martinez who would subsequently fight (and controversially lose to) Paul Williams in a fight of the year type bout.
The bout with Williams was followed by a bout with the then Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. Martinez showed exceptional boxing ability to defeat the naturally stronger Pavlik by decision before stopping Paul Williams in eye catching fashion to avenge his loss. Following the victory over Williams, Martinez has fought thrice stopping all 3 opponents: Serhiy Dzinziruk (TKO8), Darren Barker (KO11) and Matthew Macklin (TKO11) as he has defended the Ring Middleweight title.
In terms of his style Martinez is a talented outside fighter who fights from a southpaw stance. His KO punch is his thunderous left hook though his jab is also a key and was used to totally neutralise Dzinziruk. Whilst he's not the most defensively sound (often fighting with his hands down low) he is, as mentioned above, a quick fighter and a fighter who uses his feet well, he can however be dropped (as he was by Paul Williams, Kelly Pavlik and Matthew Macklin- though several were merely flash knockdowns).
Despite being the fact many view Sergio Gabriel Martinez as a clear favourite there is a sizable minority who feel that he may be upset by the much young Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the current WBC Middleweight champion. At just just 26 years old Chavez is coming into his physical prime and it's his physicality that makes him such a live under-dog. Amazingly Chavez often rehydrates to around 180lbs, a huge physical advantage over many Middleweights who Chavez can simply walk through and break down.
Whilst Chavez Jr may be better known due to who his dad is (a former Mexican boxing legend) he is now actually carving out a genuinely respectable career in his own right, perhaps proving to be the best of the "Jr's" out there.
Despite only being 26 Chavez has been around a long time, having made his professional debut way back in 2003 when he was just 17. Early on many followed him due solely to his name and it wasn't until very recently that fans started to accept that Chavez was actually a decent fighter in his own right. For some that turning point was in 2010 when Chavez dominated the highly popular John Duddy over 12 rounds, for others however it was when Chavez managed to out point Sebastian Zbik for the WBC Middleweight title a year later.
As the WBC champion Chavez has defended his title 3 times defeating Peter Manfredo Jr (TKO5), veteran Marco Rubio (UD12) and Irishman Andy Lee (TKO7) looking better every time. Some however feel that the whole title reign of Chavez Jr is a fraud with the title having been stripped from Martinez prior to Chavez's bout with Zbik.
In terms of his style Chavez is a bully. He's not naturally gifted, he's not a massive puncher and he's not lighting quick but he's a big, strong, hard fighter who will happily take a shot to land his own. He can be out boxed but he is very hard to outwork, especially over 12 rounds where he can use his bulk to his advantage to wear opponents down both mentally and physically. Whilst not a KO puncher Chavez's shots have genuine weight behind them and are genuinely hurtful.
Whilst Chavez is tough I think the key to beating him is move and box him OR hitting him hard enough so that he respects you. I'm not certain that Martinez hits hard enough to make Chavez respect him however he moves well enough to keep Chavez at range and could well defeat Chavez in a similar manner to how he defeated Kelly Pavlik.
For Chavez to win he will not only need to take the hard shots of Martinez but also break the Argentinian down, something that hasn't been done since Margarito did it over a decade ago. Chavez will have to cut the ring down and go to the body of Martinez to slow him down, if he can manage this he does have a real chance of springing the upset.
The question of who controls the distance here, will likely determine who wins.
Prediction- Martinez UD
Going into this fight Sergio Gabriel Martinez, 37, is seen as one of the sports premier fighters. He is widely regarded as being a top 10 pound-for-pound boxer and has been on a roll in recent years with victories over a list of highly respectable opponents, often by knockout, proving that he hits harder than his record indicates.
Despite the fact Martinez is an old fighter in terms of "years" he's not a fighter who shows his age. Not only does Martinez's face look unmarked but his natural speed and timing are also spot on, not something we expect from a fighter in their late 30's. In fact whilst I'm on the subject of Martinez's speed, this is probably his best trait, he's got incredibly fast hands for a Middleweight and also great foot movement allowing him to set up counters with his speed and control the distance and tempo of a bout.
Despite still looking like a "young" fighter Martinez has been around since late 1990's having turned professional in 1997. He started his career 16-0-1 (6) before facing the first recognisable name on his record, Antonio Margarito. Margarito would show his superior experience and manage to wear down Martinez forcing a TKO in round 7 to inflict the first loss on Martinez. Since this loss however Martinez has honed his trade excellently, having spent several years fighting in Europe.
It wasn't until the late 00's that Martinez first started to really get any attention from the boxing community as he defeated Alex Bunema for the interim WBC Light Middleweight title and then faced Kermit Cintron. The bout with Cintron really caught the public's eye with Martinez only getting a draw despite arguably beating Cintron twice. Despite being jobbed to Cintron the fight turned out to be a launch pad for Martinez who would subsequently fight (and controversially lose to) Paul Williams in a fight of the year type bout.
The bout with Williams was followed by a bout with the then Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. Martinez showed exceptional boxing ability to defeat the naturally stronger Pavlik by decision before stopping Paul Williams in eye catching fashion to avenge his loss. Following the victory over Williams, Martinez has fought thrice stopping all 3 opponents: Serhiy Dzinziruk (TKO8), Darren Barker (KO11) and Matthew Macklin (TKO11) as he has defended the Ring Middleweight title.
In terms of his style Martinez is a talented outside fighter who fights from a southpaw stance. His KO punch is his thunderous left hook though his jab is also a key and was used to totally neutralise Dzinziruk. Whilst he's not the most defensively sound (often fighting with his hands down low) he is, as mentioned above, a quick fighter and a fighter who uses his feet well, he can however be dropped (as he was by Paul Williams, Kelly Pavlik and Matthew Macklin- though several were merely flash knockdowns).
Despite being the fact many view Sergio Gabriel Martinez as a clear favourite there is a sizable minority who feel that he may be upset by the much young Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the current WBC Middleweight champion. At just just 26 years old Chavez is coming into his physical prime and it's his physicality that makes him such a live under-dog. Amazingly Chavez often rehydrates to around 180lbs, a huge physical advantage over many Middleweights who Chavez can simply walk through and break down.
Whilst Chavez Jr may be better known due to who his dad is (a former Mexican boxing legend) he is now actually carving out a genuinely respectable career in his own right, perhaps proving to be the best of the "Jr's" out there.
Despite only being 26 Chavez has been around a long time, having made his professional debut way back in 2003 when he was just 17. Early on many followed him due solely to his name and it wasn't until very recently that fans started to accept that Chavez was actually a decent fighter in his own right. For some that turning point was in 2010 when Chavez dominated the highly popular John Duddy over 12 rounds, for others however it was when Chavez managed to out point Sebastian Zbik for the WBC Middleweight title a year later.
As the WBC champion Chavez has defended his title 3 times defeating Peter Manfredo Jr (TKO5), veteran Marco Rubio (UD12) and Irishman Andy Lee (TKO7) looking better every time. Some however feel that the whole title reign of Chavez Jr is a fraud with the title having been stripped from Martinez prior to Chavez's bout with Zbik.
In terms of his style Chavez is a bully. He's not naturally gifted, he's not a massive puncher and he's not lighting quick but he's a big, strong, hard fighter who will happily take a shot to land his own. He can be out boxed but he is very hard to outwork, especially over 12 rounds where he can use his bulk to his advantage to wear opponents down both mentally and physically. Whilst not a KO puncher Chavez's shots have genuine weight behind them and are genuinely hurtful.
Whilst Chavez is tough I think the key to beating him is move and box him OR hitting him hard enough so that he respects you. I'm not certain that Martinez hits hard enough to make Chavez respect him however he moves well enough to keep Chavez at range and could well defeat Chavez in a similar manner to how he defeated Kelly Pavlik.
For Chavez to win he will not only need to take the hard shots of Martinez but also break the Argentinian down, something that hasn't been done since Margarito did it over a decade ago. Chavez will have to cut the ring down and go to the body of Martinez to slow him down, if he can manage this he does have a real chance of springing the upset.
The question of who controls the distance here, will likely determine who wins.
Prediction- Martinez UD
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