After 2013 closed with 2 Super Featherweight title fights it may come as a surprise to some that 2014 begins with another title fight in the same division, this time for the IBF title as champion Argenis Mendez (21-2-1, 11) looks to make the second defense of his title.
Mendez, a defensively smart though occasionally lazy fighter from the Dominican Republic, came perilously close to losing his title last time out in an excellent encounter with Arash Usmanee. Unfortunately for Mendez he did what he so often does and failed to put forward an effort for 3 minutes of every round. When he did work he looked sensational but all to often he let Usmanee work hard and mark rounds close.
At his best Mendez is one of the best counter punchers in the sport. He is capable of standing his ground, blocking and slipping shots before landing his own counters in return, often with interest on them. This power of Mendez's was seen in style when he won the title last year stopping Juan Carlos Salgado.
Mendez will be fighting against talented Cuban Rances Barthelemy (19-0, 12), a rangy and skilled boxer-puncher who, like Mendez, can look incredible one moment and second rate the next.
Although a Cuban Barthelemy doesn't have the super skills of some of his compatriots, he's well schooled but not that touch of genuine genius that you see in Guillermo Rigondeaux, Erislandy Lara or even Yuriorkis Gamboa. When he gets going however he's incredibly good with solid defense and good rangy punches.
It's those rangy punches that Barthelemy will need to make good use of as he has 2" advantage in both height and reach. If he allows Mendez to get close then the champion will slip shots and come back with intelligent and sharp counters that will genuine dictate the fight. Although 2" isn't a huge advantage it's something that he'll need to make use of.
The biggest advantage for Mendez isn't his more complete boxing skills but for me it's his better level of competition. The Dominican has fought the likes of Martin Honorio, Juan Carlos Salgado and Cassius Baloyi all of whom are more proven than Barthelemy. If Mendez can use that experience to his benefit I imagine he'll manage to come out on what I view as a very competitive bout.
Although I view Mendez as the favourite I'd advise gamblers to have a small, bet on Barthelemy who looks to be great value at 15/8.
Prediction-Mendez SD12
Showing posts with label IBF Super Featherweight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IBF Super Featherweight. Show all posts
Friday, 3 January 2014
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
Argenis Mendez v Arash Usmanee
After a few weak years the Super Featherweight division really does seem like it's picking up. Not only does the division have Takashi Uchiyama as the stand out guy and the WBA champion but below him are some very exciting fighters such as the former Featherweight champion Mikey Garcia and Roman Martinez, as limited as he is, is always in good fights.
When you get good fighters in a division it's impossible for their not to be some great match ups that do get made and that's what we have as the headliner for this weeks "Friday Night Fights" as IBF champion Argenis Mendez (21-2, 11) takes on Afghan born Canadian Arash Usmanee (20-1, 10). It's a fight that may not grab the attention of many but should still be a genuinely good match up.
Dominican Mendez is with out a doubt one of the most gifted fighters in the Super Featherweight division. He's got delightful technical skills, beautiful speed and although he's not a banger he can hit hard enough to take fighters out when he decides to hold his feet and let loose. In fact it's his combination of speed and power that can make him such a devastating fighter with his punches coming quicker than many fighters can react to.
Unfortunately for all the talent Mendez has he can blow hot and cold. At his best he's the division's best fighter behind the destructive Uchiyama. At his worst however he can really under-perform as he did against Martin Honorio in their first fight and Juan Carlos Salgado in their first fight, however he looked a much improved fighter in rematches with both men.
On a bad day Mendez would only be competitive with any of the top 10 in the division, though on his best days he's genuinely sensational.
In the opposite corner to Mendez will be the once beaten Usmanee, a man many including believes should be unbeaten. Unfortunately for Usmanee his most recent bout, a controversial decision loss to Rances Barthelemy, is probably his highest profile, thankfully however that bout was on ESPN's Friday Night Fights meaning that most who will be tuning in will now about the loss.
Usmanee is a talented and hard working fighter. He's not the slickest or the biggest hitting but he's a very determined fighter who has a tremendous engine, an engine that saw him throwing over 1000 punches against Barthelmy. In fact had he had some real power he'd likely have stopped Barthelmy thanks to his 34% connect rate in power shots.
As talented and hard working as Usmanee is it's likely he will need to hope that Mendez is having an off night if he's to win. Of course that's not out of the question with Mendez having his hot and cold reputation though if Mendez is on form this could be a very harsh bout for Usmanee who is talented but not in the same league as on fire Mendez.
Prediction-Mendez UD12
When you get good fighters in a division it's impossible for their not to be some great match ups that do get made and that's what we have as the headliner for this weeks "Friday Night Fights" as IBF champion Argenis Mendez (21-2, 11) takes on Afghan born Canadian Arash Usmanee (20-1, 10). It's a fight that may not grab the attention of many but should still be a genuinely good match up.
Dominican Mendez is with out a doubt one of the most gifted fighters in the Super Featherweight division. He's got delightful technical skills, beautiful speed and although he's not a banger he can hit hard enough to take fighters out when he decides to hold his feet and let loose. In fact it's his combination of speed and power that can make him such a devastating fighter with his punches coming quicker than many fighters can react to.
Unfortunately for all the talent Mendez has he can blow hot and cold. At his best he's the division's best fighter behind the destructive Uchiyama. At his worst however he can really under-perform as he did against Martin Honorio in their first fight and Juan Carlos Salgado in their first fight, however he looked a much improved fighter in rematches with both men.
On a bad day Mendez would only be competitive with any of the top 10 in the division, though on his best days he's genuinely sensational.
In the opposite corner to Mendez will be the once beaten Usmanee, a man many including believes should be unbeaten. Unfortunately for Usmanee his most recent bout, a controversial decision loss to Rances Barthelemy, is probably his highest profile, thankfully however that bout was on ESPN's Friday Night Fights meaning that most who will be tuning in will now about the loss.
Usmanee is a talented and hard working fighter. He's not the slickest or the biggest hitting but he's a very determined fighter who has a tremendous engine, an engine that saw him throwing over 1000 punches against Barthelmy. In fact had he had some real power he'd likely have stopped Barthelmy thanks to his 34% connect rate in power shots.
As talented and hard working as Usmanee is it's likely he will need to hope that Mendez is having an off night if he's to win. Of course that's not out of the question with Mendez having his hot and cold reputation though if Mendez is on form this could be a very harsh bout for Usmanee who is talented but not in the same league as on fire Mendez.
Prediction-Mendez UD12
Friday, 8 March 2013
Juan Carlos Salgado v Argenis Mendez II
In what will probably turn out to be the fight of the weekend IBF Super Featherweight champion Juan Carlos Salgado (26-1-1-1, 16) will attempt to defend his belt against the highly ranked Argenis Mendez (20-2, 10) in a rematch of their brilliant 2011 bout which saw Salgado claiming a controversial unanimous decision in his homeland of Mexico.
The 28 year old Salgado burst on to the scene back in 2009 when he scored an upset of the year contender blasting out Jorge Linares in just 168 seconds to claim the WBA Super Featherweight title. Whilst his reign didn't last long, losing hit title to Takashi Uchiyama in just his first defense, he had proven his ability was at least near world class and had actually put on a solid effort against Uchiyama.
Since the loss to Uchiyama, Salgado has claimed the IBF title and gone 5-0-0-1 actually claiming the title when he first beat Mendez. Although he hasn't looked great as a champion, scraping a decision over Martin Honorio and seeing his bout with Miguel Beltran Jr called off early after a clash of heads he has managed to keep a hold of his title significantly longer than his first reign.
Salgado is a solid enough fighter, he's a hurtful puncher, he's a hard worker and whilst he's not the most polished he has solid skills. There is nothing that's going to blow you away about him and he can fight down to his opponents level (as he did with Honorio) though at his best he's probably in the top 5 of a weak Super Featherweight division with out too many questions. He's not invincible but only Mendez and Uchiyama have managed to drop him so far and both of those came in the 12th round.
Whilst the Super Featherweight division is weak Mendez is deservedly ranked highly and boxrec's rating of #5 is around what I'd have him personally. He's a fighter who is very highly skilled and a fighter who has had to prove his ability against some of the other top Super Featherweights to get his chance in title fights.
Prior to the first Salgado fight Mendez had to travel to South Africa in an IBF eliminator, whilst there he widely out pointed former title holder Cassius Baloyi. Although he lost in Mexico the first time he faced Salgado he gave him a very tough fight, dropping Salgado before controversially being out pointed. Since then he has beaten Honorio (for a second time) in an IBF eliminator.
Born in the Dominican Republic though based in the US, the 26 year old Mendez, trained by Brit Lee Beard was a very good amateur and certainly has the superior skills of the two men. As long as he shows those skills he should get the decision this time, especially with the bout now being in the US rather than Mexico. It should also be a fantastic fight just like the first.
Prediction-Mendez by UD
The 28 year old Salgado burst on to the scene back in 2009 when he scored an upset of the year contender blasting out Jorge Linares in just 168 seconds to claim the WBA Super Featherweight title. Whilst his reign didn't last long, losing hit title to Takashi Uchiyama in just his first defense, he had proven his ability was at least near world class and had actually put on a solid effort against Uchiyama.
Since the loss to Uchiyama, Salgado has claimed the IBF title and gone 5-0-0-1 actually claiming the title when he first beat Mendez. Although he hasn't looked great as a champion, scraping a decision over Martin Honorio and seeing his bout with Miguel Beltran Jr called off early after a clash of heads he has managed to keep a hold of his title significantly longer than his first reign.
Salgado is a solid enough fighter, he's a hurtful puncher, he's a hard worker and whilst he's not the most polished he has solid skills. There is nothing that's going to blow you away about him and he can fight down to his opponents level (as he did with Honorio) though at his best he's probably in the top 5 of a weak Super Featherweight division with out too many questions. He's not invincible but only Mendez and Uchiyama have managed to drop him so far and both of those came in the 12th round.
Whilst the Super Featherweight division is weak Mendez is deservedly ranked highly and boxrec's rating of #5 is around what I'd have him personally. He's a fighter who is very highly skilled and a fighter who has had to prove his ability against some of the other top Super Featherweights to get his chance in title fights.
Prior to the first Salgado fight Mendez had to travel to South Africa in an IBF eliminator, whilst there he widely out pointed former title holder Cassius Baloyi. Although he lost in Mexico the first time he faced Salgado he gave him a very tough fight, dropping Salgado before controversially being out pointed. Since then he has beaten Honorio (for a second time) in an IBF eliminator.
Born in the Dominican Republic though based in the US, the 26 year old Mendez, trained by Brit Lee Beard was a very good amateur and certainly has the superior skills of the two men. As long as he shows those skills he should get the decision this time, especially with the bout now being in the US rather than Mexico. It should also be a fantastic fight just like the first.
Prediction-Mendez by UD
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