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
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Friday, 8 November 2013
Monday, 27 August 2012
Moruti Mthalane v Ricardo Nunez
In Panama this coming weekend we have another over looked world title fight, and one that promises a lot as the IBF Flyweight champion Moruti Mthalane (28-2, 19) defends against Panama's very own hard hitter, Ricardo Nunez (24-2, 20). Whilst I know many fans aren't particularly interested in the Flyweight division (or for that matter any of the smaller divisions) some fights in those divisions have "exciting" written on them, and this is certainly one of them.
South African Mthalane is, like compatriot Nkosinathi Joyi (who defends against Mario Rodriguez on the same night), very under-rated by the international boxing community. This is due to 3 separate reasons firstly his weight (112lbs) which generally doesn't appeal to US, secondly he's not been featured much on US television (thus hiding him from the US TV audience) and thirdly in his only US fight to date he was stopped, on cuts by the highly touted Nonito Donaire. Despite the lack of exposure he is very talented and he does a lot of things very well. Whilst he's not lighting quick, or has dynamite in his fists he is a very solid fighter with a good defense, hurtful power and solid technique as well as excellent composure.
Mthalane made his professional debut way back in 2000 and won his first 14 fights before being shockingly stopped in 2004 by the then national Flyweight champion Nkqubela Gwazela in round 11. Mthalane bounced back well from his first defeat and claimed the South African Flyweight title less than 2 years later by stopping Akhona Aliva in 6 rounds.
Having made a number of defenses of his South African title Mthalane moved into the world level with an excellent victory over former world title challenger Hussein Hussein in an IBF eliminator. Having got the #1 ranking Mthalane went to the US to face the then champion Nonito Donaire. Despite putting up a solid effort against Donaire, Mthalane was cut in round 6 and unfortunately it took the steam out of his attack before the doctor stopped the bout. Prior to the 6th round Mthalane had out landed Donaire and had appeared to have won rounds 4 and 5 as he seriously pushed the highly rated Filipino hard.
Since losing to Donaire, Mthalane has been on a 6 fight winning streak which has seen him claiming the IBF Flyweight title (that had been vacated by Donaire) by defeating the teak tough Julio Cesar Miranda. As well as winning the title Mthalane has made 3 defenses of the belt by defeating fellow South African Zolani Tete (TKO5), current IBF Light Flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (TKO5) and former WBO title challenger challenger Andrea Sarritzu (TKO7). Whilst looking more impressive in every outing. However, despite 3 solid title defences (including beating Sarritzu in Italy) Mthalane has been inactive since October 2011, a notably absence from the ring.
The challenger, Ricardo Nunez, who will be fighting at home will go into this bout with the feeling that he's probably a slight favourite, due to the home field advantage with Mthalane needing to go from South Africa to Panama. Though if he's expecting anything other than a tough night ahead I'd be very surprised.
Nunez debuted back in 2006 and showed some really impressive power and finishing as he stopped his first 6 opponents, 5 of them in the opening round and actually started his career 10-0 (9) before suffering the first loss of his career in 2008. It what could only be described as a giant upset Nunez was stopped by the hard hitting journeyman William De Sousa in just 37 seconds.
Despite suffering his first loss Nunez swiftly rebuilt his career and ran up 7 more wins (6 by T/KO) as he moved to 17-1 (15). Sadly his winning run would again come to an end prematurely, this time at the hands of power and exciting Filipino Drian Francisco who almost beheaded Nunez in round 5 before eventually knocking him out in what turned out to be a real beat down. Despite looking really poor against Francisco (and I mean really poor) Nunez proved his chin as he literally ate power shots from Francisco before finally being laid out.
Since losing to Francisco we've seen Nunez dropping down to Flyweight from Super Flyweight a change that seems to have really helped him rebuild career once again. Nunez is now on a 7 fight winning streak which has seen him stopping 5 opponents including Carlos Tamara the former IBF Light Flyweight champion, a win that helped Nunez to get this world title opportunity.
With an aggressive mindset Nunez is very fun to watch and whilst he's not particularly quick he has has a must watch style of fighting. Not only does Nunez have genuinely hurtful power but he also really likes to let his hands go with a bit of a reckless abandon at times and whilst his defense is sloppy (to say the least) he appears to be able to take a solid shot or two, in fact from the number of shots he took from Francisco he can take an awful lot of flush shots. He appears to like to grind opponents down and whilst having heavy hands he's probably not quite what you'd term as a concussive puncher, certainly not at the top level.
Despite the fact Nunez will have the crowd behind him I just don't think that'll be enough to win him the bout. Mthalane is the more talented fighter, he's much more defensively sound, more technical in the ring and whilst possible not quite as powerful he's more likely to land his blows cleanly than Nunez. Whilst a decision would likely favour Nunez I don't see it going that far as I don't think Nunez will be able to cope with the hard accurate counters of Mthalane.
Prediction-Mthalane TKO8
Interestingly in the same division just weeks later the WBA "super" title and the WBO title will be unified as Hernan "Tyson" Maruqez (34-2, 25) faces Brian Viloria (31-3-0-3, 18), a bout between the winners would be a huge fight for the division and the sort of bout that would deserve a major TV slot in the US.
South African Mthalane is, like compatriot Nkosinathi Joyi (who defends against Mario Rodriguez on the same night), very under-rated by the international boxing community. This is due to 3 separate reasons firstly his weight (112lbs) which generally doesn't appeal to US, secondly he's not been featured much on US television (thus hiding him from the US TV audience) and thirdly in his only US fight to date he was stopped, on cuts by the highly touted Nonito Donaire. Despite the lack of exposure he is very talented and he does a lot of things very well. Whilst he's not lighting quick, or has dynamite in his fists he is a very solid fighter with a good defense, hurtful power and solid technique as well as excellent composure.
Mthalane made his professional debut way back in 2000 and won his first 14 fights before being shockingly stopped in 2004 by the then national Flyweight champion Nkqubela Gwazela in round 11. Mthalane bounced back well from his first defeat and claimed the South African Flyweight title less than 2 years later by stopping Akhona Aliva in 6 rounds.
Having made a number of defenses of his South African title Mthalane moved into the world level with an excellent victory over former world title challenger Hussein Hussein in an IBF eliminator. Having got the #1 ranking Mthalane went to the US to face the then champion Nonito Donaire. Despite putting up a solid effort against Donaire, Mthalane was cut in round 6 and unfortunately it took the steam out of his attack before the doctor stopped the bout. Prior to the 6th round Mthalane had out landed Donaire and had appeared to have won rounds 4 and 5 as he seriously pushed the highly rated Filipino hard.
Since losing to Donaire, Mthalane has been on a 6 fight winning streak which has seen him claiming the IBF Flyweight title (that had been vacated by Donaire) by defeating the teak tough Julio Cesar Miranda. As well as winning the title Mthalane has made 3 defenses of the belt by defeating fellow South African Zolani Tete (TKO5), current IBF Light Flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (TKO5) and former WBO title challenger challenger Andrea Sarritzu (TKO7). Whilst looking more impressive in every outing. However, despite 3 solid title defences (including beating Sarritzu in Italy) Mthalane has been inactive since October 2011, a notably absence from the ring.
The challenger, Ricardo Nunez, who will be fighting at home will go into this bout with the feeling that he's probably a slight favourite, due to the home field advantage with Mthalane needing to go from South Africa to Panama. Though if he's expecting anything other than a tough night ahead I'd be very surprised.
Nunez debuted back in 2006 and showed some really impressive power and finishing as he stopped his first 6 opponents, 5 of them in the opening round and actually started his career 10-0 (9) before suffering the first loss of his career in 2008. It what could only be described as a giant upset Nunez was stopped by the hard hitting journeyman William De Sousa in just 37 seconds.
Despite suffering his first loss Nunez swiftly rebuilt his career and ran up 7 more wins (6 by T/KO) as he moved to 17-1 (15). Sadly his winning run would again come to an end prematurely, this time at the hands of power and exciting Filipino Drian Francisco who almost beheaded Nunez in round 5 before eventually knocking him out in what turned out to be a real beat down. Despite looking really poor against Francisco (and I mean really poor) Nunez proved his chin as he literally ate power shots from Francisco before finally being laid out.
Since losing to Francisco we've seen Nunez dropping down to Flyweight from Super Flyweight a change that seems to have really helped him rebuild career once again. Nunez is now on a 7 fight winning streak which has seen him stopping 5 opponents including Carlos Tamara the former IBF Light Flyweight champion, a win that helped Nunez to get this world title opportunity.
With an aggressive mindset Nunez is very fun to watch and whilst he's not particularly quick he has has a must watch style of fighting. Not only does Nunez have genuinely hurtful power but he also really likes to let his hands go with a bit of a reckless abandon at times and whilst his defense is sloppy (to say the least) he appears to be able to take a solid shot or two, in fact from the number of shots he took from Francisco he can take an awful lot of flush shots. He appears to like to grind opponents down and whilst having heavy hands he's probably not quite what you'd term as a concussive puncher, certainly not at the top level.
Despite the fact Nunez will have the crowd behind him I just don't think that'll be enough to win him the bout. Mthalane is the more talented fighter, he's much more defensively sound, more technical in the ring and whilst possible not quite as powerful he's more likely to land his blows cleanly than Nunez. Whilst a decision would likely favour Nunez I don't see it going that far as I don't think Nunez will be able to cope with the hard accurate counters of Mthalane.
Prediction-Mthalane TKO8
Interestingly in the same division just weeks later the WBA "super" title and the WBO title will be unified as Hernan "Tyson" Maruqez (34-2, 25) faces Brian Viloria (31-3-0-3, 18), a bout between the winners would be a huge fight for the division and the sort of bout that would deserve a major TV slot in the US.
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