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 WBA interim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WBA interim. Show all posts
Friday, 8 November 2013
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Bryan Vasquez v Rene Gonzalez
In one of this weekend's "over looked" world title fights Costa Rican Bryan Vasquez (31-1, 17) looks to reclaim the WBA "interim" Super Featherweight title that he held until losing to WBA "regular" champion Takashi Uchiyama.
Whilst on paper the idea of a fighter wanting an interim title might sound odd, Vasquez actually made for a decent interim champion. If of course we view interim championship status as a sign that a tighter is a solid contender.
Vasquez will be fighting the little known Nicaraguan Rene Gonzalez (31-5-1-1, 23), a man who boasts several notable losses but little in terms of noteworthy victories. In fact in his only notable bouts Vasquez has been beaten by Urbano Antillon, Humberto Mauro Gutierrez, Dante Jordan and Daniel Estrada. Effectively pushing him to the very extreme fringes of "title contender".
Vasquez, despite losing to Uchiyama, impressed me when he faced by far the best Super Featherweight on the planet. Uchiyama is a scary guy in the ring, defensively sound with dynamite in both hands. Vasquez however wasn't intimidated and went after him using his speed and skill, before finally being undone by Uchiyama's power.
It's fair to say that on the back of his showing with the Japanese fighter, Vasquez probably deserves a top 20 ranking at absolute worst. In fact his key limitation is the fact he's not a puncher. He's fast, smooth, has lovely combinations, good foot work but can't keep a phenom like Uchiyama away with his light shots.
Against Gonzalez however Vasquezs's combinations and movement may serve him well as he fires out an eye catching flurry and gets away whilst the crowd roar him on.
Although Gonzalez's record looks like he has a decent punch on him with 23 stoppages from 31 wins one needs to delve a bit deeper. Of those stoppages 10 came in his first 10 bouts whilst only 3 have come in his last 10. Basically his power hasn't carried up as he's faced tougher opponents. He of course still carries some sting on his punches but it'd not as concussive as one may think.
What's perhaps more telling about Gonzalez is the fact he's tough. In his 38 fight career he has been stopped just the once, an 11th round retirement to the dangerous Daniel Estrada back in 2011. He has however been down several times, notably being dropped 3 times by Israel Hector Enrique Perez in his second most recent contest at 130lbs.
It's harder to find footage of Gonzalez than it is of Vasquez though what footage I did find didn't make him look that great. In fact he looked quite slow and not that tight skills wise. There is a decent fighter there, but decent is about the nicest I can be.
I'll admit it, I like Vasquez and may be biased here, though I'd be shocked if the Costa Rican doesn't take a clear decision against Gonzalez who will give his all but not have enough to catch up with one of the sports many hidden fighters.
Prediction-Vasquez UD12
Whilst on paper the idea of a fighter wanting an interim title might sound odd, Vasquez actually made for a decent interim champion. If of course we view interim championship status as a sign that a tighter is a solid contender.
Vasquez will be fighting the little known Nicaraguan Rene Gonzalez (31-5-1-1, 23), a man who boasts several notable losses but little in terms of noteworthy victories. In fact in his only notable bouts Vasquez has been beaten by Urbano Antillon, Humberto Mauro Gutierrez, Dante Jordan and Daniel Estrada. Effectively pushing him to the very extreme fringes of "title contender".
Vasquez, despite losing to Uchiyama, impressed me when he faced by far the best Super Featherweight on the planet. Uchiyama is a scary guy in the ring, defensively sound with dynamite in both hands. Vasquez however wasn't intimidated and went after him using his speed and skill, before finally being undone by Uchiyama's power.
It's fair to say that on the back of his showing with the Japanese fighter, Vasquez probably deserves a top 20 ranking at absolute worst. In fact his key limitation is the fact he's not a puncher. He's fast, smooth, has lovely combinations, good foot work but can't keep a phenom like Uchiyama away with his light shots.
Against Gonzalez however Vasquezs's combinations and movement may serve him well as he fires out an eye catching flurry and gets away whilst the crowd roar him on.
Although Gonzalez's record looks like he has a decent punch on him with 23 stoppages from 31 wins one needs to delve a bit deeper. Of those stoppages 10 came in his first 10 bouts whilst only 3 have come in his last 10. Basically his power hasn't carried up as he's faced tougher opponents. He of course still carries some sting on his punches but it'd not as concussive as one may think.
What's perhaps more telling about Gonzalez is the fact he's tough. In his 38 fight career he has been stopped just the once, an 11th round retirement to the dangerous Daniel Estrada back in 2011. He has however been down several times, notably being dropped 3 times by Israel Hector Enrique Perez in his second most recent contest at 130lbs.
It's harder to find footage of Gonzalez than it is of Vasquez though what footage I did find didn't make him look that great. In fact he looked quite slow and not that tight skills wise. There is a decent fighter there, but decent is about the nicest I can be.
I'll admit it, I like Vasquez and may be biased here, though I'd be shocked if the Costa Rican doesn't take a clear decision against Gonzalez who will give his all but not have enough to catch up with one of the sports many hidden fighters.
Prediction-Vasquez UD12
Friday, 27 September 2013
Alberto Rossel v Jose Alfredo Zuniga
With a staggering 6 world title bouts taking place this weekend it's fair to say that some will be ignored by fans. My guess is that the most ignored will be in Peru as Peru's first ever world champion Alberto Rossel (30-8, 13) defends his WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title.
Rossel, looking for the third defense of his belt, will be facing Mexican Jose Alfredo Zuniga (11-4-1, 5) a man I must admit I know very, very little about.
Whilst Zuniga is a mystery to me Rossel has been a bit of a curiosity of mine. He's a man who is certainly not a genuine top fighter in the 108lbs division. He'd not stand a chance with fighter like Kazuto Ioka, Roman Gonzalez, Donnie Nietes, Moises Fuentes or Johnriel Casimero. Saying that however he's not completely awful.
Aged 35 Rossel has been in with a genuine who's who of the lower divisions. He has faced, and lost, to Daniel Reyes, Ivan Calderon, Brian Viloria, Luis Alberto Lazarte, Vusi Malinga and Hugo Fidel Cazares. Losing to those guys however isn't something that should shame any fighter, he tested himself and lost to some great names.
Since the loss to Cazares, Rossel has been on a 6 fight winning streak, highlighted by his victory over Jose Alfredo Rodriguez for the WBA interim belt, and subsequent defenses against Karluis Diaz and Walter Tello, who in all honesty were undeserving title challengers themselves.
In terms of his style Rossel is a scrappy fighter. He's not particularly exciting, or entertaining but due to his status as Peru's first, and only world champion he does have a solid following. His combination of little power and not the greatest of work rate causes many of his bouts to be tough to watch and hard to scored but whilst in Peru he's going to be very difficult to defeat.
Whilst Rossel has faced a string of quality names, Zuniga himself has faced one or two recognisable names, most notably Gannigan Lopez, who he is 1-1 against though also Ulises Lara and Luis Ceja, defeating both with the victory over Ceja coming just a few months ago. It's probably fair to say that Zuniga is getting this bout thanks to the victory over Ceja which is all well and good until you realise he was just 1-1-1 going in to that bout.
Ranked #10 by the WBA Zuniga is the third successive "weak" challenger to Rossel's throne and should again come up short. I actually do expect to see Rossel pushed hard, he's nothing great, but I expect, with the fight being in Peru he'll take a narrow decision, but there is a reason why this fight is being completely ignored by fans, and that's due to the quality of the match up and legitimacy of Rossel's title.
Prediction-Rossel UD12
Rossel, looking for the third defense of his belt, will be facing Mexican Jose Alfredo Zuniga (11-4-1, 5) a man I must admit I know very, very little about.
Whilst Zuniga is a mystery to me Rossel has been a bit of a curiosity of mine. He's a man who is certainly not a genuine top fighter in the 108lbs division. He'd not stand a chance with fighter like Kazuto Ioka, Roman Gonzalez, Donnie Nietes, Moises Fuentes or Johnriel Casimero. Saying that however he's not completely awful.
Aged 35 Rossel has been in with a genuine who's who of the lower divisions. He has faced, and lost, to Daniel Reyes, Ivan Calderon, Brian Viloria, Luis Alberto Lazarte, Vusi Malinga and Hugo Fidel Cazares. Losing to those guys however isn't something that should shame any fighter, he tested himself and lost to some great names.
Since the loss to Cazares, Rossel has been on a 6 fight winning streak, highlighted by his victory over Jose Alfredo Rodriguez for the WBA interim belt, and subsequent defenses against Karluis Diaz and Walter Tello, who in all honesty were undeserving title challengers themselves.
In terms of his style Rossel is a scrappy fighter. He's not particularly exciting, or entertaining but due to his status as Peru's first, and only world champion he does have a solid following. His combination of little power and not the greatest of work rate causes many of his bouts to be tough to watch and hard to scored but whilst in Peru he's going to be very difficult to defeat.
Whilst Rossel has faced a string of quality names, Zuniga himself has faced one or two recognisable names, most notably Gannigan Lopez, who he is 1-1 against though also Ulises Lara and Luis Ceja, defeating both with the victory over Ceja coming just a few months ago. It's probably fair to say that Zuniga is getting this bout thanks to the victory over Ceja which is all well and good until you realise he was just 1-1-1 going in to that bout.
Ranked #10 by the WBA Zuniga is the third successive "weak" challenger to Rossel's throne and should again come up short. I actually do expect to see Rossel pushed hard, he's nothing great, but I expect, with the fight being in Peru he'll take a narrow decision, but there is a reason why this fight is being completely ignored by fans, and that's due to the quality of the match up and legitimacy of Rossel's title.
Prediction-Rossel UD12
Friday, 9 August 2013
Oscar Escandon v Nehomar Cermeno
The Super Bantamweight division is a bit of a funny division at the moment with 1 stand out fighter, Guillermo Rigondeaux, and a number of fighters all looking for their place in the division. Amongst those fighters in the "chasing group" are guys like Scott Quigg, Carl Frampton, Shingo Wake, Leo Santa Cruz, Jhonathan Romero and Oscar Escandon.
The unbeaten Escandon (22-0, 15) of Colombia will look for his biggest victory to date on August 10th as he takes on former world title holder Nehomar Cermeno (21-5-1, 13), victory that could well see Escandon become one of the leading contenders in the 122lb division and the WBA Interim Super Bantamweight champion.
Aged 29 Escandon is unlike most typical Colombian fighters. He's not the typical raw banger that we've come to expect from the country with the likes of Edison Miranda and Breidis Prescott, in fact he's more of the "new breed" of Colombian's like Middleweight prospect Alex Theran.
Sure Escandon is heavy handed, not destructive but heavy handed, though he combines his power with a solid amateur background of around 200 fights, including bouts at the highest level. He's not an out and out skillster but he is well schooled and uses those skills from his amateur days to good effect.
With many Colombian's being sluggers it's nice to see that Escandon can fight as an educated pressure fighter, as he showed against Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar when he used a lovely variety of punches to head and body, was relentless and fun to watch. His defense can often go out the window showing he does have some traits of being a typical Colombian but more often than not shows he can use his boxing skills when needed, as he did against Ever Garcia Hernandez.
There is certainly plenty to like about Escandon who appears capable of boxing on the back foot or forcing the action on the front foot. Though there are also worries to be had about him. To date he has only been 10 rounds once, against the very limited Nelson Cantero and his best win as a professional is one over Cuellar, who was then 17-0. The lack of experience in 12 round contests is a massive worry for fans of Escandon here.
Whilst this is a chance for Escandon to announce himself on the world stage it's also a chance for Cermeno, of Venezuela to rebuild his seriously faltering career.
Just 4 years ago Cermeno was the WBA interim Bantamweight champion. He had a 2009 to remember scoring 2 victories over the excellent Cristian Mijares and defeating the then credible Alejandro Valdez, all in Mexico.
Since the victory over Valdez however Cermeno has really struggled winning just 2 of 8 contests. Whilst most of Cermeno's losses in that run have come to good fighters in the form of Anselmo Moreno, twice, Victor Terrazas, Fernando Montiel and Alexander Bakhtin it's become fair to say that he's now looking very much a washed up fighter.
At his best Cermeno was a tricky fighter, no single quality really stood out as world class but he was difficult to read, he could be very cautious at times but always seemed to know when to strike. He seemed able, somehow, to control the distance and pace of a fight without having anything close to exceptional speed or power, though he did have a decent work rate.
Aged 33, 34 in November, Cermeno is now an old fighter, especially for someone in the lower weights. His recent form and age would suggest that he's certainly beyond his best, probably still good enough to beat most fringe contenders but unlikely to ever beat a genuine world class opponent again.
Cermeno might be on a seriously slide but he's a fighter who is proven over the 12 rounds, a distance he has gone 6 times in his 27 fights. In fact he's gone 10 or more rounds in 9 of his contests so far. This is probably his key advantage, and something that will likely be seen late in the fight, if it goes that far.
Prime for prime this a match up that I'd fave Cermeno in. Stylistically he was a frustrating opponent to fight. Now though, with his confidence shot, I'll be going with Escandon to do enough to take a hard fought decision in a bout that might not always be fun to watch but will be interesting through out.
Prediction-Escandon UD12
The unbeaten Escandon (22-0, 15) of Colombia will look for his biggest victory to date on August 10th as he takes on former world title holder Nehomar Cermeno (21-5-1, 13), victory that could well see Escandon become one of the leading contenders in the 122lb division and the WBA Interim Super Bantamweight champion.
Aged 29 Escandon is unlike most typical Colombian fighters. He's not the typical raw banger that we've come to expect from the country with the likes of Edison Miranda and Breidis Prescott, in fact he's more of the "new breed" of Colombian's like Middleweight prospect Alex Theran.
Sure Escandon is heavy handed, not destructive but heavy handed, though he combines his power with a solid amateur background of around 200 fights, including bouts at the highest level. He's not an out and out skillster but he is well schooled and uses those skills from his amateur days to good effect.
With many Colombian's being sluggers it's nice to see that Escandon can fight as an educated pressure fighter, as he showed against Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar when he used a lovely variety of punches to head and body, was relentless and fun to watch. His defense can often go out the window showing he does have some traits of being a typical Colombian but more often than not shows he can use his boxing skills when needed, as he did against Ever Garcia Hernandez.
There is certainly plenty to like about Escandon who appears capable of boxing on the back foot or forcing the action on the front foot. Though there are also worries to be had about him. To date he has only been 10 rounds once, against the very limited Nelson Cantero and his best win as a professional is one over Cuellar, who was then 17-0. The lack of experience in 12 round contests is a massive worry for fans of Escandon here.
Whilst this is a chance for Escandon to announce himself on the world stage it's also a chance for Cermeno, of Venezuela to rebuild his seriously faltering career.
Just 4 years ago Cermeno was the WBA interim Bantamweight champion. He had a 2009 to remember scoring 2 victories over the excellent Cristian Mijares and defeating the then credible Alejandro Valdez, all in Mexico.
Since the victory over Valdez however Cermeno has really struggled winning just 2 of 8 contests. Whilst most of Cermeno's losses in that run have come to good fighters in the form of Anselmo Moreno, twice, Victor Terrazas, Fernando Montiel and Alexander Bakhtin it's become fair to say that he's now looking very much a washed up fighter.
At his best Cermeno was a tricky fighter, no single quality really stood out as world class but he was difficult to read, he could be very cautious at times but always seemed to know when to strike. He seemed able, somehow, to control the distance and pace of a fight without having anything close to exceptional speed or power, though he did have a decent work rate.
Aged 33, 34 in November, Cermeno is now an old fighter, especially for someone in the lower weights. His recent form and age would suggest that he's certainly beyond his best, probably still good enough to beat most fringe contenders but unlikely to ever beat a genuine world class opponent again.
Cermeno might be on a seriously slide but he's a fighter who is proven over the 12 rounds, a distance he has gone 6 times in his 27 fights. In fact he's gone 10 or more rounds in 9 of his contests so far. This is probably his key advantage, and something that will likely be seen late in the fight, if it goes that far.
Prime for prime this a match up that I'd fave Cermeno in. Stylistically he was a frustrating opponent to fight. Now though, with his confidence shot, I'll be going with Escandon to do enough to take a hard fought decision in a bout that might not always be fun to watch but will be interesting through out.
Prediction-Escandon UD12
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Kompayak Porpramook v Koki Eto
This weeks first title fight takes place in Thailand as WBA "interim" Flyweight champion Kompayak Porpramook (50-4, 35) defends his title against little known Japanese fighter Koki Eto (13-2-1, 10).
The hardcore amongst us will know a bit about Porpramook who is best known for his 2011 war with Adrian Hernandez for the WBC Flyweight title. That bout may not have have screamed "big names" or even "give me attention" but it was a genuinely wonderful battle that Porpramook came out on top of stopping Hernandez in the 10th round.
Although Porpramook would lose in a rematch to Hernandez in Mexico in 2012 he had shown his heart and warrior spirit by climbing back to his feet twice before the referee waved an early conclusion to events.
In terms of style Porpramook is a bit of the "typical Thai" in that he's more of a fighter than a boxer. He's not a concussive puncher or a defensively intelligent fighter but he has an excellent engine that seems to never stop, he often applies constant offensive work and walks forward through whatever is thrown his way. Often this is enough to over-whelm his opponents but a clever boxer who has an equally impressive tank could defeat him or a powerful hitter who can dent his chin also seems likely to beat him (as Hernandez did).
Whilst the hardcore will Porpramook only the extremely hardcore will know too much about Koki Eto. One of 3 boxing brothers Eto is technically awful, he's almost without a defense or a clue of what to do in the actual ring though he does, rather thankfully for his career, have a dynamite punch, the heart of a lion and the refusal to just lose.
Aged 25 Eto is significantly younger in both "real years" and "ring years" though his youth hasn't been spent using reflexes to avoid shots, instead he often seems to take a few in the hope of landing his dynamite fists.
The power of Eto really cannot be over-stated. He may technically have just a 62.5% KO rate from all his fights but 3 of his 6 distance bouts were in his first 4 contests and his 2nd round stoppage of Denchailek Kratingdaenggym last November showed that power as he left the Thai reeling from wild and genuinely reckless blows.
With the power of Eto and the toughness of Porpramook I think we're actually in for a lower level version of the recent Omar Figueroa v Nihito Arakawa bout from this past Saturday. This time however the tough veteran probably manages to see off his hard hitting and much younger rival after a few shaky moments.
Prediction-Porpramook TKO7
The hardcore amongst us will know a bit about Porpramook who is best known for his 2011 war with Adrian Hernandez for the WBC Flyweight title. That bout may not have have screamed "big names" or even "give me attention" but it was a genuinely wonderful battle that Porpramook came out on top of stopping Hernandez in the 10th round.
Although Porpramook would lose in a rematch to Hernandez in Mexico in 2012 he had shown his heart and warrior spirit by climbing back to his feet twice before the referee waved an early conclusion to events.
In terms of style Porpramook is a bit of the "typical Thai" in that he's more of a fighter than a boxer. He's not a concussive puncher or a defensively intelligent fighter but he has an excellent engine that seems to never stop, he often applies constant offensive work and walks forward through whatever is thrown his way. Often this is enough to over-whelm his opponents but a clever boxer who has an equally impressive tank could defeat him or a powerful hitter who can dent his chin also seems likely to beat him (as Hernandez did).
Whilst the hardcore will Porpramook only the extremely hardcore will know too much about Koki Eto. One of 3 boxing brothers Eto is technically awful, he's almost without a defense or a clue of what to do in the actual ring though he does, rather thankfully for his career, have a dynamite punch, the heart of a lion and the refusal to just lose.
Aged 25 Eto is significantly younger in both "real years" and "ring years" though his youth hasn't been spent using reflexes to avoid shots, instead he often seems to take a few in the hope of landing his dynamite fists.
The power of Eto really cannot be over-stated. He may technically have just a 62.5% KO rate from all his fights but 3 of his 6 distance bouts were in his first 4 contests and his 2nd round stoppage of Denchailek Kratingdaenggym last November showed that power as he left the Thai reeling from wild and genuinely reckless blows.
With the power of Eto and the toughness of Porpramook I think we're actually in for a lower level version of the recent Omar Figueroa v Nihito Arakawa bout from this past Saturday. This time however the tough veteran probably manages to see off his hard hitting and much younger rival after a few shaky moments.
Prediction-Porpramook TKO7
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Diego Gabriel Chaves v Keith Thurman
Not many bouts have "explosive" written all over them but the upcoming interim WBA Welterweight title bout certainly does as hard hitting Argentinian Diego Gabriel Chaves (22-0, 18) takes on American Keith Thurman (20-0-0-1, 18) live on Showtime.
Although Chaves is relatively unknown by the wider boxing public he's a fighter who has been receiving a lot of TV time in his homeland courtesy of TYC Sports and thus he's gotten plenty of attention as a fighter there.
Prior to turning professional in 2008 Chaves had been a solid amateur competing at 2007 World Amateur Championships and claiming various national and international titles. It was this amateur experience that helped him get the attention from TC Sports, it was also his amateur success that saw him being dubbed "La Joya" ("The Jewel"). Thankfully for Chaves he has transitioned from the amateurs to the professionals well and really developed as a hard hitter.
Chaves claimed the interim title around a year ago when he stopped Ismael El Massoudi in 2 rounds. Since then he has defended the belt once defeating Jose Miranda, also in 2 round. Unfortunately Chaves has been out of the ring since last September when he beat Miranda and this sort of a layoff could see him with a lot of ring rust, especially when you consider he had fought 21 times in the previous 4 years. Unfortunately part of this layoff was spent waiting for a fight in Dubai against Paulie Malignaggi, a fight that failed to come to fruition.
Style wise Chaves is a hard hitter as mentioned above but is a wild fighter. He's defensively open and appears to leave a lot of chances for a fighter to tag him. His defensive woes have seen him suffering several knockdowns however with his power he's looked like he is happy to have a firefight in the hope of taking his opponents out. He can box when he needs to, though often shows the Latin American machismo rather than his boxing brain.
Whilst Chaves is unknown to the US fanbase it's fair to assume that Thurman isn't. He's a brash but yet charismatic fighter who has been on US TV numerous times often as part of a major undercard giving him major exposure to fans.
Like Chaves, Thurman is a big puncher with genuine lights out power if he connects cleanly and hurtful thudding power if he only manages to land glancing shots. Although he's a big puncher he's more well schooled than Chaves, he's not technically perfect by any stretch of the imagination but he's more defensively sound and more aware of what he's doing when he comes forward and throws. Also like Chaves he has a solid amateur background with more than 100 amateur wins.
Nicknamed "One Time", Thurman seems to feel that he only needs one chance to stop an opponent though he did show last time out that he can box for 12 rounds as he took a decision over the always tough Jan Zaveck. This has been Thurman's only bout to go 12 rounds though I feel he's happy to have proved he can manage the championship distance.
When two big bangers face each other you'd usually favour the more technically rounded fighter and with that in mind I've got to with Thurman here. Both men have question marks hanging over them for sure but with Chaves defensive issues it's going to be next to impossible to back him against any top power puncher.
Of course Chaves could be the next Maidana, Matthysse or Abregu but personally I see him being just a level below that of Abregu, a fringe contender as opposed to a world level guy.
Prediction-Thurman TKO5
Although Chaves is relatively unknown by the wider boxing public he's a fighter who has been receiving a lot of TV time in his homeland courtesy of TYC Sports and thus he's gotten plenty of attention as a fighter there.
Prior to turning professional in 2008 Chaves had been a solid amateur competing at 2007 World Amateur Championships and claiming various national and international titles. It was this amateur experience that helped him get the attention from TC Sports, it was also his amateur success that saw him being dubbed "La Joya" ("The Jewel"). Thankfully for Chaves he has transitioned from the amateurs to the professionals well and really developed as a hard hitter.
Chaves claimed the interim title around a year ago when he stopped Ismael El Massoudi in 2 rounds. Since then he has defended the belt once defeating Jose Miranda, also in 2 round. Unfortunately Chaves has been out of the ring since last September when he beat Miranda and this sort of a layoff could see him with a lot of ring rust, especially when you consider he had fought 21 times in the previous 4 years. Unfortunately part of this layoff was spent waiting for a fight in Dubai against Paulie Malignaggi, a fight that failed to come to fruition.
Style wise Chaves is a hard hitter as mentioned above but is a wild fighter. He's defensively open and appears to leave a lot of chances for a fighter to tag him. His defensive woes have seen him suffering several knockdowns however with his power he's looked like he is happy to have a firefight in the hope of taking his opponents out. He can box when he needs to, though often shows the Latin American machismo rather than his boxing brain.
Whilst Chaves is unknown to the US fanbase it's fair to assume that Thurman isn't. He's a brash but yet charismatic fighter who has been on US TV numerous times often as part of a major undercard giving him major exposure to fans.
Like Chaves, Thurman is a big puncher with genuine lights out power if he connects cleanly and hurtful thudding power if he only manages to land glancing shots. Although he's a big puncher he's more well schooled than Chaves, he's not technically perfect by any stretch of the imagination but he's more defensively sound and more aware of what he's doing when he comes forward and throws. Also like Chaves he has a solid amateur background with more than 100 amateur wins.
Nicknamed "One Time", Thurman seems to feel that he only needs one chance to stop an opponent though he did show last time out that he can box for 12 rounds as he took a decision over the always tough Jan Zaveck. This has been Thurman's only bout to go 12 rounds though I feel he's happy to have proved he can manage the championship distance.
When two big bangers face each other you'd usually favour the more technically rounded fighter and with that in mind I've got to with Thurman here. Both men have question marks hanging over them for sure but with Chaves defensive issues it's going to be next to impossible to back him against any top power puncher.
Of course Chaves could be the next Maidana, Matthysse or Abregu but personally I see him being just a level below that of Abregu, a fringe contender as opposed to a world level guy.
Prediction-Thurman TKO5
Saturday, 8 June 2013
Erislandy Lara v Alfredo Angulo
In a very exciting looking bout for the "interim" WBA Light Middleweight title the hard hitting Alfredo Angulo (22-2, 18) takes on Cuban skillster Erislandy Lara (17-1-2, 11). The bout, a true puncher v boxer bout could well end up being the fight of the night depending on how the styles clash.
Mexican Angulo, known as "El Perro" ("The Dog"), is one of the sport's must watch fighters with his hard punching and all action style. Technically he's limited but he's tough, very fun to watch and at his best he's a destructive freak of nature capable of hurting fighters with every punch in his arsenal.
To date Angulo's only losses have come to Kermit Cintron (via a decision) and James Kirkland (courtesy of a stoppage), though both have been "excused" by his fans. The loss to Cintron apparently occurred when Angulo was suffering from a cold whilst the loss to Kirkland happened when Angulo was having problems with his life.
Unfortunately several problems have hindered Angulo over the years, mainly issues regarding a visa whilst almost derailed his career together as he was kept out of the ring for more than a year following the loss to Kirkland (and he'd only fought once in the previous 12 months prior to that bout). With those issues sorted however Angulo looks to be back for good and will be looking to make up for lost time.
In Cuban fighter Erislandy Lara we have an incredibly well schooled southpaw, who, at his best can be either be destructive and take people out in a round (ask Ronald Hearns about that) or be a very skillful fighter dominating with his excellent technique.
Despite having 3 blotches on his record, Lara is widely considered to have been unlucky in 2 of those. A loss to Paul Williams in 2011 was widely considered to be one of the robberies of the year whilst a 9 round technical draw with Vanes Martirosyan was slated as it protected Martirosyan's unbeaten record. His actual "legitimate" blotch came in 2011 as he drew with Carlos Molina in a fight many felt Molina had deserved to win.
Going in to this bout the obvious prediction is that Lara will do what Cintron did to Angulo and box and move, make Angulo follow him whilst landing counters time and time again. This wouldn't be a shock. Lara is a much, much, much better boxer than Cintron. Though on the flip of that Lara has been jobbed in the past (the Martirosyan and Williams results) so he may decide to try to take it out of the judges hands. If Lara decides to take the fight to Angulo instead of relying on his boxing we may end up with a thriller.
If Lara decides to trade it's hard to see him winning, though if he's too negative he could throw rounds away. I actually think we'll see a lot from Lara who will mix things up whilst Angulo comes forward relentlessly looking to unleash his ferocious power. This will give the bout a very close feeling and make the decision an "on your edge" type of call.
Prediction-Lara UD12 (but close)
Mexican Angulo, known as "El Perro" ("The Dog"), is one of the sport's must watch fighters with his hard punching and all action style. Technically he's limited but he's tough, very fun to watch and at his best he's a destructive freak of nature capable of hurting fighters with every punch in his arsenal.
To date Angulo's only losses have come to Kermit Cintron (via a decision) and James Kirkland (courtesy of a stoppage), though both have been "excused" by his fans. The loss to Cintron apparently occurred when Angulo was suffering from a cold whilst the loss to Kirkland happened when Angulo was having problems with his life.
Unfortunately several problems have hindered Angulo over the years, mainly issues regarding a visa whilst almost derailed his career together as he was kept out of the ring for more than a year following the loss to Kirkland (and he'd only fought once in the previous 12 months prior to that bout). With those issues sorted however Angulo looks to be back for good and will be looking to make up for lost time.
In Cuban fighter Erislandy Lara we have an incredibly well schooled southpaw, who, at his best can be either be destructive and take people out in a round (ask Ronald Hearns about that) or be a very skillful fighter dominating with his excellent technique.
Despite having 3 blotches on his record, Lara is widely considered to have been unlucky in 2 of those. A loss to Paul Williams in 2011 was widely considered to be one of the robberies of the year whilst a 9 round technical draw with Vanes Martirosyan was slated as it protected Martirosyan's unbeaten record. His actual "legitimate" blotch came in 2011 as he drew with Carlos Molina in a fight many felt Molina had deserved to win.
Going in to this bout the obvious prediction is that Lara will do what Cintron did to Angulo and box and move, make Angulo follow him whilst landing counters time and time again. This wouldn't be a shock. Lara is a much, much, much better boxer than Cintron. Though on the flip of that Lara has been jobbed in the past (the Martirosyan and Williams results) so he may decide to try to take it out of the judges hands. If Lara decides to take the fight to Angulo instead of relying on his boxing we may end up with a thriller.
If Lara decides to trade it's hard to see him winning, though if he's too negative he could throw rounds away. I actually think we'll see a lot from Lara who will mix things up whilst Angulo comes forward relentlessly looking to unleash his ferocious power. This will give the bout a very close feeling and make the decision an "on your edge" type of call.
Prediction-Lara UD12 (but close)
Thursday, 6 June 2013
Yuriorkis Gamboa v Darley Perez
Unbeaten Cuban superstar Yuriorkis Gamboa (22-0, 16) looks to claim his 3rd division title as he moves up to Lightweight and fights for the WBA "interim" title against unbeaten Colombian Darley Perez (28-0, 19). The bout, part of the under-card in Canada for the Chad Dawson v Adonis Stevenson bout, has a lot of promise on paper, but will it deliver?
Gamboa has been a "must watch" fighter since his amateur days where he claimed a number of medals across various international tournaments with his speed, skill, combinations and venomous power.
Since turning professional in 2007 Gamboa has claimed titles at both Featherweight (WBA and IBF) and Super Featherweight (WBA "interim") and scored notable wins over a mini who's who including Daniel Ponce De Leon, Jorge Solis, Jonathan Victor Barros and Orlando Salido. He has combined exciting offense with poor defense and become a genuinely fun to watch fighter with an air of vulnerability to pair off against his aggression.
Gamboa has got some amazing traits and some wonderful weapons in his arsenal. With out a doubt he's a talent though he also has his issues. His chin is poor, his move up to 135lbs may be a step too far and he's got very questionable stamina. If he doesn't take an opponent out early he slows (a lot) and can become very negative, as we saw last time out against tough Filipino Michel Farenas and although he has got the skills to rely on there is questions about just how good he is on the back foot.
If Gamboa can't hurt an opponents with his blistering shots that land amazingly quick, then we could be in for a very good contest.
In Darley Perez we have a very "un-Colombian, Colombian". A typical Colombian is a crude but very power puncher, in Perez however we have a well schooled former amateur standout who competed at 2 World Amateur Championships and an Olympic games. Sure he failed to medal in those competitions but he did compete at the very highest level in the unpaid ranks.
Since turning professional in 2009 Perez has been a busy fighter averaging around 7 fights a year. These have generally been at a low level though last year he did manage a notable step up as he out pointed the highly regarded Bahodir Mamadjonov (who was too small in all honesty for Perez). Without a doubt he's got an impressive looking record on paper, but behind raw the numbers there is little real quality there.
Perez lacks the punch of a typical Colombian and this is a real shame going in to this bout. With a "Colombian" punch Perez could have made Gamboa respect him, sadly with out it, it's likely that Gamboa will be happy to try and take him out.
Whilst Gamboa struggled with Farenas last time out, Farenas is genuinely a gatekeeper (and could potentially claim a world title before his careers over). Perez however struggled with relative nobody Julio Camano (who has now lost 8 of his most recent 9) who dropped him twice. If Carmano can drop Perez then Gamboa can stop Perez.
Gamboa's one problem here, will be the natural size disadvantage. He'll be giving away height and reach, though his skill should manage to over-come both of these issues with out too many difficulties due to Perez's limitations.
Prediction-Gamboa TKO5
Gamboa has been a "must watch" fighter since his amateur days where he claimed a number of medals across various international tournaments with his speed, skill, combinations and venomous power.
Since turning professional in 2007 Gamboa has claimed titles at both Featherweight (WBA and IBF) and Super Featherweight (WBA "interim") and scored notable wins over a mini who's who including Daniel Ponce De Leon, Jorge Solis, Jonathan Victor Barros and Orlando Salido. He has combined exciting offense with poor defense and become a genuinely fun to watch fighter with an air of vulnerability to pair off against his aggression.
Gamboa has got some amazing traits and some wonderful weapons in his arsenal. With out a doubt he's a talent though he also has his issues. His chin is poor, his move up to 135lbs may be a step too far and he's got very questionable stamina. If he doesn't take an opponent out early he slows (a lot) and can become very negative, as we saw last time out against tough Filipino Michel Farenas and although he has got the skills to rely on there is questions about just how good he is on the back foot.
If Gamboa can't hurt an opponents with his blistering shots that land amazingly quick, then we could be in for a very good contest.
In Darley Perez we have a very "un-Colombian, Colombian". A typical Colombian is a crude but very power puncher, in Perez however we have a well schooled former amateur standout who competed at 2 World Amateur Championships and an Olympic games. Sure he failed to medal in those competitions but he did compete at the very highest level in the unpaid ranks.
Since turning professional in 2009 Perez has been a busy fighter averaging around 7 fights a year. These have generally been at a low level though last year he did manage a notable step up as he out pointed the highly regarded Bahodir Mamadjonov (who was too small in all honesty for Perez). Without a doubt he's got an impressive looking record on paper, but behind raw the numbers there is little real quality there.
Perez lacks the punch of a typical Colombian and this is a real shame going in to this bout. With a "Colombian" punch Perez could have made Gamboa respect him, sadly with out it, it's likely that Gamboa will be happy to try and take him out.
Whilst Gamboa struggled with Farenas last time out, Farenas is genuinely a gatekeeper (and could potentially claim a world title before his careers over). Perez however struggled with relative nobody Julio Camano (who has now lost 8 of his most recent 9) who dropped him twice. If Carmano can drop Perez then Gamboa can stop Perez.
Gamboa's one problem here, will be the natural size disadvantage. He'll be giving away height and reach, though his skill should manage to over-come both of these issues with out too many difficulties due to Perez's limitations.
Prediction-Gamboa TKO5
Friday, 19 April 2013
Kompayak Porpramook v Jean Piero Perez
Our first title fight this week sees former WBC Light Flyweight champion Kompayak Porpramook (49-4, 34) attempting to add the WBA "interim" Flyweight title to his collection of belts as he takes on the unheralded Jean Piero Perez (20-5-1, 14) of Venezuela who himself has actually held the WBA "interim" Flyweight title.
This bout, being fought on Friday in Khon Kaen, Thailand will allow the winner a big chance to make their name in one of boxing's most entertaining, though over-looked divisions.
Going in to the bout it's fair to say that the 32 year Perez is the under-dog. No fighters ever enjoy going to Thailand to fight as the bouts held in the country are usually fought outdoors in the middle of the day with blistering heat and uncomfortable humidity, giving the away fighters a notable disadvantage.
Despite being the away fighter Perez is used to fighting on hostile territory having fought only once in Venezuela. In fact so far in his career date Perez has fought in Panama, Mexico, Argentina, the Philippines and Costa Rica as well as his homeland. In fact it was only 7 months ago that he almost scored the biggest win of his career losing a majority decision to the highly touted Milan Melindo.
In a 9 year long career Perez has been stopped just twice with the most notable of those coming against talented Argentinian Juan Carlos Reveco who connected with a sickening body shot whilst the other came in a shoot out with Rafael Concepcion. Those losses,and the defeat to Melindo, are of course the most notable men that Perez has faced, though he does hold victories over several fringe names such as Ronald Ramos, Jhon Alberto Molina and Jesus Jimenez.
Perez is a fighter with a record that indicates he has a solid punch on him though he hasn't stopped anyone in or around the world level before and his power, whilst likely respectable, isn't going to starch out people with a single shot. In fact his bout with Reveco seemed to suggest his power was vastly over-rated by his record.
Whilst Perez is highly unknown outside of his bouts with Reveco and Melindo it's fair to say that Porpramook is more well known. He was not only involved in 2011 FOTY contender with Adrian Hernandez for the WBC Light Flyweight but also fought a memorable (though less exciting) rematch with Hernandez as well as a bout Australian Hussein Hussein and a controversial victory over Jonathan Taconing.
Although the Thai is stepping up a weight for this title bout the 30 year old is a fighter who had probably been struggling to make the 108lb Light Flyweight division. He'd won the interim PABA Light Flyweight title way back in 2003 and seems to have finally allowed his powerful, yet short (5'0) body to fill out properly. This could prove to be an issue at the higher weight where fighters tend to hit harder and take a shot better, though it could well be an advantage for Porpramook who may feel more comfortable with out needing to drain down.
The stockily built fighter who has amassed a staggering 53 professional bouts since 2000 is a highly impressive 49-2 (34) in his homeland. This has seen Porpramook unbeaten at home since losing to Allan Ranada way back in 2002 an impressive run that has only been interrupted by losses in Mexico and Australia.
With a bucket load of heart and an aggressive mindset Porpramook is a fighter who is destined to be in fun to watch bouts as long as he and his opponents can last, as a result this promise to be an all action battle for at least a few rounds. Sadly I can't help but feel that the conditions will play a major part in the bout and favour the home man.
Prediction-Porpramook TKO8
This bout, being fought on Friday in Khon Kaen, Thailand will allow the winner a big chance to make their name in one of boxing's most entertaining, though over-looked divisions.
Going in to the bout it's fair to say that the 32 year Perez is the under-dog. No fighters ever enjoy going to Thailand to fight as the bouts held in the country are usually fought outdoors in the middle of the day with blistering heat and uncomfortable humidity, giving the away fighters a notable disadvantage.
Despite being the away fighter Perez is used to fighting on hostile territory having fought only once in Venezuela. In fact so far in his career date Perez has fought in Panama, Mexico, Argentina, the Philippines and Costa Rica as well as his homeland. In fact it was only 7 months ago that he almost scored the biggest win of his career losing a majority decision to the highly touted Milan Melindo.
In a 9 year long career Perez has been stopped just twice with the most notable of those coming against talented Argentinian Juan Carlos Reveco who connected with a sickening body shot whilst the other came in a shoot out with Rafael Concepcion. Those losses,and the defeat to Melindo, are of course the most notable men that Perez has faced, though he does hold victories over several fringe names such as Ronald Ramos, Jhon Alberto Molina and Jesus Jimenez.
Perez is a fighter with a record that indicates he has a solid punch on him though he hasn't stopped anyone in or around the world level before and his power, whilst likely respectable, isn't going to starch out people with a single shot. In fact his bout with Reveco seemed to suggest his power was vastly over-rated by his record.
Whilst Perez is highly unknown outside of his bouts with Reveco and Melindo it's fair to say that Porpramook is more well known. He was not only involved in 2011 FOTY contender with Adrian Hernandez for the WBC Light Flyweight but also fought a memorable (though less exciting) rematch with Hernandez as well as a bout Australian Hussein Hussein and a controversial victory over Jonathan Taconing.
Although the Thai is stepping up a weight for this title bout the 30 year old is a fighter who had probably been struggling to make the 108lb Light Flyweight division. He'd won the interim PABA Light Flyweight title way back in 2003 and seems to have finally allowed his powerful, yet short (5'0) body to fill out properly. This could prove to be an issue at the higher weight where fighters tend to hit harder and take a shot better, though it could well be an advantage for Porpramook who may feel more comfortable with out needing to drain down.
The stockily built fighter who has amassed a staggering 53 professional bouts since 2000 is a highly impressive 49-2 (34) in his homeland. This has seen Porpramook unbeaten at home since losing to Allan Ranada way back in 2002 an impressive run that has only been interrupted by losses in Mexico and Australia.
With a bucket load of heart and an aggressive mindset Porpramook is a fighter who is destined to be in fun to watch bouts as long as he and his opponents can last, as a result this promise to be an all action battle for at least a few rounds. Sadly I can't help but feel that the conditions will play a major part in the bout and favour the home man.
Prediction-Porpramook TKO8
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Javier Fortuna v Miguel Zamudio
The first world title fight of this week sees unbeaten Dominican Javier Fortuna (21-0-0-1, 15) make the first defense of his WBA "interim" Featherweight title as he takes on little known Mexican Miguel Zamudio (25-1-1, 13) on ESPN Friday Night Fights.
Going in to the bout the champion is a clear favourite. Although Fortuna was disappointing last time out when he defeated Patrick Hyland in an unexpectedly tough test he is a very talented fighter who not only has an excellent amateur pedigree but also some fantastic natural attributes include lightning speed and brilliant athleticism. In fact as an athlete Fortuna is genuinely special with both his hands, feet and reactions being incredible.
Sadly for Fortuna despite his attributes he does seem to, at times, switch off and leave the boxing behind whilst deciding to use his legs more than his hands. This can make for an awful fight when he decides to almost run from an exchange rather than box and move. Sadly when Fortuna realised he wasn't going to budge Hyland he decided to run and this is probably the lingering imaage some fight fans have of him.
At his best Fortuna is an explosive fun to watch fighter who can drop an opponent with an instant as he did when he faced Cristobal Cruz and if we see that version of Fortuna here he could easily put the memory of the Hyland stinker behind him. If he's however "showing off" his negativity we could be in for a long boring night.
The challenger is much less well known than the champion and in fact it's fair to say only a handful of boxing fans will have seen much, if anything of Miguel Zamudio and that probably should tell you a lot about him in all honesty. The Mexican, who has been a professional for a little over 4 years has a very, very scratchy record which has seen him only fighting in Mexico so far and often against very limited opponents.
The most well known opponent of Zamudio is probably 20 year old Mexican Adrian Young who himself is merely a prospect (currently 17-0, 15). Young isn't only the most known fighter Zamubio has faced but he is also the man who defeated Zamudio via 2nd round TKO back in December 2009. This loss probably says more about Zamudio than any of his wins and would suggest that if Fortuna can connect he can finish this off very quickly.
Whilst on paper this looks like a good bout I sort of feel this is set up to let Fortuna score an eye catching stoppage and help make fans forget about the Hyland bout. I really can't see the talented Fortuna doing anything but blasting Zamudio out of there within 4 rounds.
Prediction-Fortuna TKO4
Please note-
After this preview went online Fortuna failed to make weight. He has been stripped of the title and will be unable to reclaim it.
Going in to the bout the champion is a clear favourite. Although Fortuna was disappointing last time out when he defeated Patrick Hyland in an unexpectedly tough test he is a very talented fighter who not only has an excellent amateur pedigree but also some fantastic natural attributes include lightning speed and brilliant athleticism. In fact as an athlete Fortuna is genuinely special with both his hands, feet and reactions being incredible.
Sadly for Fortuna despite his attributes he does seem to, at times, switch off and leave the boxing behind whilst deciding to use his legs more than his hands. This can make for an awful fight when he decides to almost run from an exchange rather than box and move. Sadly when Fortuna realised he wasn't going to budge Hyland he decided to run and this is probably the lingering imaage some fight fans have of him.
At his best Fortuna is an explosive fun to watch fighter who can drop an opponent with an instant as he did when he faced Cristobal Cruz and if we see that version of Fortuna here he could easily put the memory of the Hyland stinker behind him. If he's however "showing off" his negativity we could be in for a long boring night.
The challenger is much less well known than the champion and in fact it's fair to say only a handful of boxing fans will have seen much, if anything of Miguel Zamudio and that probably should tell you a lot about him in all honesty. The Mexican, who has been a professional for a little over 4 years has a very, very scratchy record which has seen him only fighting in Mexico so far and often against very limited opponents.
The most well known opponent of Zamudio is probably 20 year old Mexican Adrian Young who himself is merely a prospect (currently 17-0, 15). Young isn't only the most known fighter Zamubio has faced but he is also the man who defeated Zamudio via 2nd round TKO back in December 2009. This loss probably says more about Zamudio than any of his wins and would suggest that if Fortuna can connect he can finish this off very quickly.
Whilst on paper this looks like a good bout I sort of feel this is set up to let Fortuna score an eye catching stoppage and help make fans forget about the Hyland bout. I really can't see the talented Fortuna doing anything but blasting Zamudio out of there within 4 rounds.
Prediction-Fortuna TKO4
Please note-
After this preview went online Fortuna failed to make weight. He has been stripped of the title and will be unable to reclaim it.
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Javier Fortuna v Patrick Hyland
In a battle of unbeaten fighters Dominican Javier Fortuna (20-0-0-1, 15) takes on Irishman Patrick Hyland (27-0, 12) for the interim WBA Featherweight title in what should be a very intriguing match up for both men.
Going in to this match up I'd have to make the 29 year old Hyland the under-dog. Despite having a longer unbeaten record at 27 fights (dating back to 2004) he hasn't yet really been given a tough test, at least not a test that should prepare him for a world title bout. In fact looking over Hyland's record it's hard to see who was supposed to push him and see what he was really made of with the only "testing" opponent being former world title challenger Emmanuel Lucero (who had lost his previous 2 bouts, and is now 0-7 in his last 7).
Despite his paper record Hyland is regarded highly, especially in Ireland where he started his career. Despite starting his career in Ireland however he is now based in the US where he has fought his last 3 bouts (and 6 in total). Alongside his brothers Paul and Eddie he is seen as a potential draw amongst the Irish-American contingent however he's been somewhat protected due to the losses of his brothers who have had their limitations shown up.
As well as being untested Hyland has issues. He was pushed incredibly hard by Lucero who took his best power shots and kept coming, showing that Hyland doesn't have the power to force a tough opponent on to the back foot, in fact a tough fighter will likely be happy to take one to land one from him. Saying this however he has got solid skills and was a former stand out amateur who is well schooled and knows how to box. He also has Jersey Shore personality "Snooki" behind him and will likely have a bigger fan base in the arena.
Sadly for Hyland, whilst he's not tested, his opponent Javier Fortuna is tested and has been passing tests with ease. In fact the way he has been passing his tests has caught the eye of boxing fans around the globe who have began to rate Fortuna as one of the best emerging youngsters in the sport.
Aged just 23 the Dominican fighter has been fast tracked up the rankings building on his excellent amateur pedigree. His handlers have had no problems with matching him hard and that's why he is where he is so quickly. In just his 11th bout Fortuna suffered the only "black mark" on his record so far suffering an opening round No Contest with former Lightweight title contender Francisco Lorenzo and since then he has been destroying opponents with ease.
Amongst those beaten by Fortuna are recent world title challenger Miguel Roman, previously unbeaten prospect Yuandale Evans and most recently former world champion Cristobal Cruz. He has so far shown amazing power, speed, and whilst he's still a little crude he has the natural gifts to get away with his mistakes.
Personally it's the difference in power and in competition that make me favour Fortuna and favour him big. I just can't see Hyland having the power to punish Fortuna's mistakes whilst Fortuna himself will just bully and beat down Hyland before forcing stoppage.
Prediction-Fortuna TKO5
Going in to this match up I'd have to make the 29 year old Hyland the under-dog. Despite having a longer unbeaten record at 27 fights (dating back to 2004) he hasn't yet really been given a tough test, at least not a test that should prepare him for a world title bout. In fact looking over Hyland's record it's hard to see who was supposed to push him and see what he was really made of with the only "testing" opponent being former world title challenger Emmanuel Lucero (who had lost his previous 2 bouts, and is now 0-7 in his last 7).
Despite his paper record Hyland is regarded highly, especially in Ireland where he started his career. Despite starting his career in Ireland however he is now based in the US where he has fought his last 3 bouts (and 6 in total). Alongside his brothers Paul and Eddie he is seen as a potential draw amongst the Irish-American contingent however he's been somewhat protected due to the losses of his brothers who have had their limitations shown up.
As well as being untested Hyland has issues. He was pushed incredibly hard by Lucero who took his best power shots and kept coming, showing that Hyland doesn't have the power to force a tough opponent on to the back foot, in fact a tough fighter will likely be happy to take one to land one from him. Saying this however he has got solid skills and was a former stand out amateur who is well schooled and knows how to box. He also has Jersey Shore personality "Snooki" behind him and will likely have a bigger fan base in the arena.
Sadly for Hyland, whilst he's not tested, his opponent Javier Fortuna is tested and has been passing tests with ease. In fact the way he has been passing his tests has caught the eye of boxing fans around the globe who have began to rate Fortuna as one of the best emerging youngsters in the sport.
Aged just 23 the Dominican fighter has been fast tracked up the rankings building on his excellent amateur pedigree. His handlers have had no problems with matching him hard and that's why he is where he is so quickly. In just his 11th bout Fortuna suffered the only "black mark" on his record so far suffering an opening round No Contest with former Lightweight title contender Francisco Lorenzo and since then he has been destroying opponents with ease.
Amongst those beaten by Fortuna are recent world title challenger Miguel Roman, previously unbeaten prospect Yuandale Evans and most recently former world champion Cristobal Cruz. He has so far shown amazing power, speed, and whilst he's still a little crude he has the natural gifts to get away with his mistakes.
Personally it's the difference in power and in competition that make me favour Fortuna and favour him big. I just can't see Hyland having the power to punish Fortuna's mistakes whilst Fortuna himself will just bully and beat down Hyland before forcing stoppage.
Prediction-Fortuna TKO5
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Yuriorkis Gamboa v Michael Farenas
Former Cuban amateur sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa (21-0, 16) will return to the ring for the first time in 15 months as he faces unheralded Filipino Michael Farenas (34-3-4-1, 26) in a bout for the interim WBA Super Featherweight title. Although Gamboa goes in to this bout as a big favourite, I can't help but feel this will be a much tougher test than many anticipate.
Gamboa made his name as one of a number of truly elite Cuban amateurs alongside the likes of Guillermo Rigondeaux and Odlanier Solis and was seen as a professional champion in the making from day 1. It didn't take long for Gamboa to fulfill on his promise and within 2 years of being a professional he had already claimed the WBA Featherweight title stopping Jose Rojas in 10 rounds.
Having won a world title in just his 15th professional contest, Gamboa went from strength to strength and scored title defenses against the likes of Whyber Garcia, Rogers Mtagwa and Jonathan Victor Barros before unifying with IBF champion Orlando Salido. As the Unified WBA/IBF champion Gamboa was arguably the division's #1 fighter though sadly he got stripped of both titles and also suffered various issues with promoter Bob Arum.
It's those promotional issues that have really stopped Gamboa from being a real star. He has the talent and the style to be a major pound-for-pound player on the world stage though Arum prevented Gamboa from getting to popular Puerto Rican slugger Juan Manuel Lopez in what would have been a mega fight and Gamboa refused to allow Arum to bully him into a fight with Brandon Rios (Rios would later go on to claim a controversial victory over Richard Abril in one of the robbery of the year contenders).
The promotional issues surrounding Gamboa have now been sorted out with rap star 50 Cent acting as Gamboa's promoter though Gamoa will, rather ironically be fighting on a Top Rank (Bob Arum).
In terms of his fighting style Gamboa is at his best boxing offensively with his lightning quick and genuinely hurtful combinations and flurries which see him living up to his moniker of "El Ciclon de Guantánamo" (The Cyclone of Guantanamo). Though Gamboa has proven that he's not just a 1-trick pony and that he can also box on his toes going in and out with either single shots or short bursts of punches before getting back out to safety. Early in his career however Gamboa was dropped several times as he took too many risks, something he has since corrected about his style.
Whilst everyone in boxing knows all about Yuriorkis Gamboa, the people that know Michael Farenas are much fewer, however this won't be the first time he's mixed in world class, having fought a 3 round technical draw with WBA Super Featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama earlier this year. As well as the draw with Uchiyama Farenas has also faced known fighters such as Walter Estrada, Daniel Attah, Fernando Beltran and Marlon Aguilar (who was the last man to defeat him).
Promoted by former world champion Gerry Penalosa, Farenas has come on leaps and bounds in recent years and is a much improved fighter to the man who started his career 8-2-1, however he's certainly not a proven world beater and his power at fringe level is limited. Oddly he was giving Uchiyama a hard time early in their fight prior to the fight ending head clash and looked rather tough, something that should be evidenced from his record of never having been stopped.
Although he's far from a known quantity in America, Farenas will know that the crowd will have a lot of fans pulling for his countryman Manny Pacquiao in the main event and he may well take some energy from them as he looks for a major upset to close out the year. Sadly however his best chance comes in the fact that Gamboa has been out of the ring for over a year and has fought only 12 rounds in the past 27 months, this sort of inactivity for a fighter like Gamboa can really mess with his speed, timing and sharpness. This isn't like Denton Vassell v Ronnie Heffron a week back in Britain, Gamboa is a fighter who needs his speed, Vassell was a power house who slowly broke down Heffron.
Whilst Gamboa is rightfully the favourite, I'd certainly not count out an upset here as Farenas is confident, and Gamboa will be rusty.
Prediction-Gamboa UD (though with some difficult moments).
Gamboa made his name as one of a number of truly elite Cuban amateurs alongside the likes of Guillermo Rigondeaux and Odlanier Solis and was seen as a professional champion in the making from day 1. It didn't take long for Gamboa to fulfill on his promise and within 2 years of being a professional he had already claimed the WBA Featherweight title stopping Jose Rojas in 10 rounds.
Having won a world title in just his 15th professional contest, Gamboa went from strength to strength and scored title defenses against the likes of Whyber Garcia, Rogers Mtagwa and Jonathan Victor Barros before unifying with IBF champion Orlando Salido. As the Unified WBA/IBF champion Gamboa was arguably the division's #1 fighter though sadly he got stripped of both titles and also suffered various issues with promoter Bob Arum.
It's those promotional issues that have really stopped Gamboa from being a real star. He has the talent and the style to be a major pound-for-pound player on the world stage though Arum prevented Gamboa from getting to popular Puerto Rican slugger Juan Manuel Lopez in what would have been a mega fight and Gamboa refused to allow Arum to bully him into a fight with Brandon Rios (Rios would later go on to claim a controversial victory over Richard Abril in one of the robbery of the year contenders).
The promotional issues surrounding Gamboa have now been sorted out with rap star 50 Cent acting as Gamboa's promoter though Gamoa will, rather ironically be fighting on a Top Rank (Bob Arum).
In terms of his fighting style Gamboa is at his best boxing offensively with his lightning quick and genuinely hurtful combinations and flurries which see him living up to his moniker of "El Ciclon de Guantánamo" (The Cyclone of Guantanamo). Though Gamboa has proven that he's not just a 1-trick pony and that he can also box on his toes going in and out with either single shots or short bursts of punches before getting back out to safety. Early in his career however Gamboa was dropped several times as he took too many risks, something he has since corrected about his style.
Whilst everyone in boxing knows all about Yuriorkis Gamboa, the people that know Michael Farenas are much fewer, however this won't be the first time he's mixed in world class, having fought a 3 round technical draw with WBA Super Featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama earlier this year. As well as the draw with Uchiyama Farenas has also faced known fighters such as Walter Estrada, Daniel Attah, Fernando Beltran and Marlon Aguilar (who was the last man to defeat him).
Promoted by former world champion Gerry Penalosa, Farenas has come on leaps and bounds in recent years and is a much improved fighter to the man who started his career 8-2-1, however he's certainly not a proven world beater and his power at fringe level is limited. Oddly he was giving Uchiyama a hard time early in their fight prior to the fight ending head clash and looked rather tough, something that should be evidenced from his record of never having been stopped.
Although he's far from a known quantity in America, Farenas will know that the crowd will have a lot of fans pulling for his countryman Manny Pacquiao in the main event and he may well take some energy from them as he looks for a major upset to close out the year. Sadly however his best chance comes in the fact that Gamboa has been out of the ring for over a year and has fought only 12 rounds in the past 27 months, this sort of inactivity for a fighter like Gamboa can really mess with his speed, timing and sharpness. This isn't like Denton Vassell v Ronnie Heffron a week back in Britain, Gamboa is a fighter who needs his speed, Vassell was a power house who slowly broke down Heffron.
Whilst Gamboa is rightfully the favourite, I'd certainly not count out an upset here as Farenas is confident, and Gamboa will be rusty.
Prediction-Gamboa UD (though with some difficult moments).
Friday, 23 November 2012
Rendall Munroe v Scott Quigg
The "interim" WBA Super Bantamweight title is up for grabs on the undercard of Hatton v Senchenko as the unbeaten Scott Quigg (24-0-1, 17) rematches Rendall Munroe (24-2-1, 10). When these two men first met, some 5 months ago, their bout ended in disappointing fashion as Munroe, who was leading on 2 of the scorecards, suffered a nasty cut from a clash of heads causing a premature end to the bout in round 3.
Bury based banger Scott Quigg is the favourite going in to this bout, though many have been picking Munroe, due to the fact that Quigg isn't as good as the hype that surrounded him. Despite being a professional for 5 years Quigg has only really been fighting domestic opponents and although they were generally good domestic opponents, such as Jason Booth and Jamie Arthur neither were near world level when Quigg got to them. Worryingly however Arthur almost shocked Quigg and did drop the unbeaten man early in their fight.
Although powerful Quigg's boxing ability is very limited and he often makes very obvious mistakes with not only his defense but also his footwork, an issue from the fact that Quigg has come to boxing from a kick boxing background. So far many of his opponents have been unable to take advantage of those mistakes however Munroe did manage some very notable success when the two men first met. Despite this however Quigg, at distance, can be very effective with his power and natural size (he stands at a shocking 5'8"-huge for a Super Bantamweight).
Whilst Quigg has only mixed with domestic opponents, Munroe is much more experienced at the higher levels having scored victories over Kiko Martinez (twice), Simone Maludrottu and Victor Terrazas as well as losing in a 2010 WBC title tilt against Toshiaki Nishioka. As well as the experience edge he also has the better engine, and the more rounded package of skills, especially up close. However Munroe does have issues himself, notably that he's a slow starter, who often needs 3 or 4 rounds to really get going and that he's also not got fight changing power, instead needing to grind down opponents. However the biggest issue with Munroe is that he's 32 and has fought only 4 rounds in the last 14 months.
With this fight the big question is whether or not Quigg has the power and skills to keep Munroe off him. If Munroe is allowed to enforce his fight, set a high pace and work Quigg's body this could be a very hard night for the unbeaten fighter, however if Quigg can control the distance with his size and straight shots, something he tried in the first bout with mixed success, he could make this bout seem very easy.
For me I feel that Quigg will get the close rounds and just manage to nick a close decision, though at 12/5 I'll be having a small bet on Munroe hoping that his work rate will be rewarded on the score cards.
Prediction-Quigg Split Decision
Bury based banger Scott Quigg is the favourite going in to this bout, though many have been picking Munroe, due to the fact that Quigg isn't as good as the hype that surrounded him. Despite being a professional for 5 years Quigg has only really been fighting domestic opponents and although they were generally good domestic opponents, such as Jason Booth and Jamie Arthur neither were near world level when Quigg got to them. Worryingly however Arthur almost shocked Quigg and did drop the unbeaten man early in their fight.
Although powerful Quigg's boxing ability is very limited and he often makes very obvious mistakes with not only his defense but also his footwork, an issue from the fact that Quigg has come to boxing from a kick boxing background. So far many of his opponents have been unable to take advantage of those mistakes however Munroe did manage some very notable success when the two men first met. Despite this however Quigg, at distance, can be very effective with his power and natural size (he stands at a shocking 5'8"-huge for a Super Bantamweight).
Whilst Quigg has only mixed with domestic opponents, Munroe is much more experienced at the higher levels having scored victories over Kiko Martinez (twice), Simone Maludrottu and Victor Terrazas as well as losing in a 2010 WBC title tilt against Toshiaki Nishioka. As well as the experience edge he also has the better engine, and the more rounded package of skills, especially up close. However Munroe does have issues himself, notably that he's a slow starter, who often needs 3 or 4 rounds to really get going and that he's also not got fight changing power, instead needing to grind down opponents. However the biggest issue with Munroe is that he's 32 and has fought only 4 rounds in the last 14 months.
With this fight the big question is whether or not Quigg has the power and skills to keep Munroe off him. If Munroe is allowed to enforce his fight, set a high pace and work Quigg's body this could be a very hard night for the unbeaten fighter, however if Quigg can control the distance with his size and straight shots, something he tried in the first bout with mixed success, he could make this bout seem very easy.
For me I feel that Quigg will get the close rounds and just manage to nick a close decision, though at 12/5 I'll be having a small bet on Munroe hoping that his work rate will be rewarded on the score cards.
Prediction-Quigg Split Decision
Martin Murray v Jorge Navarro
With Ricky Hatton's big comeback fight against Vyacheslav Senchenko it'd be fair to assume that Hatton Promotions would have done things on the cheap, instead however they have 2 "world" titles. The most one sided of those, at least on paper, sees the talented Martin Murray (24-0-1, 10) facing Venezuelan Jorge Navarro (12-0, 10) for the WBA "interim" Middleweight title.
Sadly this fight looks a bit like a mismatch because not much is really known about Navarro, who, to say the least, is unknown. Despite his perfect record he hasn't really faced anyone of note, in fact his best opponent so far is Costa Rican Jaime Barboza, this makes it hard to gauge just how good he is. Worryingly however we do know that he was dropped by hard hitting journeyman Jhonatan Ricar. Whilst Ricar can hit hard he is limited and shouldn't have the type of skill to connect on a world class fighter.
As worrying as his competition, Navarro hasn't a great deal of experience. In fact he's only got 31 rounds of professional experience with 11 of those coming against Barboza and only 3 of his 12 fights have gone 3 or more rounds. As well as his inexperience as a fighter, he is also inexperienced at fighting abroad and so far has never fought outside of Latin America (with 10 fights in Panama and 2 in his native Venezuela).
Whilst Navarro is a bit of a mystery man, Englishman Martin Murray is generally considered to be one of the top 10 or so Middleweights in the world with rankings from Ring Magazine (#8) and Boxrec (#10) to back this up. Whilst Murray himself hasn't scored any massive wins, he was unlucky last year, in his most notable bout so far to only draw with German Felix Sturm.
As well as the result against Sturm, Murray holds notable victories over the likes of Carlos Nascimento, Shalva Jomardashvili and Siarhei Khomitski. All much more proven, and higher quality opponents than anyone Navarro has faced so far. With this in mind it's hard to see anything but a victory for Murray.
Although Murray's record doesn't show it, he's a hard working fighter who throws a solid amount of leather with a hurtful dig. His shots aren't concussive but they are nasty, especially to the body which I expect will be the key here as he looks to attack Navarro's body early on and drag the visitor in to the middle rounds before forcing a stoppage.
Prediction-Murray TKO7
Sadly this fight looks a bit like a mismatch because not much is really known about Navarro, who, to say the least, is unknown. Despite his perfect record he hasn't really faced anyone of note, in fact his best opponent so far is Costa Rican Jaime Barboza, this makes it hard to gauge just how good he is. Worryingly however we do know that he was dropped by hard hitting journeyman Jhonatan Ricar. Whilst Ricar can hit hard he is limited and shouldn't have the type of skill to connect on a world class fighter.
As worrying as his competition, Navarro hasn't a great deal of experience. In fact he's only got 31 rounds of professional experience with 11 of those coming against Barboza and only 3 of his 12 fights have gone 3 or more rounds. As well as his inexperience as a fighter, he is also inexperienced at fighting abroad and so far has never fought outside of Latin America (with 10 fights in Panama and 2 in his native Venezuela).
Whilst Navarro is a bit of a mystery man, Englishman Martin Murray is generally considered to be one of the top 10 or so Middleweights in the world with rankings from Ring Magazine (#8) and Boxrec (#10) to back this up. Whilst Murray himself hasn't scored any massive wins, he was unlucky last year, in his most notable bout so far to only draw with German Felix Sturm.
As well as the result against Sturm, Murray holds notable victories over the likes of Carlos Nascimento, Shalva Jomardashvili and Siarhei Khomitski. All much more proven, and higher quality opponents than anyone Navarro has faced so far. With this in mind it's hard to see anything but a victory for Murray.
Although Murray's record doesn't show it, he's a hard working fighter who throws a solid amount of leather with a hurtful dig. His shots aren't concussive but they are nasty, especially to the body which I expect will be the key here as he looks to attack Navarro's body early on and drag the visitor in to the middle rounds before forcing a stoppage.
Prediction-Murray TKO7
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Stanyslav Kashtanov v Server Yemurlayev
In the past I have regularly complained about how meaningless the WBA "interim" title is, and we see this issue raising it's head twice this weekend. We see it at Flyweight with Juan Carlos Reveco having a "stay busy" fight against Julian Rivera and we also see it in the Ukraine as the WBA's "interim" Super Middleweight title is on the line as Stanyslav Kashtanov (29-1, 16) faces compatriot Server Yemurlayev (22-0, 8) in what can only be described as having a title for titles sake.
The Super Middleweight division, as we all know, revolves around American star Andre Ward who is the WBA's "Super" champion and the WBC champion. Then we have Carl Froch (IBF champion), Arthur Abraham (WBO champion) and in December we will crown a new WBA "regular" champion as Brian Magee faces Mikkel Kessler. As well as this bunch of top class fighters we also have top contenders such as Lucien Bute, Robert Stieglitz, Andre Dirrell and Kelly Pavlik. Basically the division is stacked and sadly neither of the fighters fighting for WBA "interim" title deserves to be mentioned alongside the elite.
Of the two men Stanyslav Kashtanov is the better known fighter having been unlucky not to have actually claimed this very same title 15 months ago as he was controversially defeated by Karoly Balzsay. In that performance Kashtanov proved that he could hold his own at fringe world level and whilst he was unlucky to lose, he proved that he was perhaps a genuine future title contender.
Sadly however aside from the fight with Balzay, Kashtanov is really unproven with his "next best well known opponent" being Belorussian journeyman Kanstantsin Makhankou (who has genuinely fought a who's who, though sadly seems to have retired). This would suggest that whilst Kashtanov has got ability his actually level is really hard to determine.
Whilst I don't know a lot about Kashtanov it's fair to say I know a lot more about him than I know about Server Yemurlayev who turned professional in 2007 and has yet to face a really notable opponent, with the best opponent probably being Bernard Donfack.
What we do know about Yemurlayev is that he's not only untested, but has hardly done anything of note. He really has no power (a 36% stoppage rate) and yet has only been 10 or more rounds on 2 occasions, giving Kashtanov a big advantage in terms of rounds fought, ability to score stoppages and tested stamina.
When it comes to this fight it's hard to really say too much about either man, however I do favour that Kashtanov, mixing at a higher level will serve him well here.
Prediction-Kashtanov UD12
The Super Middleweight division, as we all know, revolves around American star Andre Ward who is the WBA's "Super" champion and the WBC champion. Then we have Carl Froch (IBF champion), Arthur Abraham (WBO champion) and in December we will crown a new WBA "regular" champion as Brian Magee faces Mikkel Kessler. As well as this bunch of top class fighters we also have top contenders such as Lucien Bute, Robert Stieglitz, Andre Dirrell and Kelly Pavlik. Basically the division is stacked and sadly neither of the fighters fighting for WBA "interim" title deserves to be mentioned alongside the elite.
Of the two men Stanyslav Kashtanov is the better known fighter having been unlucky not to have actually claimed this very same title 15 months ago as he was controversially defeated by Karoly Balzsay. In that performance Kashtanov proved that he could hold his own at fringe world level and whilst he was unlucky to lose, he proved that he was perhaps a genuine future title contender.
Sadly however aside from the fight with Balzay, Kashtanov is really unproven with his "next best well known opponent" being Belorussian journeyman Kanstantsin Makhankou (who has genuinely fought a who's who, though sadly seems to have retired). This would suggest that whilst Kashtanov has got ability his actually level is really hard to determine.
Whilst I don't know a lot about Kashtanov it's fair to say I know a lot more about him than I know about Server Yemurlayev who turned professional in 2007 and has yet to face a really notable opponent, with the best opponent probably being Bernard Donfack.
What we do know about Yemurlayev is that he's not only untested, but has hardly done anything of note. He really has no power (a 36% stoppage rate) and yet has only been 10 or more rounds on 2 occasions, giving Kashtanov a big advantage in terms of rounds fought, ability to score stoppages and tested stamina.
When it comes to this fight it's hard to really say too much about either man, however I do favour that Kashtanov, mixing at a higher level will serve him well here.
Prediction-Kashtanov UD12
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
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Jesus Silvestre v Takuya Mitamura
This weekend Mexican Jesus Silvestre (25-3, 18) will make the first defense of his WBA "interim" Minimunweight title as he faces unbeaten Japanese fighter Takuya Mitamura (12-0, 2) in a bout that appears to be much, much more meaningful than the bout that saw Silvestre claiming the belt.
Silvestre won the title just a few months back as he out pointed Panamanian Edwin Diaz (15-18, 5) in what I felt was a joke of a fight, so much so that I didn't even attempt to watch it. Whilst it poor that Diaz getting the shot despite a losing record, it was made even worse that the bout for the interim title came just weeks after the the "regular" title had been unified with the WBC title by Kazuto Ioka.
Whilst Silvestre will go into this match as the "champion" he is an awfully weak champion and has very few notable victories. In fact he's lost to his 3 best opponents (Paipharob Kokietgym, Donnie Nites and Jose Alfredo Rodriguez) whilst his best wins have come against the likes of Yader Escobar and Walter Rojas, who are far from special themselves.
Despite being just 22 years old, Silvestre has been a professional for almost 6 years and with 28 fights behind him, I really need to question how much he can actually improve. Sadly from the footage I've seen he's very wide up, and whilst he has a nice array of body punches he's defensively awful and doesn't have any sort of world class quality. Whilst he appears to be big and tough he simply can't keeping eating punches or his career will be over very quickly.
Whilst I don't think much of Silvestre he does have one saving grace, the fact he is fighting at home. In Mexico Silvestre is 25-1 (18) away from Mexico however he is 0-2, more interestingly is that Silvestre is 15-0 (12) in his home state of Nayarit, the same state as this upcoming fight.
Sadly whilst Silvestre isn't great he is a lot more well known than Takuya Mitamura, who appears to be very difficult to find any footage of. Despite this what I do know is that Mitamura is unbeaten in 12 fights since turning professional in 2008 having won all 12 of those fights.
Last year Mitamura won his professional title by claiming the Japanese Minimumweight title by out pointing the experienced Takashi Kunishige (who's best known for fighting Edgar Sosa in a WBC world title fight) and he has since defended that belt once by stopping Toshihiro Nakashima. Despite being the national champion, no one really thinks that Mitamura is the best Minimumweight in Japan after all the country has Kazuto Ioka, Akira Yaegashi and Katsunari Takayama however is likely the best "#4" in world boxing.
Sadly for Mitamura however he's not much of a puncher and he will struggle to get a decision in Mexico against a Mexican fighter. With this is in mind it's hard to feel that the challenger really has a chance. Unless Mitamura can stop Silvestre he'll not win.
Prediction-Silvestre UD
Silvestre won the title just a few months back as he out pointed Panamanian Edwin Diaz (15-18, 5) in what I felt was a joke of a fight, so much so that I didn't even attempt to watch it. Whilst it poor that Diaz getting the shot despite a losing record, it was made even worse that the bout for the interim title came just weeks after the the "regular" title had been unified with the WBC title by Kazuto Ioka.
Whilst Silvestre will go into this match as the "champion" he is an awfully weak champion and has very few notable victories. In fact he's lost to his 3 best opponents (Paipharob Kokietgym, Donnie Nites and Jose Alfredo Rodriguez) whilst his best wins have come against the likes of Yader Escobar and Walter Rojas, who are far from special themselves.
Despite being just 22 years old, Silvestre has been a professional for almost 6 years and with 28 fights behind him, I really need to question how much he can actually improve. Sadly from the footage I've seen he's very wide up, and whilst he has a nice array of body punches he's defensively awful and doesn't have any sort of world class quality. Whilst he appears to be big and tough he simply can't keeping eating punches or his career will be over very quickly.
Whilst I don't think much of Silvestre he does have one saving grace, the fact he is fighting at home. In Mexico Silvestre is 25-1 (18) away from Mexico however he is 0-2, more interestingly is that Silvestre is 15-0 (12) in his home state of Nayarit, the same state as this upcoming fight.
Sadly whilst Silvestre isn't great he is a lot more well known than Takuya Mitamura, who appears to be very difficult to find any footage of. Despite this what I do know is that Mitamura is unbeaten in 12 fights since turning professional in 2008 having won all 12 of those fights.
Last year Mitamura won his professional title by claiming the Japanese Minimumweight title by out pointing the experienced Takashi Kunishige (who's best known for fighting Edgar Sosa in a WBC world title fight) and he has since defended that belt once by stopping Toshihiro Nakashima. Despite being the national champion, no one really thinks that Mitamura is the best Minimumweight in Japan after all the country has Kazuto Ioka, Akira Yaegashi and Katsunari Takayama however is likely the best "#4" in world boxing.
Sadly for Mitamura however he's not much of a puncher and he will struggle to get a decision in Mexico against a Mexican fighter. With this is in mind it's hard to feel that the challenger really has a chance. Unless Mitamura can stop Silvestre he'll not win.
Prediction-Silvestre UD
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Liborio Solis v Victor Zaleta
WBA "interim" Super Flyweight champion Liborio Solis (14-3-1, 7) looks to make the second defense of his title as he faces Mexican challenger Victor Zaleta (20-2-1, 10) in a bout that really will only interest the hardcore of the hardcore. Sadly it's a bout that tells us everything we need to know about "interim" titles and why they are a waste of time for us, the fans.
Solis won the "interim" title last December by out pointing Mexican Jose Salgado in a split decision and since then he has made a solitary defense, by defeating the completely undeserving Argentinian Santiago Ivan Acosta (who had lost 7 of his previous 8 bouts!).
Prior to winning the "interim" title, Solis' career had been fought in relative obscurity mainly in his native Venezuela where he debuted back in 2000. It was in Venezuela that Solis would record his first 3 professional victories before suffering a technical draw with Jose Ignacio Sanchez. Oddly following this draw Solis' doesn't seem to have fought again for 5 years before resurfacing in 2007.
On his return to the ring, Solis scored 2 more victories at home before suffering his first loss as he traveled to Aruba and was out pointed by Yenifel Vicente. Solis would quickly bounce back and win his next 4 contests and also claim his first professional title (the Venezuelan Super Flyweight title) before suffering back to back losses away from home (SD9 to Henry Maldonado in Nicaragua, and a UD8 loss to Ricardo Nunez in Panama).
Since the loss to Nunez, Solis has been on a run of 5 straight wins with the highlight of those being the victory, in Mexico over Salgado for the title.
In terms of his style, I've seen pretty limited footage, however he's looked a talented fighter in all that I've seen. He's not a big hitter but lands cleanly with a huge variety of punches (on both the outside and inside) and looks a much more skilled all-round fighter than most other Venezuelans who tend to stand out for one reason another as opposed to being particularly rounded.
The challenger, Victor Zaleta, started his own professional career in 2007 and won his first 6 contests. Amazingly in those 6 bouts he defeated two former world champions (Eric Ortiz-former WBC Light Flyweight champion and Jose Antonio Aguirre-former WBO Minimumweight champion).
Zaleta suffered his first professional loss in his 7th bout as he was out pointed by Faustino Cupul in an attempt to claim the NABF Flyweight title however he bounced back quickly and claimed the vacant WBC FECOMBOX Super Flyweight title in his very next bout by stopping Gilberto Keb Baas. Despite having only fought 8 times up to this point Zaleta had defeated 2 "former" champions and one "future" champion, an impressive stat by anyone's standards.
Zaleta would swiftly move his record to 17-1 defending his WBC FECOMBOX title twice (including scoring a second win over Keb Baas) and adding the CABOFE Super Flyweight title to his cabinet before fighting for his first world title. Sadly for Zaleta he came up short against the incredibly talented Argentinian Omar Andres Narvaez in a bout for the WBO Super Flyweight title.
Since losing to Narvaez, Zaleta has won 3 and drawn one, and defended the WBC FECOMBOX Super Flyweight title twice. Worryingly however Zaleta has been downed in 2 of those 4 fights perhaps showing signs of struggling to make the 115lbs Super Flyweight limit and he has also been somewhat lucky not to have picked up another loss with 3 split decisions (including the draw) in those 4 bouts.
Despite an excellent start to his career Zaleta hasn't really fulfilled his early promise, however he is still a very hard working Mexican fighter, not the most skilled but he has a lot of heart and has got genuinely hurtful power (just ask Gilberto Keb Baas who was stopped in eye catching fashion in their first bout). Sadly however in his biggest fight to date he was totally outclassed by Narvaez who was far too good and almost made Zaleta freeze in the ring.
This is a pretty hard fight to call, though with the home advantage I have to go with Solis to retain his title. Whilst he may not hit hard enough to stop Zaleta I think he's probably a bit too skilled for the Mexican who will refuse to go away but will struggle to enforce his style on the bout.
Prediction- Solis UD12
Solis won the "interim" title last December by out pointing Mexican Jose Salgado in a split decision and since then he has made a solitary defense, by defeating the completely undeserving Argentinian Santiago Ivan Acosta (who had lost 7 of his previous 8 bouts!).
Prior to winning the "interim" title, Solis' career had been fought in relative obscurity mainly in his native Venezuela where he debuted back in 2000. It was in Venezuela that Solis would record his first 3 professional victories before suffering a technical draw with Jose Ignacio Sanchez. Oddly following this draw Solis' doesn't seem to have fought again for 5 years before resurfacing in 2007.
On his return to the ring, Solis scored 2 more victories at home before suffering his first loss as he traveled to Aruba and was out pointed by Yenifel Vicente. Solis would quickly bounce back and win his next 4 contests and also claim his first professional title (the Venezuelan Super Flyweight title) before suffering back to back losses away from home (SD9 to Henry Maldonado in Nicaragua, and a UD8 loss to Ricardo Nunez in Panama).
Since the loss to Nunez, Solis has been on a run of 5 straight wins with the highlight of those being the victory, in Mexico over Salgado for the title.
In terms of his style, I've seen pretty limited footage, however he's looked a talented fighter in all that I've seen. He's not a big hitter but lands cleanly with a huge variety of punches (on both the outside and inside) and looks a much more skilled all-round fighter than most other Venezuelans who tend to stand out for one reason another as opposed to being particularly rounded.
The challenger, Victor Zaleta, started his own professional career in 2007 and won his first 6 contests. Amazingly in those 6 bouts he defeated two former world champions (Eric Ortiz-former WBC Light Flyweight champion and Jose Antonio Aguirre-former WBO Minimumweight champion).
Zaleta suffered his first professional loss in his 7th bout as he was out pointed by Faustino Cupul in an attempt to claim the NABF Flyweight title however he bounced back quickly and claimed the vacant WBC FECOMBOX Super Flyweight title in his very next bout by stopping Gilberto Keb Baas. Despite having only fought 8 times up to this point Zaleta had defeated 2 "former" champions and one "future" champion, an impressive stat by anyone's standards.
Zaleta would swiftly move his record to 17-1 defending his WBC FECOMBOX title twice (including scoring a second win over Keb Baas) and adding the CABOFE Super Flyweight title to his cabinet before fighting for his first world title. Sadly for Zaleta he came up short against the incredibly talented Argentinian Omar Andres Narvaez in a bout for the WBO Super Flyweight title.
Since losing to Narvaez, Zaleta has won 3 and drawn one, and defended the WBC FECOMBOX Super Flyweight title twice. Worryingly however Zaleta has been downed in 2 of those 4 fights perhaps showing signs of struggling to make the 115lbs Super Flyweight limit and he has also been somewhat lucky not to have picked up another loss with 3 split decisions (including the draw) in those 4 bouts.
Despite an excellent start to his career Zaleta hasn't really fulfilled his early promise, however he is still a very hard working Mexican fighter, not the most skilled but he has a lot of heart and has got genuinely hurtful power (just ask Gilberto Keb Baas who was stopped in eye catching fashion in their first bout). Sadly however in his biggest fight to date he was totally outclassed by Narvaez who was far too good and almost made Zaleta freeze in the ring.
This is a pretty hard fight to call, though with the home advantage I have to go with Solis to retain his title. Whilst he may not hit hard enough to stop Zaleta I think he's probably a bit too skilled for the Mexican who will refuse to go away but will struggle to enforce his style on the bout.
Prediction- Solis UD12
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)