If someone wanted to know who my favourite US based boxer is right now I'd have to go with Leo Santa Cruz (25-0-1, 15), a destructive and hard working fighting machine who goes in to the ring with the intention of breaking down every opponent he faces. Santa Cruz is one of those truly exciting fighters who you just feel the need to watch. He can look unskilled at times but he's defensively smart and a well oiled offensive machine who cuts the distance and breaks down fighters with work to the head and body. There really is little to dislike about him.
This weekend sees Santa Cruz defending his WBC Super Bantamweight title for the first time as he takes on former Super Flyweight title challenger Cesar Seda (25-1, 17) from Puerto Rico. This bout, another in the long standing Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry has been tipped by some as potentially the most exciting fight of the weekend.
Although some are tipping this to be exciting I can't help but think this is a complete mismatch. Whilst Seda is a decent fighter his limitations were shown up when he faced Omar Andres Narvaez who out maneuvered and out worked Seda. Sure that was a few years ago but since then he hasn't beaten any one of any real note with victories over Miguel Tamayo and Lorenzo Trejo not really being the sort of things that would prepare anyone for facing Santa Cruz.
Seda's good, but Leo is amazing.
I expect Seda to know how good Leo is. Seda will have to try and create distance but Santa Cruz is so startlingly impressive at cutting off the ring that Seda will be walked down, broken down with vicious uppercuts up close and will eventually fold.
Expect this to be action packed but far too short to be a classic.
Prediction-Leo Santa Cruz TKO4
Showing posts with label WBC Super Bantamweight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WBC Super Bantamweight. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Thursday, 15 August 2013
Victor Terrazas v Leo Santa Cruz
When one talks about the most fun to watch fighters in world boxing it's hard not to including the name of Leo Santa Cruz (24-0-1, 14) a really fun to watch, all action fighter who is like a smaller and improved version of Antonio Margarito.
Santa Cruz, who made his name at Bantamweight, looks to step up to Super Bantamweight this week and claim the WBC title at 122lbs as he takes on fellow Mexican Victor Terrazas (37-2-1, 21) in an attempt to become a 2-weight world champion.
The lead story is of course that of Santa Cruz stepping up though for me the real story is that of the fight it's self, a story that is going to be a lot of fun as both men come to fight and both men tend to enjoy letting their hands go.
Terrazas won the title last time out taking a debated decision over the skilled Cristian Mijares, in a bout many felt Mijares had won. Although Terrazas was competitive through out it was a worry that he was dropped by Mijares and despite making a solid start Terrazas was looking like a tired fighter towards the end.
It's the stamina of Terrazas that really leaves me with questions. In his most recent loss, the only one that matters considering his first came on his debut, he started well against Rendall Munroe but tired out in the middle rounds and was stopped as must from exhaustion as anything else. It's fair to say that this is a big issue when when you fight someone who is busy, in your face and will grind you down mentally and physically.
Unfortunately for Terrazas, Santa Cruz is the type of fighter who get in your face from the opening bell, push you around with his strength and then beat you down with his relentless work rate that sees him going to the head and body in clusters. Although no single shot of Santa Cruz's is concussive the sheer number of them is draining and by the middle rounds most of his opponents have either been spent or are starting to think more about protecting themselves than trying to fight back.
Whilst it's true that Santa Cruz is going up a division he did appear to be massive at Bantamweight and aged just 25 he is certainly more of a natural Super Bantamweight now than a Bantamweight. In fact the move up a division may well see him not only maintaining his insane work rate but also have more force on every shot with the extra few pounds counting for a lot in these lower weights.
My view on this fight is that for 6 or 7 rounds we'll have some special. Both guys unloading shots on the other like rock-em-sock-em robots but in the second half of the fight the battle will slowly be beaten out of Terrazas who will be stopped in the later rounds, probably by his corner after a really bad round.
Prediction-Santa Cruz TKO10
Santa Cruz, who made his name at Bantamweight, looks to step up to Super Bantamweight this week and claim the WBC title at 122lbs as he takes on fellow Mexican Victor Terrazas (37-2-1, 21) in an attempt to become a 2-weight world champion.
The lead story is of course that of Santa Cruz stepping up though for me the real story is that of the fight it's self, a story that is going to be a lot of fun as both men come to fight and both men tend to enjoy letting their hands go.
Terrazas won the title last time out taking a debated decision over the skilled Cristian Mijares, in a bout many felt Mijares had won. Although Terrazas was competitive through out it was a worry that he was dropped by Mijares and despite making a solid start Terrazas was looking like a tired fighter towards the end.
It's the stamina of Terrazas that really leaves me with questions. In his most recent loss, the only one that matters considering his first came on his debut, he started well against Rendall Munroe but tired out in the middle rounds and was stopped as must from exhaustion as anything else. It's fair to say that this is a big issue when when you fight someone who is busy, in your face and will grind you down mentally and physically.
Unfortunately for Terrazas, Santa Cruz is the type of fighter who get in your face from the opening bell, push you around with his strength and then beat you down with his relentless work rate that sees him going to the head and body in clusters. Although no single shot of Santa Cruz's is concussive the sheer number of them is draining and by the middle rounds most of his opponents have either been spent or are starting to think more about protecting themselves than trying to fight back.
Whilst it's true that Santa Cruz is going up a division he did appear to be massive at Bantamweight and aged just 25 he is certainly more of a natural Super Bantamweight now than a Bantamweight. In fact the move up a division may well see him not only maintaining his insane work rate but also have more force on every shot with the extra few pounds counting for a lot in these lower weights.
My view on this fight is that for 6 or 7 rounds we'll have some special. Both guys unloading shots on the other like rock-em-sock-em robots but in the second half of the fight the battle will slowly be beaten out of Terrazas who will be stopped in the later rounds, probably by his corner after a really bad round.
Prediction-Santa Cruz TKO10
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Victor Terrazas v Cristian Mijares
In what is arguably the most over-looked bout of the weekend, Mexican skillster Cristian Mijares (36-2-1, 21) faces the criminally under-rated Victor Terrazas (47-6-2, 22) in a bout for the vacant WBC Super Bantamweight title. Sure we all know quite clearly right now that Guillermo Rigondeaux is the premier Bantamweight in the world thanks to his performance last week out boxing Nonito Donaire for the WBO and WBA "super" titles, but this is still a hugely promising bout between two Mexicans.
For Mijares, one of the most sound "boxers" Mexico has ever produced it's a chance to become a 3-time, 2 weight world champion after having had 2 title runs at Super Flyweight. It was of course at 115lbs that Mijares made his name as he first claimed the WBC "interim" belt, defeating Katsushige Kawashima in Japan (twice), before thoroughly out boxing the always fun to watch Jorge Arce in a thoroughly one sided domination.
Mijares's WBC title reign would see him defeating Jose Navarro, Alexander Munoz and Chatchai Sasakul. Although several of his fights were close on the cards it was a mystery as to how judges were scoring them close and really the judges in some cases should have been forced to explain their scorecards. Sadly however for Mijares his reign finally came to an end after 7 defenses of the WBC title and one of the WBA he had claimed from Munoz as Vic Darchinyan walked through him before scoring a stoppage in round 9 in eye catching fashion.
Following the loss to Darchinyan, Mijares would suffer back to back decision losses to Nehomar Cermeno in bouts for the WBA Bantamweight title as fans started to write off Mijares as a fighter who was done. Since those losses Cermeno back in 2009 however Mijares has totally rebuilt his career with 11 straight wins which saw him gaining the IBF Super Flyweight title (which he has since given up). This run of 11 wins has seen him defeating Francisco Arce, Juan Alberto Rosas and most notably Rafael Marquez.
As a pure boxer Mijares is a real joy. He can move and box with the best of them and unlike a typical Mexican he seems happier to avoid a battle of machismo than to get dragged in to one, though this is in part due to his less then average power which as seen his stoppage rate standing at a perfect 40%. Whilst this has seen him running up 401 professional rounds since his debut back in 1997 he hasn't taken 401 rounds of damage due to his defensive abilities which have, the Darchinyan fight aside, seen him remain on his feet at the final bell of every bout.
Although co-challenger Victor Terrazas is much less well known by the American boxing fans he's a figure who is pretty well known by the hardcore fans and even British fans oddly enough. The 30 year old, from Jalisco has been a professional since 2003 and although he lost bis debut (KO2 to Adrian Tellez) he has carved out an excellent career of his own.
Following his debut loss, Terrazas won 26 of his next 27 fights before fighting outside of Mexico for the first time in his career as he traveled to Britain to face Rendall Munroe in a WBC Bantamweight eliminator. Sadly for Terrazas the body of Munroe wore him down after a good start and in round 9 Terrazas was stopped following a terrific shot by Munroe (who went on to lose Nishioka in the eventual world title fight).
Since his loss to Munroe, Terrazas has been excellent adding 10 straight victories to his record including victories over Nehomar Cermeno (the man who twice beat Mijares) and Fernando Montiel as he's forced his way back into title contention.
Going in to this is genuinely an intriguing bout. Terrazas, as he showed against Montiel, is a fantastic pressure fighter who can be in your grill and grind you down (he dropped Montiel in that one left him bloodied), but on the opposite side Mijares is a genuine master boxer. If we go on the Darchinyan fight then it's hard to see Mijares winning, though Terrazas isn't Darchinyan, he's not as dynamite fisted or as conventional as the Armenian.
I'm a huge fan of Mijares though I just think with the styles involved here, Terrazas eventually grinds him down, though of course I'd not be shocked by Mijares putting on a master class of boxing and claiming a decision over his fellow Mexican. A really, really good match up.
Prediction-Terrazas TKO10
For Mijares, one of the most sound "boxers" Mexico has ever produced it's a chance to become a 3-time, 2 weight world champion after having had 2 title runs at Super Flyweight. It was of course at 115lbs that Mijares made his name as he first claimed the WBC "interim" belt, defeating Katsushige Kawashima in Japan (twice), before thoroughly out boxing the always fun to watch Jorge Arce in a thoroughly one sided domination.
Mijares's WBC title reign would see him defeating Jose Navarro, Alexander Munoz and Chatchai Sasakul. Although several of his fights were close on the cards it was a mystery as to how judges were scoring them close and really the judges in some cases should have been forced to explain their scorecards. Sadly however for Mijares his reign finally came to an end after 7 defenses of the WBC title and one of the WBA he had claimed from Munoz as Vic Darchinyan walked through him before scoring a stoppage in round 9 in eye catching fashion.
Following the loss to Darchinyan, Mijares would suffer back to back decision losses to Nehomar Cermeno in bouts for the WBA Bantamweight title as fans started to write off Mijares as a fighter who was done. Since those losses Cermeno back in 2009 however Mijares has totally rebuilt his career with 11 straight wins which saw him gaining the IBF Super Flyweight title (which he has since given up). This run of 11 wins has seen him defeating Francisco Arce, Juan Alberto Rosas and most notably Rafael Marquez.
As a pure boxer Mijares is a real joy. He can move and box with the best of them and unlike a typical Mexican he seems happier to avoid a battle of machismo than to get dragged in to one, though this is in part due to his less then average power which as seen his stoppage rate standing at a perfect 40%. Whilst this has seen him running up 401 professional rounds since his debut back in 1997 he hasn't taken 401 rounds of damage due to his defensive abilities which have, the Darchinyan fight aside, seen him remain on his feet at the final bell of every bout.
Although co-challenger Victor Terrazas is much less well known by the American boxing fans he's a figure who is pretty well known by the hardcore fans and even British fans oddly enough. The 30 year old, from Jalisco has been a professional since 2003 and although he lost bis debut (KO2 to Adrian Tellez) he has carved out an excellent career of his own.
Following his debut loss, Terrazas won 26 of his next 27 fights before fighting outside of Mexico for the first time in his career as he traveled to Britain to face Rendall Munroe in a WBC Bantamweight eliminator. Sadly for Terrazas the body of Munroe wore him down after a good start and in round 9 Terrazas was stopped following a terrific shot by Munroe (who went on to lose Nishioka in the eventual world title fight).
Since his loss to Munroe, Terrazas has been excellent adding 10 straight victories to his record including victories over Nehomar Cermeno (the man who twice beat Mijares) and Fernando Montiel as he's forced his way back into title contention.
Going in to this is genuinely an intriguing bout. Terrazas, as he showed against Montiel, is a fantastic pressure fighter who can be in your grill and grind you down (he dropped Montiel in that one left him bloodied), but on the opposite side Mijares is a genuine master boxer. If we go on the Darchinyan fight then it's hard to see Mijares winning, though Terrazas isn't Darchinyan, he's not as dynamite fisted or as conventional as the Armenian.
I'm a huge fan of Mijares though I just think with the styles involved here, Terrazas eventually grinds him down, though of course I'd not be shocked by Mijares putting on a master class of boxing and claiming a decision over his fellow Mexican. A really, really good match up.
Prediction-Terrazas TKO10
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Abner Mares v Anselmo Moreno
This weekend's stand out fight in the world of boxing sees the unbeaten Mexican Abner Mares (24-0-1, 13) attempt to defend his WBC Super Bantamweight title against the supremely talented Panamanian Anselmo Moreno (33-1-1, 12). Whilst neither man is a massive name outside of boxing, every boxing fan knows that these two are two genuinely elite fighters, both meeting in their prime.
Mares goes into this fight as the slight betting favourite and probably with good reason, he's the "house" fighter, the Golden Boy Promotions fighter and the one seen as a marketable fighter, especially with the Mexican audiences. However it's unfair to actually view this as the only reason why Mares would win. In fact Mares is a very hard working fighter, who throws relentless to both the head and body, he's young, he's strong and he's relentless. Also he's quickly improving.
Mares first came to the attention of most boxing fans back in 2010 when he pushed the then IBF Bantamweight champion Yonnhy Perez to a very hard fought draw. Following the Perez bout, Mares become one of the 4 men involved in Showtimes' 4-man Bantamweight tournament, a tournament Mares would come out the winner of thanks to victories over Vic Darchinyan and Joseph Agbeko. Despite beating both Darchinyan and Agbeko, many were unimpressed by Mares who had been lucky to win both fights with some favourable officiating (especially by Pat Russell in the Agbeko fight).
Thankfully for Mares he showed real character and had a rematch with Agbeko, clearly defeating the tough Ghanian and making up for the controversy of their first match. Since then he has moved to Super Bantamweight where he defeated veteran Eric Morel for the then vacant WBC Super Bantamweight title.
As a fighter Mares is fun to watch, he throws some of the best combinations in the sport and really makes for exciting fights. Whilst he has a reputation as a bit of a ball breaker (literally) he's actually a very talented fighter and someone who would genuinely give anyone in and around 122lbs a hard night. Saying this however he can be out boxed as Joseph Agbeko showed in their first match and even Vic Darchinyan showed at points. It's fair to say that unless you have real KO power and a high work rate, a war with Mares is a bad idea as that's his fight.
On the same card as Mares' rematch with Agbeko we saw a new star born as Anselmo Moreno put on a boxing masterclass against former Mares opponent Vic Darchinyan. In the bout Moreno really opened the worlds eyes to his sensational talent as he made Vic look like a clueless, raw amateur. To those watching Moreno for the first time, this was a sensational performance, for those who had seen Moreno in the past however it was a case of "told you so".
Despite the Darchinyan fight being the "coming out party" for Moreno, he's actually been one of the best fighters for the last 3 or 4 years. In fact Moreno first claimed a world title, the WBA Bantamweight title, way back in 2008 as he out pointed the previously unbeaten Volodymyr Sydorenko in Germany. Since winning that title Moreno has faced a relative who's who including Sydorenko in a rematch, Mahyar Monshipour, Nehomar Cermeno (twice), Lorenzo Parra, Vic Darchinyan and most recently David De La Mora. Often facing those top fighters away from home.
In terms of his style the 27 year old Panamanian is slippery to say the least. He moves wonderfully well, using his jab to keep opponents at range whilst breaking opponents mentally. Although his work rate is often limited he's a fighter who can genuinely frustrate any opponent as they swing and miss time and time again, tiring them out with just his defensive prowess. This has lead to many fight fans referring to him as a modern day Pernell Whittaker, huge praise indeed.
In his most recent fight, Moreno proved not only to be a slippery fighter but also a spiteful fighter as he gave the unfortunate David De La Mora a real beating, hammering away at De La Mora's body and head and really proving that not only was there a gulf in class but that he could really hurt opponents. Though it's worth noting that this isn't the first time Moreno has shown that he's spiteful, it was an eye catching performance against someone who gave Koki Kameda a real nightmare.
What we have here is a very hard working and aggressive pressure fighter (Mares) against a very slippery counter-puncher (Moreno) in what really does look on paper to be an enthralling battle of both styles, fighters and minds. If Mares can apply constant pressure and have success with his body attack he could very easily slow the legs of Moreno and make the bout easy for himself. Like wise if Moreno can keep just movement going and make Mares miss then a tiring Mares could be there for the taking late, or even get Mares frustrated to the point he does something illegal.
Of those two, I favour Moreno by a close decision, it'll be competitive through out but Moreno, for my money, just has that extra bit of class. Do not be shocked however if the cards favour Mares under-controversial circumstances.
Prediction- Moreno UD12
Mares goes into this fight as the slight betting favourite and probably with good reason, he's the "house" fighter, the Golden Boy Promotions fighter and the one seen as a marketable fighter, especially with the Mexican audiences. However it's unfair to actually view this as the only reason why Mares would win. In fact Mares is a very hard working fighter, who throws relentless to both the head and body, he's young, he's strong and he's relentless. Also he's quickly improving.
Mares first came to the attention of most boxing fans back in 2010 when he pushed the then IBF Bantamweight champion Yonnhy Perez to a very hard fought draw. Following the Perez bout, Mares become one of the 4 men involved in Showtimes' 4-man Bantamweight tournament, a tournament Mares would come out the winner of thanks to victories over Vic Darchinyan and Joseph Agbeko. Despite beating both Darchinyan and Agbeko, many were unimpressed by Mares who had been lucky to win both fights with some favourable officiating (especially by Pat Russell in the Agbeko fight).
Thankfully for Mares he showed real character and had a rematch with Agbeko, clearly defeating the tough Ghanian and making up for the controversy of their first match. Since then he has moved to Super Bantamweight where he defeated veteran Eric Morel for the then vacant WBC Super Bantamweight title.
As a fighter Mares is fun to watch, he throws some of the best combinations in the sport and really makes for exciting fights. Whilst he has a reputation as a bit of a ball breaker (literally) he's actually a very talented fighter and someone who would genuinely give anyone in and around 122lbs a hard night. Saying this however he can be out boxed as Joseph Agbeko showed in their first match and even Vic Darchinyan showed at points. It's fair to say that unless you have real KO power and a high work rate, a war with Mares is a bad idea as that's his fight.
On the same card as Mares' rematch with Agbeko we saw a new star born as Anselmo Moreno put on a boxing masterclass against former Mares opponent Vic Darchinyan. In the bout Moreno really opened the worlds eyes to his sensational talent as he made Vic look like a clueless, raw amateur. To those watching Moreno for the first time, this was a sensational performance, for those who had seen Moreno in the past however it was a case of "told you so".
Despite the Darchinyan fight being the "coming out party" for Moreno, he's actually been one of the best fighters for the last 3 or 4 years. In fact Moreno first claimed a world title, the WBA Bantamweight title, way back in 2008 as he out pointed the previously unbeaten Volodymyr Sydorenko in Germany. Since winning that title Moreno has faced a relative who's who including Sydorenko in a rematch, Mahyar Monshipour, Nehomar Cermeno (twice), Lorenzo Parra, Vic Darchinyan and most recently David De La Mora. Often facing those top fighters away from home.
In terms of his style the 27 year old Panamanian is slippery to say the least. He moves wonderfully well, using his jab to keep opponents at range whilst breaking opponents mentally. Although his work rate is often limited he's a fighter who can genuinely frustrate any opponent as they swing and miss time and time again, tiring them out with just his defensive prowess. This has lead to many fight fans referring to him as a modern day Pernell Whittaker, huge praise indeed.
In his most recent fight, Moreno proved not only to be a slippery fighter but also a spiteful fighter as he gave the unfortunate David De La Mora a real beating, hammering away at De La Mora's body and head and really proving that not only was there a gulf in class but that he could really hurt opponents. Though it's worth noting that this isn't the first time Moreno has shown that he's spiteful, it was an eye catching performance against someone who gave Koki Kameda a real nightmare.
What we have here is a very hard working and aggressive pressure fighter (Mares) against a very slippery counter-puncher (Moreno) in what really does look on paper to be an enthralling battle of both styles, fighters and minds. If Mares can apply constant pressure and have success with his body attack he could very easily slow the legs of Moreno and make the bout easy for himself. Like wise if Moreno can keep just movement going and make Mares miss then a tiring Mares could be there for the taking late, or even get Mares frustrated to the point he does something illegal.
Of those two, I favour Moreno by a close decision, it'll be competitive through out but Moreno, for my money, just has that extra bit of class. Do not be shocked however if the cards favour Mares under-controversial circumstances.
Prediction- Moreno UD12
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