June 20th, 2012:
http://checkhookboxing.com/content.php?208-Kazuto-Ioka-vs-Akira-Yaegashi-Fight-Preview&postid=20341
The battle for Japan is almost here. Kazuto Ioka vs Akira Yaegashi is just over a day away, depending on when you are actually reading this, of course, but at them moment, it is almost upon us. This might possibly be the biggest fight in Japan's history. This is the first time that two Japanese fighters are squaring off in a unification bout. Now, soak that in for a moment. In all of their country's history, this is the very first time that two of Japan's own will be going head to head, in a unification bout. It really is unbelievable! If that doesn't get you pumped for this fight, to witness history, well, let's talk about both fighters.
Who is Kazuto Ioka? Kazuto Ioka is a talented fighter with only 9 fights under his belt. Out of those 9 fights, 8 of those fighters had a winning record, in his 7th fight he won the WBC belt from long time, undefeated champion, Oleydong Sithsamerchai. Sithsamerchai was somewhat competitive with Ioka. But, Ioka showed his class, dropping Oleydong in the 2nd round, and then finishing him off with a left hook to the body that left Oleydong rolling on the ground in pain. He couldn't make the count, and that launched the young, at the time, 21 year old fighter to another world of stardom. 6 months later, still in 2011, Juan Hernandez would become the 8th victim to fall against Ioka. Hernandez, though, was able to stay on his feet and lose a unanimous decision. Ioka, though, showed his class winning virtually every round versus Hernandez. And Ioka's last fight was against, young, green, 8-0 fighter Yodngoen Tor Chalermchai, and Yodngoen wasn't anywhere close to Ioka's class. Yodngoen was brutally knocked out, and left the ring on a stretcher. Literally. He really did leave the ring on a stretcher.
Kazuto Ioka definitely has the looks of a future P4P superstar. And he has proved it so far, resume wise. Skills wise, he is definitely world class and he is one of the few, on a technical level, that is superb. He doesn't make mistakes. He picks his shots, looks for holes and counter opportunities. He comes forward, but not dumbly. He is a boxer-puncher, gloves always up, he thinks defense. Both of his gloves carry dynamite. He throws nice, crisp, short shots. Nothing amateur like. He doesn't throw wide, looping shots. He really is the full package when it comes to technical skills. He really is on the short list of great, technical boxers. When you look at him, when he throws his uppercuts and hooks, it's a lot like Juan Manuel Marquez. If I had to get you to pick a boxer who he reminds me of a bit, it would be Juan Manuel Marquez. Just the way you see him dip his legs, and come up throwing a left hook, or a right uppercut. He really is a class fighter.
So, you have me rambling on at just how talented Ioka is, there is no possibly way his opponent, Akira Yaegashi, has a chance, right? Nope. Yaegashi has a very good chance, and that's what makes this fight such a great, great fight. Not only from a historical perspective, but just from a skills perspective. Yaegashi isn't great from a technical stand point. He relies on a lot of speed, a lot of head movement, going from side to side, and throwing a jumping hook, gloves at his side. If I had to pick a boxer he reminds me of, it would be like a Roy Jones Jr type fighter. Now, I'm not saying he is a Roy Jones Jr. I'm just trying to get you to picture his fighting style, how Yaegashi fights like. Yaegashi, though, unlike Jones, is a tough cookie, and can take punch, after punch, after punch, after punch.
Yaegashi, not only has speed, power, but he is tough, he is durable. And he showcased these skills, in his most recent battle versus Pornsawan Porpramook. Yaegashi-Porpramook was an absolute classic. A real underground thriller. Both men took a real pounding, and round 8 was one of the best rounds of last year. It was such a terrific 8th round in which Porpramook looked as though he was on his way to getting stopped, but then he lands two massive right hands that staggered Yaegashi back. By all accounts, that should have at least knocked him down, but it didn't. And in round 10, Yaegashi hurt Porpramook again, but this time finished. It was the end, of a classic war. Ioka-Yaegashi could be like Yaegashi-Porpramook and that's what makes this fight a can't miss.
Both men have fought fighters that resemble a bit like them. For Yaegashi his last fight was against Porpramook, as mentioned above. And Porpramook, in terms of pressure, and power, he resembles a bit like Ioka. Not as good, though, mind you, just in terms of the power Porpramook brought, and his pressure. For Ioka, fighting someone like a Juan Hernandez really helped him out, because Hernandez fought a bit like Yaegashi. Hernandez was moving, moving, trying to pick his spots, but just wasn't quick enough. But, still, Ioka had to keep moving forward, cut off the ring, and had to catch Hernandez. and he'll have to do that again versus Yaegashi.
All in all, this is a very intriguing fight, and really is pretty close to a 50/50 fight. Ioka is really talented, but don't write off Yaegashi. Yaegashi has speed, has the quickness, has the determination, and toughness to pull off the upset. Ioka, has never been in a war of attrition. This is the one big, x-factor. If Yaegashi can hurt Ioka, take some of his power away, catch him on the outside with some nice, quick shots, and then maybe drag him in a dog fight, he may just very well pull off the upset. It really isn't out of the question. But, as a prediction, I'll go with Ioka to win. I'll take Ioka by unanimous decision. Really though, this is a about 25/25/25/25 type fight. All across the board. Nothing in this fight would really surprise me, though. This should be an epic fight, and it really is a fight worth staying up for, or getting up early for.
June 16th, 2012:
http://checkhookboxing.com/content.php?196-Chavez-lee-thoughts
On Saturday night in the States, we'll have two quality main events going on. On HBO, we have Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. taking on the skilled boxer in Andy Lee. What makes this so intriguing is that both have really grown leaps and bounds over the years. For Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. just about every fight he was in had some controversy. Okay, well, that's obviously a bit of an exaggeration, but there were a handful of fights where he could have easily gotten a loss, and probably should have gotten a loss. Both of his fights with Carlos Molina he should have suffered at least one loss. Against Matt Vanda he should have suffered at least one loss. And against Luciano Cuello, it was a tough, close fight... that, of course, went to Chavez Jr.
Since the Duddy fight, though, since working with Roach and company, he has grown as a fighter. He's got a bit more of a mean streak in him, he's developing his skills and become a more well rounded fighter. Against Duddy he looked great, his next fight against Billy Lyell, he took a bit of a step back. He wasn't nearly as impressive, but still effective. Against quality top 10-15 contender, Sebastian Zbik, he gritted his teeth, and come away with a close win. It was close, but just the way he was able to fight back and really stand toe to toe with Zbik was impressive. Now, he is a big guy and Zbik doesn't hit hard, but even so, if this was a greener Chavez, a Chavez with Roach, there is no way he can pull off that win. And his last two fights versus Peter Manfredo Jr. and Marco Antonio Rubio he came away with a couple of good, solid scalps again.
Andy Lee, much like Chavez, has had some early touches, but of late, he's been in there with some quality fighters, and he's won impressively. His rematch versus Brian Vera about 8 months ago, was a bit of a litmus test, back in 2008, Andy Lee suffered a surprising, and shocking TKO loss to Vera. It was a big step back for Andy Lee, but he has brushed himself off, and has continued to develop, and as I was saying, his rematch versus Vera was a bit of a litmus test to see how much he has grown over the past 3 years or so. And, if that was a test, Andy Lee passed with flying colors. He looked as sharp as ever and won just about every round versus Vera, and never was in trouble.
Before the Vera fight though, four fights ago rather, Lee was in a brutal war versus Scotland's own Craig McEwan. Lee was rocked, hurt, and lost just about the first part of the fight. He then though, made an adjustment, and with the help of McEwan getting tired, he fought back and really turned the tide. He started chipping away getting closer and closer, and then, finally, in round 9 McEwan was dropped. McEwan survived, but was in real bad shape. In round 10, Andy Lee pounced and was able to stop Craig McEwan in the 10th round. It was a thrilling, come from behind, victory for Andy Lee that showed his heart, grit, and determination.
Both, have improved skills wise, and both have had their metal tested. They have had to dig deep, and both have done that successfully in their respective fights. So, now, style wise, how will this fight play out? Andy Lee will be boxing from the outside, on the back foot, trying to keep Chavez Jr. at bay with his jab. Lee is a southpaw, so, Lee will be doubling and tripling up that jab and stepping to his right. Being a bit slick, using angles to get way from the aggressive Chavez. Chavez Jr. has always had the length on his opponents, but still, he'd fight small and be aggressive. In this fight, he'll have to be aggressive, and dig to the body with that left hook...which I believe he will. Chavez may get picked apart coming in, but Lee doesn't hit particularly hard. So, I'm not sure if Lee will be able to discourage Chavez Jr. from coming in, and taking two shots to land his one.
So, with all that, I'm leaning towards Chavez Jr. Now, this is from an everything's fair perspective. Boxing isn't always fair. From an everything's fair perspective this is a good matchup of styles and it really is just about a 50/50 fight. A will versus skill sort of fight, so to speak. But, again, boxing isn't always fair. And with that, Chavez' chances start steadily climbing. To me, from a betting point of view, I'm shocked that Lee is only a 3/1 underdog, and Chavez is a...about a 2/7 favorite, which to me, seems quite small and he should be a larger favorite. Chavez at 2/7 seems to be free money. Chavez Jr. is the cash cow and no way Top Rank cashes out on him now. Not against Andy Lee. Against Sergio Martinez? May'be. But, I doubt against Andy Lee. It's way too soon. All right, I'll wrap this up. Andy Lee, I don't think, has enough power to Chavez. He doesn't hit all that hard. Chavez Jr. doesn't have the best of chins, but I just can't see Lee stopping Chavez. Plus, Chavez will be weighing in at about 185-190. He may out weigh Lee by a wide margin. So, keep that in mind as well. And winning a decision against a cash cow is just so, so hard.
With all that said, I'm definitely going with Chavez to win, and may'be by stoppage. Late stoppage or decision....I'll go with 10th, 11th round stoppage. I think Chavez will lose the early rounds, but will get closer and closer, and eventually stops Andy Lee.
http://checkhookboxing.com/content.php?197-Adamek-chambers-thoughts
Tomasz Adamek-Eddie Chambers is a really good fight between top 10 heavyweight contenders. Not only that, but the heavyweights have been the ones putting on a show this year. Think about it, Alexander Povetkin-Marco Huck, Bryant Jennings-Maurice Byarm, Bryant Jennings-Siarhei Liakhovich, Dereck Chisora-Vitali Klitschko, and then...well, you have the unofficial 30 second fight of David Haye and Dereck Chisora. The heavyweights have really been pulling their own weight this year. This one could be another good, quality fight. And, I think it will. Adamek is rarely in a bad fight. He throws the leather, he's got good skills, he brings the speed. Eddie Chambers is the same way, only he doesn't really throw the leather. And that might be the key difference in this fight, but we will get to that a bit later.
But not only is it a good, even match up on paper, but what makes a good fight even better is a good, loud crowd. And this fight is going to be fought in Newark, New Jersey. This is the unofficial home sweet home for Tomasz Adamek. Adamek has fought at the Prudential Center 7 times in his past 11 fights. And it all kicked off with Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham. That underground cult classic in December of 2008, shown on Versus (now called NBC Network, the station that is broadcasting Adamek-Chambers). But back to what I was saying, a good fight becomes even better with a good crowd, and the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey will be very loud. They will cheer every time Adamek makes a move, they will start chanting "Polska, Polska, Polska!" It will be a fun environment.
Both have a lot in common, both have fought just once since losing in a stoppage versus a Klitschko brother, as mentioned above, both are skilled, both have quick hands, both are smallish heavyweight. But Adamek has been the far more active of the two. This is Eddie Chambers' first fight in a year and a half. Where he won a, "meh" type decision versus Derric Rossy. And then a year after the Rossy fight, in March of 2010 he was brutally knocked out in the 12th round versus Wladimir Klitschko. He's been plagued with nagging injuries that forced him to pull out in multiple fights with Tony Thompson. So, questions have to arise, is Chambers focused and ready versus Adamek? Does he really want it any more?
Adamek, meanwhile, he still has the hunger, and he still is focused on becoming heavyweight champion. If paper belt titlist Alexander Povetkin can claim he is the "heavyweight champion of the world, then I don't see any reason why Adamek can't eventually. Given the choice, right now, I'd favor Adamek just slightly, because of his fitness. Povetkin gets tired, and struggles down the stretch. And that is why I favor Adamek over Chambers in this fight. Adamek will be fit and ready to go to war. He's focused. Eddie Chambers meanwhile? We don't know. He hasn't shown it, he doesn't have the look that he's hungry any more.
So, making a pick, I'm picking Tomasz Adamek. And the main key being, fitness and activity. Adamek moves well, uses the jab nicely, throws in combinations, and keeps up that pace over the distance of a fight. I think Chambers will have his moments. He'll have those gloves up, picking some shots off, and then landing the right hand every now and again, but as a whole, I think Adamek wins the majority of the rounds and wins a pretty close, but clear fight. I'd take a gander that the majority of scorecards will be in the 116-112/117-111 range....not necessarily the judges, but the majority of fans scoring the fight without bias.
May 19th, 2012:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12852563&postcount=6892
All right, let's see, I've gotten a couple of messages asking for a breakdown of the Mikkel Kessler-Allen Green fight. So, here go:
This is an easy fight to call and predict. If Allen Green were to actualy win, it would be a very big upset in my eyes. It would be top 3, alongside Sonny Boy Jaro's win over Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Ismayl Sillahk's, Lennox Lewis moment of controlling the fight, having too much fun, and getting KO'd by a guy he should have easily beat and stopped versus Denis Grachev. So, basically, Kessler should be a major, major favorite over Green. The best odds on the fight is Kessler a 1/6 favorite. And that is going up, last night they were at 1/5. So, you need to jump on it in a hurry, because it's free money.
What Allen Green needs to do in order to win is, well, basically throw his left hook when Kessler is throwing punches in bunches. That's Green's only shot of winning, is that punchers chance. Green has a good left hook, he's knocked out many when landing flush with that left hook. Nobody, world class, but still, it is a weapon. That's pretty much Green's game plan. He can't do much else. He does have solid boxing ability. He showed in a few rounds versus Glen Johnson that he does have a good jab, he can move, but he can't do that for 12 rounds, heck, he can't do it for 3 minutes of a round. He gets tired and loses focus. So, that's about it for Green. He doesn't throw punches in bunches, he can't stick and move for an entire fight, he really just can't do anything at the world class level. He just has that one punch power in his back pocket. That's his only hope. And the thing about that is, Green doesn't like getting hit. And I don't think he's smart, nor his corner, to realize that's his only bet. When Kessler starts coming forward and throwing a combo, unleash that left hand, and see what happens. Throw when he throws. That's his only chance is to catch Kessler coming forward, throwing, and not anticipating a punch.
What Mikkel Kessler needs to do to win, is just be Mikkel Kessler. Come forward, establish that jab, use your size to bully him. Unleash that 1-2, and Green will fold. That's really all Kessler has to do in order to win the fight. Pump the jab, get in range, throw the straight right, get Green on the ropes, and then unload a combo. He'll twist and turn, trying not to get hit, but he will, and he'll be hurt. Eventually quitting in the ropes, or he'll fall down and pretty much say no mas while taking a 10 count.
So, this fight is pretty simple, and pretty much easy money, if you got in on Kessler on those 1/4, 1/5 odds. Get on it early. I may even throw a couple of bucks on round 5. I don't know, round 5 just looks good to me for some reason. May'be even round 6. But, I think this will be a fairly early stoppage. First couple of minutes in the first round may'be starts off a bit slow, Green lands a few jabs, but after that Kessler starts landing the jab, really establishing the heat, coming forward, lands the right hand. Round, much the same. Kessler starts tagging Green more and more, round 3, 4, and then 5. That's it. After that Green quits. So, there you go.
March 16th/17th, 2012:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12334617&postcount=4367
Kendall Holt vs. Tim Coleman- Kendall Holt by KO
Kell Brook vs. Matthew Hatton- Kell Brook by UD
Giacobbe Fragomeni vs. Silvio Branco- Giacobbe Fragomeni by UD
Antonio DeMarco vs. Miguel Roman- Antonio DeMarco by UD
Roman Gonzalez vs. Miguel Jimenez- Roman Gonzalez by KO
Sergio Gabriel Martinez vs. Matthew Macklin- Sergio Martinez by KO
Edwin Rodriguez vs. Don George- Edwin Rodriguez by UD
Alex Leapai vs. Kevin Johnson- Alex Leapai by KO
Yukinori Oguni vs. Hiromasa Ohashi- Yukinori Oguni by UD
Just a brief overview of some of these fights:
Kendall Holt-Tim Coleman is a good fight. Finally, ESPN2 offers a good fight on paper. Hopefully, it does turn out to be good in the ring. Coleman is like his nickname, "pit bull" he's an aggressive little dude and throws those hands. Holt, is inactive quite a bit, but has dynamite in those hands. Style wise, this could produce some fireworks. If Coleman can survive the first few rounds, he could potentially produce that minor upset, because Holt is a mental midget. He starts daydreaming, and goes into la la land, but if Holt lands early and often, could be lights out for Coleman. I do sort of think Holt will win, and win by KO. Not confident at all, just really a hunch.
Miguel Roman has an up hill battle. He's a short dude as it is, but now he's going up in weight against a really tall fighter in Antonio DeMarco. Skills wise, DeMarco is a little better, but really, the height and weight advantage for DeMarco will more than likely be too much. And Roman might even get stopped late. Not that DeMarco is that good or that powerfully, it's just that he's that much bigger than Roman. Tough fight for Roman and will be a pretty be upset, if he did win.
I'm not high on Edwin Rodriguez or Don George. Never been impressed, they have the skills of club fighters with padded records. But, they are fun fighters and when you have two fighters in the same level of skill set, they make for fun fights. This could be a really good fight between two below average to average fighters. Both are tough, both got power, both got heart, and both could produce a great fight.
Sergio Martinez and Matthew Macklin reminds me, and it pains me to say, but it really does remind me of Pacquiao-Hatton....without all the hype. Macklin is that tough, come forward fighter, Martinez is that southpaw with speed and power. And with that I think Martinez wins, wins early, and wins big. I'm thinking Martinez KO's Macklin within the first 4 rounds. If, and it's a big if, Macklin can overcome the fast, speed, powerful start of Martinez, then he can start to wear down Martinez and may'be pull off the upset, but that's a huge task and I don't think he can do that. Macklin is a good fighter, and a really tough fighter, but style wise, it is just a tough matchup. Plus, Martinez is a pretty decent fighter himself. Gotta go with Martinez by early stoppage.
February 17th/18th, 2012:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12082478&postcount=2427
Mike Dallas Jr. vs. Miguel Gonzalez- Mike Dallas Jr. by UD
Thomas Dulorme vs. Aris Ambriz- Thomas Dulorme by KO
Adonis Stevenson vs. Jesus Gonzales- Adonis Stevenson by KO
Eledier Alvarez Vs. Otis Griffin- Eledier Alvarez by KO
Brian Magee vs. Rudy Markussen- Rudy Markussen by SD
Vitali Klitschko vs. Dereck Chisora- Vitali Klitschko by UD
Paul Williams vs. Nobuhiro Ishida- Paul Williams by UD
Tavoris Cloud vs. Gabriel Campillo- Tavoris Cloud by UD
Chris Arreola vs. Eric Molina- Chris Arreola by KO
Jorge Arce vs. Lorenzo Parra II- Jorge Arce by KO
After virtually nothing last week, this week, we got some big time fights back. A lot of fights, a lot of filler fights. So, I'll just go into detail about some of the better fights on tap.
ESPN 2 FNF, Mike Dallas Jr. is back. He's lost his last two fights, but in his last one he was robbed of a victory and it was really heartbreaking to see. His interview after words definitely hit home. Thankfully, he hasn't been thrown to the curb because of two straight losses. Instead, he's back on FNF and given a chance to bounce back. Dallas is a good talent. Good jab, good speed. He's a pretty good young fighter. Miguel Gonzalez is taking a huge step up. He's got a very padded record, and a padded KO record. We'll see exactly how good and where he's at, but I think he is quite below Dallas. Plus, Dallas has had a full training camp with Virgil Hunter, Andre Ward's trainer, and he should be 100% back. I've got Dallas winning by pretty wide UD.
Thomas Dulorme is a very good prospect. Good boxing skills, seems to have a good head, great power. He's definitely one to watch for, for years to come. This fight with Ariz Ambriz is not so good. He really won't be, or shouldn't be, pushed by Ambriz. Dulorme should win by KO.
Adonis Stevenson-Jesus Gonzalez is a fight to definitely get up for. Both guys are very good 168 fighters and they make for great fights. Both are vulnerable, both got power, and both got skills. This definitely could be a Fight of the Year candidate. Plus, we've got drama! And not the kind of fake drama of trying to hype a fight "Oh, this gonna be Hagler-Hearns" and put on a tough guy face or "Oh, I'm gonna knock him out in 3" this is legit hatred. Gonzalez called Stevenson a rapist, Stevenson didn't like that said some things, said he's a racist and a liar, yada, yada, yada. So, this fight could definitely be explosive. Gonzalez is the slicker of the two, showed his tough and grit by battling a Francisco Sierra who at the weigh in was one weight class higher then him and was probably, at least, a good 20 pounds heavier than he by fight time. He was bloodied up and he took a lot of punishment, but fought through it and got the win. Stevenson very powerful, built nicely. Two southpaws, you know, I'm just really looking forward to this fight. I've got Stevenson by KO, but every round will be heart pounding and edge of your seat stuff. Can't wait.
Jorge Arce is on a roll, he's got that second wind in his career and I like what he's been doing. He recently avenged a loss Simphiwe Nongqayi and is now trying to avenge a draw he suffered against Lorenzo Parra a little while back. I like that in a fighter, trying to avenge those blemishes. Parra was recently out classed in a forgettable fight versus Anselmo Moreno, but Parra is a good fighter, but the question is whether or not he wants to be there and actually wants to fight. Parra doesn't have the desire anymore. If Parra does show up and try to win, we'll have a good close fight, but I don't think Parra does want to fight and will get stopped in the mid to late rounds.
Brian Magee-Rudy Markussen is a good fight. It's one of those power vs skills type fighter, only not at a high level you might be thinking of, but on a much lower level. Magee isn't that skilled, and Markussen doesn't have world class power. He has good power, but not billed like he is to have some major league world class power. Magee looked horrible in a horrible fight versus that I had the pleasure of doing an RBR against Jaime Barboza. All right, style wise, Markussen comes forward, hands down, he loads up, Magee should be able to tag Markussen quite frequently and possibly knock him out. The thing is, Magee looked so bad, and he couldn't pull the trigger that I have to wonder if he can really put the pressure and let those hands go. I don't know, Markussen just has to land a couple of booming shots a round and he should get the nod. He's at home, and so that's why I'm rolling with Markussen. Magee is the better fighter, even though he's a faded fighter, still the much better fighter, but Markussen at home. The debut of "Nordic Fight Night" I can't go against the home fighter. Markussen it is by SD.
On Showtime, we have an exciting tripleheader. Big name fighters are on tap. Paul Williams and Tavoris Cloud are on and along withChris Arreola. So, we'll start off with Arreola. Arreola needs to step up, but doesn't look like that'll ever happen. There's a lot of quality fights that could be made, but Arreola is choosing to fight fighters like Eric Molina. He's staying active and good for him, but I'd rather see him really earn his shot at a rematch versus Vitali or against younger brother Wladimir Klitschko. Anyway, Arreola by KO.
Tavoris Cloud is an exciting fighter, but he should be bigger than where he is now, but because of Don King he isn't. If he was with Top Rank he'd probably be a bit bigger and he'd definitely be much more active. When he does fight, though it has been against quality opposition. Gabriel Campillo is no different. Campillo is a big, strong, fighter. Very durable fighter, he doesn't have much slickness, not much speed, but he definitely does push you. I could definitely see Cloud having some problems in this fight. Cloud gets hit quite a bit, and is quite crude. What he lacks for skills he makes up with his power and volume. So, anyway, both fighters should take turns pressing the action. Look for a lot of leather from Cloud, and Campillo being in that high guard for quite a bit early on. And with that Cloud should be winning rounds early on. Late in the fight it gets interesting. We'll see if Campillos starts pressing forward, starts getting to Cloud, and we'll see how Cloud reacts. Anyway, I've got Cloud winning a decision pretty close, but clear decision. Should be an interesting fight.
Paul Williams-Nobuhiro Ishida again, is an interesting fight. Paul Williams is a question mark. Who knows how he'll react? He's coming off two bad, bad losses. Two losses on both ends of the spectrum. One was a brutal KO by Sergio Martinez and the other was just a boxing beat down by Erislandy Lara where he didn't win 10 seconds of any round. He came forward, boom left hand. Boom another left hand. Williams is lucky though, Ishida isn't a southpaw like Martinez and Lara. So, right away Williams has got a bit of a mental victory coming into the fight. Ishida really broke onto the scene last year when he destroyed James Kirkland in about 2 minutes. Ishida was quite an unknown to even boxing fans. But he's basically what you saw against Kirkland. He's a nice little boxer, wants to have space to throw a 1-2, 1-2. Over and over again. Now, he's power though isn't quite what you saw against Kirkland. He isn't some deadly fighter that drops fighters with one punch. He's got decent pop over a course of a 12 round fight, but nothing more than that. So, when both are in the ring you will see two very tall fighters. Williams in the first couple of rounds might be a bit tentative. A lot of pressure, a lot of tension to try and not get hit. After the butterflies got away he should be back to being the Paul Williams we know. Come forward and throw 80 punches a round. Ishida will be backing up and trying to counter him. I think Ishida will have a lot of success. Williams is there to be hit and he'll be open often. Plus, Ishida is long and lanky, what normally wouldn't hit Williams he'll be getting hit with because Ishida is a tall fighter with long arms. So, I see this as a very close fight and Williams might need a decision to go his way. We'll see, I've got Williams, but definitely wouldn't be surprised at him getting beat.
Vitali Klitschko is back in the ring going up against the aggressive Dereck Chisora. Chisora is coming off a nice upset win over Robert Helenius. Chisora pressure, threw, brought more pressure, and really beat the hell out of Helenius. This is a good match up, about the only real good match up for Vitali Klitschko left now. Chisora brings it, and he could quite possibly be undefeated if he took Tyson Fury seriously. Instead he came in fat, and out of shape, and paid the price. Either way though, Vitali Klitschko is just too tough. Mentally, physically, he's just too good. I seriously doubt Chisora makes a fool out of everybody and comes up with a performance like David Haye's performance against Wladimir Klitschko. Chisora should bring it and should go out on his shield..if he does get KO'd. I don't think he will though, I think he takes a beating and could quite possibly stopped late, but I think Chisora makes it to the finish line. Chisora brings the pressure, brings volume, the only thing he doesn't have is power. If he did have power, this would be a much, much more interesting fight. But he doesn't so, it's sort of a well, we'll see what happens type fight. Cautiously optimistic that'll be a good fight. I've got Klitschko by UD.
January 27th/28th, 2012:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11897397&postcount=1002
Ruslan Provodnikov vs. David Torres- Ruslan Provodnikov by KO
Yakubu Amidu vs. Ji Hoon Kim- Ji-Hoon Kim by KO
Robinson Castellanos vs. Orlando Rizo- Robinson Castellanos by UD
Carl Frampton vs. Kris Hughes- Carl Frampton by KO
It's the end of the month, and on paper it looked as though it'd be a slow month, and in reality, it has been. This week should be no different. There's a couple of decent fights on tap, but nothing that really gets the blood boiling. Next week (next month) things will start picking up, and in a big way. So, just gotta get through this week, and we got some nice fights on the horizon. Anyway, that's next week, let's talk about this week.
After a stellar season last year, Friday Night Fights is off to a bit of a slow start. This week, well, in terms of entertainment it should be fun because there should be knockouts, but in terms of a close fight, this probably isn't it. Ruslan Provodnikov is a familiar face on Friday Night Fights, he's been on 4 times, and is 3-1. He'll be looking to go 4-1 and he has a great chance to do that. David Torres is a solid fighter, who...can't get to that next level to be a real live contender. He's more of a journeyman with a glossy record. In a couple of years he'll be a good fighter for a prospect to step up against, is what I'm trying to say. In his last 4 fights he is 1-2-2, and two of those losses have been against that next level of fighters. Julio Diaz and Raymundo Beltran. They both knocked him out. And he's drawn against Santos Pakau and Michael Stewart. That's about his level, and against Provodnikov, that won't be enough. Provodnikov is a real good, impact puncher. He doesn't have that one punch power, but when he hits you, he hurts you. Torres doesn't have a good chin, his punch resistance isn't all there and this fight should be quick. This fight, probably, doesn't go past 4 or 5 rounds.
Ji-Hoon Kim and Yakubu Amidu is an interesting fight. Kim, like Provodnikov, is a big hitter and doesn't know the meaning of defense. So, he is fan friendly in that regard. Kim though, his chin has been tested and it isn't rock hard. Hard hitting, once good looking prospect, Leo Zappavigna smashed him in 1 round. Now, Amidu he's a pretty hard hitter, not as hard as his record indicates though. Not even close. 20 wins 18 by knockout, you must be thinking he hits like George Foreman or something. Nah, he doesn't hit that hard. He's got decent power, but nothing earth shattering. But still, he may hit hard enough to trouble Kim. Kim struggled in his most recent fight against a novice so one has to wonder if Kim is pretty much down as a low level contender. So, this fight is interesting, because there are questions. Amidu has worked at Wild Card, and funny enough is managed by the actor Vince Vaughn. Don't think that's all that relevant, but just a funny foot note, none the less. Amidu has decent boxing skills he's a bit stiff, and has his chin sticking out a bit. And I don't think his chin is up to snuff. He's been stopped by Ricky Burns, who doesn't hit hard at all. I think that's the key. I think Kim can take Amidu's punches, while Amidu can't take Kim's punches. So, I've got Kim stopping Amidu somewhat early to mid rounds.
I like this fight, Robinson Castellanos-Orlando Rizo could be one of those under the radar type fights that is a good fight. Like last week, David Quijano-Javier Gallo. Great fight, under the radar though, unfortunately. Anyway, Castellanos and Rizo are quite similar in a lot of ways. Both are have been hot winning there last 5 fights, same amount of KO's, and style wise there about the same. Both stand up, gloves up, not much of a jab, more a less just stick it out there. More of a range finder. Castellanos though is more of a back foot fighter and may'be a bit slower. Rizo, can fight backing up as well, but prefers fighting forward, and I think he'll mainly be the one moving forward. Both got good power in their back hand. So, I think it's going to be a pretty good fight. I'm favoring Castellanos because he's at home, Rizo has never fought in Mexico and has only fought outside Nicaragua just the one time. Plus, Castellanos has got pretty good timing, good countering abilities in his right hand. I think that could potentially trouble Rizo as he works his way in there. But this should be a good scrap. I'll take Castellanos by UD, but this is a toss up fight. Definitely could go either way.
Barry McGuigan is very high on Carl Frampton, I think calling him the best prospect he's seen in 25 years. Something along those lines, but I highly, highly disagree with that. Not to say that he isn't a good fighter, yeah, he looks pretty good, but I've seen better prospects in the past 5 years. Carl Frampton is a fun fighter, but he's flawed. He doesn't have any defense to speak of. He's still really green, this will only be his 12th fight, and they have gone nice and slow, but they are slowly getting him good developmental fights. In his 2nd to last fight he fought Robbie Turley a real crafty, unorthodox type fight. And Turley gave him fits. Turley was able to land and if Turley had any power to speak of he would have given Frampton boat loads of trouble. This fight with Kris Hughes I think could emulate that fight. Hughes is a lanky, very tall southpaw. He has no paw, so he won't trouble Frampton at all with his power, if Hughes sticks on the outside and uses that long jab he could definitely pull off an upset...well, if the judges score it right. Close fight though, I think this will be very close, and I'm definitely not going to pick Hughes because he's not the chosen one. So, I'm going with the safe pick in Frampton, but I'd expect a close fight. If Frampton can get in and use his power and stop Hughes, that would definitely be impressive, but I think, eventually, Frampton gets to Hughes in the later rounds and stops him. You know, one of those British stoppages. So, to recap, I expect a close fight, but a late, bit of a questionable stoppage.
January 20th/21st, 2012:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11837264&postcount=686
Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Rigo Ramos- Guillermo Rigondeaux by UD
Derry Mathews vs. Emiliano Marsili- Derry Mathews by UD
David Price vs. John McDermott- David Price by KO
Gabriel Rosado vs. Jesus Soto Karass- Gabriel Rosado by SD
Miguel Vazquez vs. Ameth Diaz- Miguel Vazquez by UD
Two weeks into the boxing season and it has been slow, really slow. Unfortunately, just a couple of really good fights have been shown. So, if you are keeping track the really early clubhouse leader for Fight of The Year would be -Michael Perez, network of the Year would be Showtime. But, anyway, too early, way too early to be saying that. But, this week there are a couple of intriguing fights and I think they might be pretty good.
Friday night we have a title fight on ShoBox. Guillermo Rigondeaux is taking on Rico Ramos. This fight is intriguing, but it looks to be a snooze fest on paper. Both fighters are undefeated, both are skilled, and both are counter punchers. A recipe for a boring, boring fight. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as Dyah Davis-Alfonso Lopez which is definitely the Worst Fight of The Year. (and hopefully that won't be topped) Again, this fight is intriguing, because it is a bit of a toss up. Who's going to throw more than 10 punches? Who will be the one coming forward? As bad as this fight is, style wise, it is an interesting fight to see who will win. What I'm expecting is Rigondeaux will be the one that comes forward, he'll be the one making the effort to at least try and throw. Ramos will be on his bike and lose the rounds because of that. A bit like Ramos' last fight against Akifumi Shimoda. This time though I don't think Ramos lands that lucky punch on Rigondeaux. So, basically, I'm going with Rigondeaux winning based on coming forward and landing a couple of more punches, throwing a few more punches. We'll see though, it is an interesting fight.
Earlier in the day though, Derry Mathews will be taking on undefeated Italian Emilano Marsili. Marsili is definitely not a household name so I'll tell you a bit about him and what he's like. He's a boxer, like his record indicates he doesn't have much pop. Hops around, uses angles, okay jab, paws with it a bit and doesn't have much power. He doesn't step into. Mostly, just a 1-2 type fighter. Oh yeah, he's a southpaw. So picture a southpaw. Circles to the right, to the left, jab, straight left, always moving, jab, jab, moves to the left, jab, straight left, moves to the right. Always moving, always using angles. Mathews is a boxer as well. A little bit faster though, and has a bit more tools in the tool box, I believe. Has a bad chin, doesn't take a punch well, but he shouldn't have to worry about Marsili's power. He doesn't have much pop in his punches. So, I think, it'll be a boxing match, I think Derry though is the better boxer of the two, but even if he isn't, he's at home and the judges will surely give it to Mathews. So, I've got Mathews by UD. Hmm, you know, I didn't even consider Mathews stopping him...I guess that's a possibility. I don't think I've seen Marsili's chin getting checked. Hmmm, but eh, I'll go with Mathews by decision. Yeah, why not.
David Price is the next heavyweight hopefully that people are trying to anoint as the next great heavyweight star. Price has the looks, the skills, and the power to be a great heavyweight. What he doesn't have are step up fights, nor does he have the experience. He's taking a big, huge, gigantic step up in solid low level contender/journeyman fighter John McDermott. McDermott hasn't fought in almost a year, and has only had 1 round under his belt in a year. So, rust could be a big factor and who knows what McDermott will look like and whether or not he's even taking this seriously. We'll see how he looks at the weigh in, but right now, on paper, this is a good intriguing fight. Right now, I'm going with Price and by KO. A lot of it depends on how McDermot looks. If he looks like a fat slob, well than Price by KO looks good. If McDermott looks somewhat in shape and is around 250 then he has a good shot at taking Price's oohhh. We'll see though, but I'm going with Price by KO.
This is one of those intriguing fights that has a chance to be really, really good. Gabriel Rosado and Jesus Soto Karass are two fighters that are bordering on being journeyman type fighters. And well probably some people do rate them as journeyman, but the main thing is that both fighters are really at the same level. Both are fan friendly and it should be a good fight. Most importantly, this is the main event of the debut on NBC Sports Network. This is an important fight for both fighters, and important for the sport of boxing as a whole. No title on the line, but both fighters will fight like it is. Both have below average to average boxing skills, and same goes for coming forward as brawlers. Rosado will probably be more on the backfoot, but both fighters should take turns leading. Karass is on a bit of a losing streak. In his last 4 fights he's lost 3 of them and 1 was a no contest. Many say though, he beat Mike Jones the first time around, but nevertheless, he is showing a bit of a wear and tear. Rosado has been winning of late. After having that tough stretch in the middle of his career being an opponent for Alfrado Angulo and Fernando Guerrero. He's dusted himself off and won his last 4. Prediction time: I think it's a good, close fight and one that Rosado squeaks by, by split decision.
For those that I guess read these breakdown on a weekly basis (all 5 of you ) you know how high I'm onMiguel Vazquez. I definitely think Vazquez is one of the best P4P fighters in the sport and definitely top 2 in his weight class. Vazquez is a superb boxer, and is once again taking on a power punching fighter. Ameth Diaz is a power punching heavy hitter who in his last fight knocked out Leo Zappavigna, that's why he's getting this shot against Miguel Vazquez, but he's a hard hitter. I think Vazquez though is just too clever, too crafty, for Diaz and outboxes him to a 12 round decision. There's always that danger with the power, but Vazquez is just too good and I don't think Diaz will be able to catch him. I've got Vazquez via UD.
December 17th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11551926&postcount=11954
Andre Ward-Carl Froch. This. Is. It. Well, for the Super 6 tournament it is. It's bittersweet for me. Because when looking into 2010 and 2011 it was always, well we are guaranteed to have some of the best in the division fight each other. In 2012? No guarantees. And no more Fight Camp 360's, for the time being, (I'm really hoping there is a FC 360 for Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto, but that's my point atop, no guarantees. We may or may not. We'll just have to wait and see.) with the Super 6 you knew, okay, in 2011 I will see Froch-Johnson and Ward-Abraham...we wouldn't know when, but, we knew that they would take place. So, anyway, Andre Ward-Carl Froch, oh, one more thing, I was actually quite all right with this fight being pushed back to now. There was just something about it being stuck towards the end of October in the middle of mayhem. It just didn't feel right. This is about as close to a Super Bowl, or a World Cup, for all you non-American readers, as we will get in boxing. A tourney with some of the best fighters in the division and a conclusion. It just feels right that the biggest event in boxing (aside from a Floyd/Manny fight) is reserved for the end.
All right, there's my long winded intro...didn't plan on that being that long, but hey it is what it is. All right, Andre Ward-Carl Froch or Carl Froch-Andre Ward, doesn't matter to me, but we will finally have a unification and a lineal title holder. This is history we will be witnessing, one of the biggest fights ever at 168. Andre Ward has gotten here the easy way. He's gotten all his fights in California and has had 3 of the 4 in Oakland. People bash Ward for this, but I say why? Where was Ward supposed to face Allan Green at? Or Sakio Bika? Those fights had to be in Oakland, because that's the only place those fights would have sold at. If he fought Mikkel Kessler in Denmark, then that would have been 3 fights in Europe and 0 in the States in the first round. That's not exactly fair. So, Ward shouldn't get blame for having all his fights in Oakland. The semi-final fight against Arthur Abraham was in Los Angeles, and that was a good neutral venue. Abraham is an Armenian and L.A. has a big Armenian population so L.A. was fair enough. Abraham may have had more fans there for him, then Ward. So, when you break it down like that, how can you blame Ward for fighting in Oakland? All right, Ward has nice speed, good footwork, and just enough power to get fighter's respect. There really isn't much not to like about Ward, Ward just has every single tool in his toolbox. The best attribute though, is his mind. He has a great boxing I.Q. and can adapt in the ring.
On the other side is Carl Froch. His style may not looking good, it may not look pretty, but it definitely gets the job done. In 29 fights he's won 28 fights and he has an impressive resume, even without the Super 6. Charles Adamu, Brian Magee, Tony Dodson, Robin Reid, Jean Pascal, and Jermain Taylor. That is quite good, and then, of course, the Super 6 he has taken on Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, and Glen Johnson. Froch is on an impressive run and has looked fantastic in his last two fights barely losing a handful of rounds. In this fight though, I'm not expecting him to win a handful of rounds. I would give Froch a big hand if he won 3 rounds in this fight. Not to say Froch is bad, he's great, but Ward is just that much better. Everybody's got a key to why so and so will win. Ward's speed, Froch's power, etc. The key I'm seeing is punch placement. Punch placement? Yes, punch placement. Ward goes up and down stairs with his punches. Froch is strictly a head hunter. He hardly ever goes down stairs. Ward will be there sort of ending at the knees, Froch throws a jab or a left hook, Ward will move his head to his right, counter, and clinch. If you want to hit Ward with your left hook you have to aim, basically, for his waist, because that's where he moves his head, over to the right and comes up with a left hook or straight right. Also, when Ward starts leading, he'll be jabbing up to Froch's head, and he will jab at his and to his body to slow him down. Jab to the body, right to the body, move away, left hook to the head, clinch. Rinse, wash, and repeat. Froch really doesn't have a chance in this fight. Froch will miss Ward time and time again winging shots to Ward's head, and missing. Ward will throw and land and win this fight barely losing a round. Just a guess, I could, obviously, be totally, totally wrong, but Froch can't outbox Ward, and he has about a puncher's chance to stop Ward. Froch has good power, but he hasn't shown world class power. So, I've got Andre Ward by UD.
December 10th/11th/12th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11491410&postcount=11661
Adonis Stevenson vs Aaron Pryor Jr- Adonis Stevenson by UD
David Lemieux vs. Joachim Alcine- David Lemieux by KO
Gennady Golovkin vs. Lajuan Simon- Gennady Golovkin by UD
Jose Salgado vs. Laborio Solis- Jose Salgado by KO
Ray Bautista vs. Miguel Angel Mendoza- Rey Bautista by UD
Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson- Amir Khan by UD
Timur Ibragimov vs. Seth Mitchell- Seth Mitchell by UD
Brian Viloria vs. Giovani Segura- Giovanni Segura by KO
Not much going on this weekend, most of the match ups look like white washes on paper, but we'll see. Fights are won and lost in the ring, not on paper or somebody's opinion. So, let's get to it.
Up in Canada, David Lemieux is back fighting Joachim Alcine. Alcine is a decent boxer, shaky chin. Lemiuex should come right and knock out Alcine in 1 or 2 rounds. Lemiuex may lack stamina and heart, but the dude has major league power. This fight will end early. Also, Adonis Stevenson is taking on Aaron Pryor Jr. Pryor Jr. is a horrible fighter. He doesn't have any skill, he's just abnormally tall for his division. Stevenson is quite powerful, but he is quite a bit shorter than Pryor Jr. and that's his only saving grace. Plus, Pryor's only knows one way to fight and that's backwards. He is quite a spoiler, and this fight will be a stinker if Stevenson can't catch him. Stevenson should win though, he's at home and I don't know if he will catch him, but I've got him by UD.
Gennady Golovkin is taking on quality fighter Lajuan Simon. Simon is a quality fighter who is very experienced and been in with guys such as Sebastian Sylvester, and Arthur Abraham. He lost to both, but he went the distance against both. This another step in the right direction for Golovkin, after taking on Kassim Ouma, now he's going against Lajuan Simon. He's heading in the right direction. I think Golokvin definitely wins, but how will he win is interesting. I'll say Simon goes the distance, but Golovkin wins by UD.
Jose Salgado can bang, Liborio Solis is quite slow and is more of an outside fighter. Don't see too many from Colombia that does that, but he does to an extent. Anyway, I've got Salgado, he has good power, pretty decent boxer, nice young prospect from Mexico. I've got him by stoppage.
Rey Bautista and Miguel Mendoza are fighting for a world international title. Mendoza is quite an unknown, he's fought nothing but a bunch of novices. Bautista is powerful fighter, I'll take Bautista by stoppage, and I actually don't know a whole lot about Mendoza, surprisingly enough. We'll see what happens, but Bautista should win.
Seth Mitchell is probably the best American Heavyweight prospect, and that isn't saying a whole lot. He's got a lot of fights under his belt, not much substance in those fights though. Largely untested, this fight withTimur Ibragimov is going to be a good test just to see how good Mitchell really is. As it stands Mitchell does have good power, nice skills, but every attribute is in question. How is his stamina? How is his chin? How is his heart? All that, he's unknown, I think he'll beat Ibragimov by UD. We'll see what happens though, hopefully, Ibragimov puts up a good fight, tests his chin, but Ibragimov is quite faded. He looked bad against Jean Marc Mormeck. So, we'll see what happens Mitchell should win easily by UD.
Amir Khan-Lamont Peterson is a good fight. I'm actually looking forward to it. Peterson has a lot of dog in him. He really does dig deep and he really wants it. Khan is the better overall fighter though, he has a nice jab, very fast, good pop, etc. I think the odds are way too much in favor of Amir Khan, 1/14 favorite? Really? They shouldn't be that wide, Khan should be a favorite, but not 1/14 odds. Peterson doesn't give up, solid fighter. He's got decent skills, but more than likely he'll just be coming forward, throwing that James Toney-esque type right hand. Where he torques his body and whips it out there. Khan has a shaky chin, and if Peterson lands nicely on it, watch out. This will be a tough, tough fight for Khan and Khan won't have a massive size advantage like he has in his most recent fights...probably not since the Bredis Prescott fight. Peterson is just as big, skills a bit less, a little less speed, about the same power, but Peterson has big, big heart. Peterson will be right there pressuring Khan all night long. Khan will most likely win by UD, but don't count out Peterson. Slight chance of Khan beating Peterson by stoppage...ref stoppage, may'be corner stoppage. That's the only stoppage possible, but I doubt that happens. I've got Khan by UD, but much, much closer than what people think.
A Sunday special. Giovanni Segura is a fantastic little pressure fighter. Brian Viloria is a fantastic skilled fighter. His problem is that he hates pressure, and he literally starts running and tiring out as the rounds progress. This should be an action packed fight, and I think Viloria will have success early in this fight, but Segura's pressure, and power eventually starts to wear down Viloria. Segura by late stoppage, if you can. You have to try and watch this fight. This will be a late consideration as Fight of The Year. It has all the makings of it, skill, will, pressure, power, boxer. Can't miss this one.
November 12th/13th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11202999&postcount=10088
Diego Magdaleno vs. Emmanuel Lucero- Diego Magdaleno by KO
Austin Trout vs. Frank LoPorto- Austin Trout by KO
Tyson Fury vs. Neven Pajkic- Tyson Fury by KO
Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III- Manny Pacquiao by KO
Timothy Bradley vs. Joel Casamayor- Timothy Bradley by UD
Juan Carlos Burgos vs. Luis Cruz- Juan Carlos Burgos by SD
Breidis Prescott vs. Mike Alvarado- Mike Alvarado by KO
Here we are again boxing fans, another good fight weekend, and not only that it is a big big event. An event where the casuals pay attention. Now, boxing, overall, has been a good year, but in terms of the big fights where all the casuals watch...not so much. We have had Shane Mosley run and touch gloves for 12 rounds against Manny Pacquiao, we had David Haye run, and fall down for 12 rounds against Wladimir Klitschko (and to make matters worse, he blamed his pinky toe. Standing there with his shoe off showing everybody, ugh.) We have had the weird circus finish of Mayweather-Ortiz. Ortiz headbutts, Joe Cortez loses control and in WWE fashion Mayweather knocked out Ortiz, while, Cortez, the ref, wasn't looking at what was going on. For two rounds Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson threw a total of 5 punches, Hopkins jumps on Dawson, Dawson shoulders him off, Hopkins can't continue and it is ruled a TKO. (for now...) All in all, boxing's big fights haven't delivered, but this Saturday, with full confidence, I can say that the main event this Saturday will. But before we get into the main course, let's take a look at some of the appitizers to feast on this weekend.
First up two Friday fights. These, not so competitive on paper, and more than likely, won't be competitive.Diego Magdaleno is taking on Emmanuel Lucero. Now, if boxing had stocks on prospects (and some people get confused on the term 'prospect' a prospect is a young fighter, usually early to mid 20's, a number of fights in the teens to early 20's, and doesn't have a world title belt) and the question was "Who has all the skills to be a long time champion, and who has the looks to be a future superstar?" Talking boxing stocks, I would definitely buy on Diego Magdaleno. Magdaleno is a slick fighter, very skilled, is a young fighter, and has the looks of a Oscar De La Hoya. Magdaleno has all the looks and tools to be in that class. He is fighting Emmanuel Lucero, who, really isn't a step up from his last fight against Alejandro Perez. Lucero is a decent gatekeeper/journeyman type fighter who, basically, loses to good fighters. He has lost to Manny Pacquiao, Daniel Ponce De Leon, Rocky Juraez, and Jason Litzau. Not only that, but he was stopped in those fights. This will be a good barometer to see exactly where Magdaleno is, and if he does stop him (and he should) then he'll be on the right track. So, prediction, Magdaleno by pretty quick stoppage. About the 4th round or so.
Also, on Friday, the boxing world will finally be able to see Austin Trout. Trout is a good, young, boxer, who just recently picked up a world title at 154. Not only does Trout have the goods, but he has been a road warrior, and a winning road warrior no less. His last 4 fights have been in 3 different countries. Once in Panama (where he was very close to getting robbed.) once in the States, and his last two fights in Mexico. Earlier this year he took on Rigoberto Alvarez (Canelo's hermano) and beat him for a vacant world title. He then defended it back down to Mexico against David Lopez and beat him by wide UD. Now, he's back in the States and it is more a less a showcase fight. He is taking on Frank LoPorto, who is more of a Australian club fighter. On paper this isn't a competitive fight and Trout should easily have his way. Trout is fast, throws lots of punches, decent pop, and all that should be an easy win and a mid stoppage win.
Tyson Fury, oh how he has grown. Tyson Fury of 2008/2009 was a clown. A big, goofy, uncoordinated heavyweight who was punching himself in the face, to now. A fighter who is getting diciplined and is forming into a pretty good heavyweight prospect. 2011 Tyson Fury has grown leaps and bounds and has been getting better and better and has been making for exciting fights. He stopped Marcelo Luiz Nascimento in 5, but then, the true test came for him. Fellow undefeated Englishmen, Dereck Chisora, took him on and they produced a very entertaining fight and a fight Fury looked quite good at times. His last fight was against Nicolai Firtha and for 4 rounds that was his most complete performance. He looked great, using distance, using his jab, while being exciting, but probably a bit too exciting for him. In the 3rd round he was rocked with a big time right hand and was badly, badly hurt. He recovered though and ended up stopping Firtha in the 5ht round. In this fight, he is fighting Neven Pajkic, who is basically a club fighter with a padded record...a very glossy record. He is undefeated and that is just to make Fury's resume look good. Beating a guy with an undefeated record. That's it. This fight does nothing for Fury, just to make him look good in the ring, and out of the ring. I expect Fury to look good, put on a good performance, and win by early knockout.
Now, we go to the States to the "fight capital of the world" Las Vegas, Nevada where Top Rank, surprisingly, has a pretty good card on tap. First up, Mike Alvarado is taking on Bredis Prescott. Now, what sucks is that the building will be 80% empty (or I guess 20% full, if you're an optomist) but this fight should be quite good. Mike Alvarado is a fighter that comes forward for 3 minutes, shows nice head movement, thinks about D, and throws nice power shots. Alvarado is coming off a very one sided performance against Gabriel Martinez. Prescott will be coming to fight. Prescott is coming off a good performance where he looked very, very good against Paul McCloskey, a close fight, where he didn't get the nod. Prescott boxed well, beautiful jab, nice straight right. If Prescott comes out motivated tries to box, this will definitely be a fun fight. One of those, bull versus matador type fights. I gotta think Prescott will have a good early rounds, but Alvarado starts hitting up, Prescott gets tired, and Alvarado stops Prescott in the late rounds.
By this time now, the arena should be 50-65% full by now. And this is all that needs to be said...Mexico versus Puerto Rico. That's it. Nothing more needs to be said...but I'm going to still talk about it. Luis Cruz is an undefeated fighter, but largely untested. His only notable scrap is beating Martin Honorio, but Honorio only had a week's notice and still made it the distance and really did give Cruz fits at times. Cruz is a nice boxer that has had a good arsenal, but he really doesn't do anything that's really "wow'ing" at least, not yet. Juan Carlos Burgos is a bit of the same way. He is a nice, well, rounded boxer, just a little bit better resume. His only really big, big fight was a fight he lost, to Hozumi Hasegawa. Both, nice outside boxers, nice jabs, both very tall for 126/130...this fight will be taking place at 130. Very interesting fight that I think will be a couple of feel out rounds and then it starts to heat up from round 4 on up and I believe we will have a war. This is a very, very even fight on paper and I think most rounds will be very close and we will have a debatable decision...if it makes it to the cards, but, most importantly, it will be a great fight.
Unfortunately, this is the co-feature of the PPV. The most important fight on a PPV, the gateway to the main event. This fight, with most people that bought the PPV will be tuning in, and pretty much the building will be filled up to watch Timothy Bradley and Joel Casamayor fight. Ugh, now Bradley is a P4P fighter, a top rated fighter, but this fight will most certainly hurt his stock. Casamayor is, not only a tough fighter to look good against, but he is old now. Casamayor looked horrible in his last fight against Manuel Leyva, then it was against Robert Guerrero another snooze induced fight. Basically, tell all your friends to not get mad at Bradley-Casamayor. Tell them that this might be a horrible, horrible fight and have very low expectations of it. And just hope that Bradley comes out with a man on a mission, comes out swinging, and makes Casamayor quit on his stool. Bradley has below average pop, just respectable power, nowhere near knockout type power. Casamayor, same thing and both have really good beards. So, hope that Bradley saves the day, comes out aggressive and just wears down Casamayor, otherwise, we are in for a very bad fight. Prediction: Timothy Bradley by wide UD.
October 7th/8th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10890219&postcount=8431
Roman Karmazin vs. Osumanu Adama- Roman Karmazin by UD
Sharif Bogere vs Fransisco Contreras- Sharif Bogere by UD*
Rodrigo Guerrero vs. Raul Martinez- Rodrigo Guerrero by SD
AJ Banal vs. Mario Briones- A.J. Banal by KO
Donnie Nietes vs. Ramon Garcia Hirales- Donnie Nietes by UD
Dmitry Sukhotski vs. Nadjib Mohammedi- Dmitry Sukhotski by UD
Saul Roman vs. Sebastien Madani- Saul Roman by KO
Kell Brook vs. Rafal Jackiewicz- Kell Brook by UD
Last week was a big bang, this week, eh, not so much. Solid enough week though. It’s a solid week, no real big big names, but a couple of up and coming prospects, and a couple of fights that can produce some fireworks. Also, since it isn’t a massive week, I’m going to do a little twist just to have some fun. Throughout the write up there’s going to be some key words, don’t know if anybody will see ‘em, but we’ll see what happens.
All right, first fight on Friday night the best nickname in the sport is back Roman “Made in Hell” Karmazin is coming back and taking on Osumanu Adama. This really is a make or break fight for Karmazin, Adama is a solid fighter, a solid journeyman type fighter. A type of fighter where you want a prospect to win, or a fighter that looks to be on the slide (like Karmazin) and you see exactly where you stand. If Karmazin wins, well, he still has enough left to make some noise. If not, well, may’be it’s time to hang them up. Adama though, has major motivation to win this fight and definitely won’t be rolling over. If he wins this it is an eliminator for a world title belt at 160, and if he wins, then he gets a contract from Golden Boy Promotions. It would be a terrific story. Karmazin has all the experience, good resume, and has been world champion. And that’s all fine and well, but he may not exactly be up for this fight. He’s already been there and done that and Adama may come up and bite Karamzin right on the behind. In a year full of upsets, we may see another one on Friday. I’m not picking Adama, I’m taking, on paper, the better fighter in Karamzin to win by decision. I’ll go with a close Unanimous Decision.
On ShoBox, Sharif Bogere is back. The undefeated, flashy, prospect he is taking on another quality fighter, a bit of a step back from his last fight versus Raymundo Beltran, but still a quality fight. Francisco Contreras is an undefeated fighter as well, but he is 5 years older and hasn't gotten any hype around him and he hasn't fought any real notable names. Still though, that can be said about Bogere as well. He hadn't fought anybody really of note until his last fight against Beltran where it was a very close fight and one he was lucky to have gotten the win. So, resume wise they are very even on paper. Now, let's take a look at their skill sets. Bogere is quite fast, and very entertaining. especially, his ring walk, he comes out in a rusty cage (not exactly rusty, but like I said from the start I'm doing something a bit different wink wink) in a lion's out fit. Very funny, and much the reason why he is an undefeated, hyped, prospect. Anyway, back to the stuff he does inside the ring, he is fast, solid, pop, and might have stamina problems. Beltran pushed Bogere and really took him to deep waters for the first time and Bogere got tired late in the fight.
A.J. Banal is a young, explosive, southpaw out of the Philippines. His only blemish in his young career so far is when he took on Rafael Concepcion for an interim world title belt. He was only 20 at the time and just too green, and was stopped in the 10th round, a fight in which, was really close though. A very good fight. His opponent, Mario Briones, is a superunknown. Very good record, but no notable names. Not even, any journeyman or anything like that. Of his 20 wins only 2 fighters had a winning record. Everybody else were either making their debut, had a losing record, or a 500 record. That is what you call a very padded record. He is traveling for the first time and he is taking on a buzz saw in A.J. Banal. I believe Banal's speed and power is just going tear up Briones and stop him early to mid rounds.
Kell Brook is the next United Kingdom fighter that is about ready to take that next step into world level. He is a talented fighter that looks to have all the goods. Speed, power, etc. This is his second fight in a row, not only taking on a really good opponent, but a very durable opponent. He took on Lovemore N'Dou a fighter who had never been stopped and Brook came very close. N'Dou was out of it a couple of times and was very tired near the end. Brook just couldn't quite do it. Even though N'Dou is 40 years old that would have been a big accomplishment. His opponent this time is Rafal Jackiewicz, another very notable opponent and a fighter who has never been stopped. Since 2004 he has only lost twice (one of his losses were very controversial, but he got a couple of gifts as well. In his first fight against Jan Zaveck and against Delvin Rodriguez) I don't like saying anybody has no chance, I don't ever say that, but this is a pretty close to a no chance. Brook is a talented fighter and at home while Jackiewicz is a limited basic fighter. This is a good fight just to see if Brook can pass the test, and the big question is whether or not he can stop Jackiewicz. I think Brook does pass the test only losing about 2 or 3 rounds, but I don't think he stops Jackiewicz. I've got Brook via wide UD.
Dmitry Sukhotski and Nadjib Mohammedi might be tough to pronounce and say, but don't be fooled by their names, they are pretty good fighters. Nadjib Mohammedi's most significant fight was going over to the United Kingdom and really giving Nathan Cleverly a good fight. He pushed Cleverly, a very close, and a fight in which Cleverly was fortunate enough to get the win. Dmitry Sukhotski, same thing, he traveled to Germany to fight Juergen Braehmer and he really pushed Brahmer as well. Sukhotsky had his moments in that fight and didn't make life easy for Brahmer. Sukhotsky is as strong as an ox. A very durable fighter that likes to come forward and throw big shots. Limited boxing ability though, he's flat footed, and doesn't throw a jab. Going back to Mohammedi he does a lot of boxing and fights off the back foot. Lots of jabs from Mohammedi and pretty quick. He does pull back straight back at times though, and he has been hurt and has been stopped. That is a bit of a flaw in Mohammedi's game, but both of these fighter are good in their own way. It is a toss up fight, the difference for me is that this fight is in Russia and that favors Sukhotski. So, I do think Mohammedi will have a lot of success, but Sukhotsky will have his moments as well, so I'll take Sukhotsky by...let's go with by decision.
Saul Roman-Sebastian Madani is an interesting fight. Not because it's a 50/50 fight or that it has the potential to be a barn burner, the interesting part is that it is taking place in Spain. Neither fighter is from Spain. Roman is a Mexican and Madani is a Frenchman. So, both of them will be making a power trip out to Spain. Saul Roman is a fighter, recently, that has fallen on black days. In his last 5 fights he has lost in 3 of those 5 and his other losses have come against some of the big names in the sport such as Yuri Foreman, Sergio Martinez, Marco Antonio Rubio, and Jesus Soto Karass early in his career. Sebastian Madani, meanwhile, has fought his entire career at home, and has fought in his home town defending his 154 Frenchman title. Now, he is taking a big step in going up against Saul Roman and not only that, but it is for a title...a small title, but a title nonetheless. Roman has been stopped 6 out of his 9 losses, but I don't think he'll have to worry about being stopped in this fight. Madani is a boxer, and he has only 9 KO's in his 31 victories. This will be a lot like fighting Yuri Foreman, but Madani isn't as good as a boxer as Foreman. He doesn't move as much and he is slower than Foreman, so I do think Roman will be able to get lots of chances to get inside and I don't think Madani will like it. I like Roman to stop Madani in this fight.
This is a rematch between Raul Martinez and Rodrigo Guerrero. It was almost a year ago that these two waged in a great war. Guerrero sucked Martinez in a war and he barely escaped with a SD victory. Since then Raul Martinez hasn't fought and Guerrero has only fought once. He ballooned up to 126 pounds and won in 5 rounds in a tuneup fight. Guerrero is a young fighter, but he is already an old 23 year old fighter. He hasn't taken massive punishment in his 19 fights. He upset Juan Alberto Rojas in a war, and upset Luis Maldonado as well which actually catapulted him a shot versus Vic Darchinyan. And in that fight he didn't get the win, but still managed to get punished big time. He didn't go down or get stopped and survived all 12 brutal rounds. And then in his most recent war was against Raul Martinez, and came up just a bit short in that one. Rodrigo Guerrero is an iron chinned warrior, a very respectable fighter. Raul Martinez is the more talented fighter of the two and just has the one blemish in which he was blown out by Nonito Donaire. A solid resume beating the likes of Rodrigo Guerrero, Gabriel Elizondo, and Isidro Garcia. A thin, but decent resume so far. This should be another terrific fight and if Martinez doesn't use his skills and gets sucked into a war, he may lose this fight. Guerrero has shown an iron chin and durability for 12 rounds and he just keeps coming and coming. Guerrero was outshined the last time, but for the rematch I like Rodrigo Guerrero in an upset. I think he comes in, gets inside, and gets the better of Raul Martinez and this time he gets the decision via SD.
September 24th/25th, 2011:
http://www.boxingforum24.com/showpost.php?p=10775102&postcount=7960
Alexander Dimitrenko vs. Michael Sprott- Alexander Dimitrenko by KO
Simphiwe Nongqayi vs Jorge Arce II- Jorge Arce by UD
Adrian Hernandez vs. Gideon Buthelezi- Adrian Hernandez by KO
Chris van Heerden vs. Kaizer Mabuza- Chris van Heerden by UD
Gennady Martirosyan vs. Dmitry Pirog- Dmitry Pirog by KO
Everybody around the world is still talking about last weeks' boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz. What is in store for us this week? Well, nothing explosive. We have a solid group of fights, but it's nothing wowing and really captures everybody's attention. And while I'm on the subject why oh why did HBO not have the Sergio Martinez-Darren Barker fight this week? I don't get why the big heads at HBO didn't have the Martinez fight right after the Mayweather-Ortiz fight. This matters because it would be a great way to showcase who Sergio Martinez is to people that may have not have seen him that would have seen him during the Mayweather-Ortiz replay. Instead, all HBO is going to show is the rerun of the fight. No live fight. This is yet another terrible decision by HBO, but let's not get into that. Let's talk about this week of fights.
Alexander Dimitrenko, the tall German is taking on the journeyman Michael Sprott. Dimitrenko has a very good record, and is tall and has pretty good power, but I don't see him as a legit threat. I don't even rate him as a top 10 Heavyweight. Dimitrenko is very weak physically and mentally. When the going gets tough he folds and has no answers. His big name on his resume is Eddie Chambers and Chambers destroyed Dimitrenko. Dimitrenko's other name fighter is Albert Sosnowski, who is a nice journeyman fighter, but he was having difficulty with him too, before knocking him out a very tired Sosnowski. He's taking on Michael Sprott who is a journeyman, but is very very long in the tooth. His last great moment was winning the prizefighter...eh, and beating on Audley Harrison before getting knocked out in the last round. Since that fight he hasn't gone more than 4 rounds. So, with that, I have to think Sprott really isn't in it anymore and Dimitrenko will stop Sprott sometime in this fight. Again, I don't think highly of Dimitrenko, but Sprott is chinny, old, and he may'be just coming in for a paycheck. And even if he actually does manage to beat on Dimitrenko...he isn't winning a decision in Germany. Dimitrenko wins this fight guaranteed and I see him stopping Sprott.
Adrian Hernandez is taking on Gideon Buthelezi. Hernandez is now a belt holder at 108 after beating Gilberto Keb Baas in a rematch and it was a very entertaining fight. Hernandez just had too much skill, and is a great worker to the body. Very accurate and very powerful. Hernandez is a lot like other Mexican fighters, great body work and comes forward quite wild and wide, but it gets the job down. Gideon Buthelzi is a bit of a slick southpaw, very accurate puncher that has very good boxing ability. He can be slick and can fight off the back foot. He did a lot of that in his last fight against Budler where he frustrated Budler with nice sharp punching and movement. It was a razor thin fight though, one where he won by SD. And a lot of could be influenced because he does fight off the back foot and he looks to be a counter puncher rather than a straight up, in the pocket, banger. I think this definitely has the potential to be a very entertaining fight. It's one of those bull versus the matador type fight. Hernandez will be coming, using his strength and power to beat Buthelezi and Buthelezy will look to use his speed, and counter punching ability to outpoint Adrian Hernandez. There is a problem there though. This fight is in Mexico and it will be tough for Buthelezi to win this fight on the cards. I don't think though this fight will go to the cards. I think Buthelezi is too green, and this moment is too big for him at this time. Him on the road, and fighting a tough fighter like Hernandez is just a very tall and tough task. I think Buthelezi gives a good effort and puts on a good show, but he gets stopped in the mid to may'be late rounds. Hernandez' body work will be devastating and that will definitely knock the wind out of Buthelezi's sails. Hernandez via stoppage.
Now, let's talk about the Simphiwe Nongqayi-Jorge Arce rematch. Who says a counter puncher, that boxes off the back foot can't win in Mexico. This is rematch of just a little over 2 years ago now. When they fought a little over two years ago Simphiwe Nongqayi made Arce looked old, slow, and just really outboxed him badly. At that point it looked as though Arce was on the way out. Early that year, in 2009, he was dominated and beat up by Vic Darchinyan. The new year would be good for Arce though as he would fight one last time at 115 (picked up a world title belt...for whatever that's worth) moved up to the 122 division (fighting around 120ish though) and during that tiem he went 5-0-1. Pretty good, and he would be rewarded by getting a shot at the undefeated belt holder Wilfredo Vazquez Jr on the Pacquiao-Mosley undercard, and they both ended up stealing the show. The Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry would produce yet another classic with Jorge Arce fighting like a madman and getting Vazquez out of there in the last round, in a close fight. The opposite has happened to Simphiwe Nongqayi since his biggest win. After he beat Arce and won a world title belt in the process. He went to France, and ended up with a draw. Went back down to Mexico and got knocked out in 6. It's been a tough road since the Arce victory and this will be his first fight since getting knocked out, and that was almost 14 months ago now. Nongqayi looks to resurrect his career by beating Arce yet again. The two big questions though is, concerning Arce, was the Vazquez victory his last hurrah? And for Nongqayi was his win over Arce his peak win and will his career continue to go down hill? That's what makes this fight intriguing. I think Arce is in a great state of mind and he really is catching a second wind in his career. I think his momentum continues and he avenges his loss and wins a decision. I don't think Arce will stop Nongqayi because, if he is motivated, he is a very durable and tough fighter. He gets in that shell, keeps his distance and starts outboxing you....ah, dang, this could turn out to be exactly like the first fight, but I just got a hunch Arce wins this fight. Winning two on the road is tough, I don't know if Nongqayi will be able to do it. I say Arce by close UD.
Chris van Heerden-Kaizer Mabuza this is a very good fight down in South Africa, which is quitely becoming a very good place for boxing. Quite a few up and coming fighters from down there that I believe will start making noise in the next couple of years. Isaac Chilemba, Thomas Oosthuizen, Nkosinathi Joyi, all very good fighters, and I believe Chris van Heerden will be in that class as well. He is a very talented 147 fighter, southpaw. Very slick, nice jab, fights off thee back foot. He really is talented, and has shown good skills against his opposition thus far. Now, he is stepping up in class against Kaizer Mabuza, but it is a good step up in class. Not too difficult, but someone that may push him a bit. Mabuza made noise when he made Kendall Holt quit and had a shot at a 140 title against Zab Judah, but came up short. Mabuza is quite crude, comes forward, and has good power. We will see how good Heerden really is, but I think he is the real deal. I see him outboxing Mabuza all the way to the finish line losing just a couple of rounds. He has been the full 12 distance before so mentally and physically it won't be a problem for him. So, I look for a great fight out of van Heerden, and also, it is worth noting Mabuza is coming up in weight again and Heerden is a natural 147 fighter. All signs point toward a van Heerden victory and I think he does win via UD.
This fight isn't on the list, but it should be, is the Vicente Escobedo-Rocky Juarez fight. This is probably the fight this week that is pretty close to a toss up this weekend. Both fighters are very much on a downward spiral and both need wins very very badly. Escobedo, since the Katsidis fight, is 2-2. that's a tune up after the Katsidis win and his most recent victory was against Walter Estrada, which he looked very bad. If that's not bad enough, Juarez is even worse. His last 4 fights have all been losses. If we include the fights since tje Juand Manuel Marquez fight 1-5-1. And as we all know, the Chris John draw was very generous in favor of Rocky Juarez. He could very easily be 1-6. His last fight was against Alejandro Sanabria....let that sink in for awhile. Alejandro Sanabria. Now, no disrespect to Sanabria, he may turn out to be a world beater, but at this time he has a very glossy record with no notable wins...not including the Juarez victory. So, may'be he turns out to be a good fighter, but at the moment, we don't know and Juarez looks really bad at this time. So, this is a fight between used to be good fighters that are soon becoming journeyman. One can even argue that Juarez already is a journeyman and is a stepping stone for young fighters. This fight is at 130, a weight Escobedo hasn't fought at since 2007. So, that's very intriguing, so you know, we'll see what happens. I would take Escobedo by unanimous decision.
September 17th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10697968&postcount=7783
Jessie Vargas vs. Josesito Lopez- Jessie Vargas by SD
Saul Alvarez vs. Alfonso Gomez- Saul Alvarez by KO
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Victor Ortiz- Floyd Mayweather by UD
What turned put to be a very big event on Saturday night has sort of lost a little bit of luster. Kassim Ouma-Ewan McEwen were supposed to fight, but now that fight is off. And Erik Morales-Lucas Matthysse were supposed to fight as well, but that fight is off now. Morales is still fighting and is on the Mayweather-Ortiz card, but is fighting Pablo Cesar Cano. An undefeated fighter, a padded record, good power, but is very slow and is definitely not worthy enough of a world title shot, at the moment. Still, there are a couple of good fights on tap and, of course, the Mayweather-Ortiz mega fight.
The first fight on the PPV card will be rising prospect Jessie Vargas. A very strong, powerful undefeated prospect. He is taking on his toughest test to date against a very solid contender in Josesito Lopez. Lopez, very cagey, very experience, and is an all around solid fighter. Coming into this fight both have had big moments in the year of 2011 and both are on fire. Jessie Vargas had a Knockout of the Year nominee when he blasted out Walter Estrada last July, who at that time was his biggest test...a big step up fight for him. And he passed with flying colors blasting Estrada out with a left hook. Lopez in January took on the undefeated prospect of Mike Dallas Jr. fought him very tough, very cagey, took the undefeated prospect into deep waters and eventually drowned him in the 7th round. I like where Josesito Lopez' head is at right now. He has experience and he has been here before and knows that Vargas has had some problems making 140 and has had problems in the past and is lucky that he is still undefeated. Journeyman Cristian Favela too Vargas into deep waters, but Vargas barely escaped with an 8 round unanimous decision, a very controversial unanimous decision. Style wise, Vargas has balance problems. He tends to fall forward when throwing, doesn't use his jab enough, and is really in love with his left hook. Throws it a bit too much, but that left hook has dynamite in it. Josesito Lopez will look to close the distance, and really try and bully Vargas and do some inside work. Lopez on the outside, gets hit a bit, his defense seems very leaky, but he is tough. On paper a really close fight, very much a 50/50 type fight. I think this goes to the cards and Jessie Vargas gets a controversial SD victory. So, my prediction in Vargas by SD. I really hope that it isn't controversial, I don't care who wins as long as it is the best man. It would really suck if the first fight off "Starpower" starts off in controversial fashion.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is on this card as well, but not in Vegas. He is in Southern California taking on Alfonso Gomez. And to be honest, this is basically a worthless fight. Alvarez is a champion now and looked to be heading in the right direction when he took on Ryan Rhodes, but now he is taking a giant lead step back in competition. Alfonso Gomez is a quality opponent, don't get me wrong, he isn't a bum by any means. This would be a good fight 2 years ago when Alvarez was taking these step up fights. Taking on the likes of Jose Cotto, Lanardo Tyner, Carlos Baldomir, etc. Gomez would have fit in nicely, but now it definitely isn't the same. Saul Alvarez is now a champion and took on a very good opponent in Ryan Rhodes last time out and really beat him up. He needs to build on that. Instead, he is taking a giant step back, and not only is he taking a giant step back, he is doing it where people have to shell out 60-70 bucks on PPV, or 10-20 bucks seeing it in a theater. Not only, is this fight a slap in the face to everybody, but it adds salt in the wound having people pay money to see what will probably be a beat down until Alvarez stops him in the mid to late rounds. People want to be entertained with good, competitive fights. Not one sided beatdowns. So, that's my rant on this fight, and again no disrespect to Alfonso Gomez who is a solid fighter himself, it's just that this is not a worthy title fight. Plain and simple and this fight should not be one of the fights you have to pay money for. If Alvarez took on an Austin Trout, a Vanes Martirosyan, or just any top 10 fighter at 154 then yeah, it's a good fight. It just isn't a complete waste of time. Anyway, we got this fight and let's break it down. Alvarez is much bigger, better skills, faster, more power, basically, he has every attribute in the book besides heart, and may'be chin. Everything else is a whitewash in favor of Canelo Alvarez and it will be shown on Saturday night. Alvarez will just be beating and beating on Gomez. Gomez a tough fighter, will try his best, but eventually the ref or his corner will stop this fight in the mid to late rounds. It wouldn't be a total shocker to see Alvarez win by decision...a pretty much shut out win, but I'm expecting Gomez to get stopped in this fight.
And now we come down to the main event of the evening. Floyd 'Money' Mayweather is making his return and is taking on the newly crowned title holder of 147 and that is the young, strong, hungry, "tree", that is 'Vicious' Victor Ortiz. You know Mayweather, everybody knows what Mayweather is all about. He is a highly skilled fighter and not only that, but a very smart fighter as well. Mayweather is a thinker in the ring and hardly makes a mistake, and if he does make a mistake, he doesn't make the same mistake. (IE: throwing a lead left hook and getting caught in the 2nd round of the Shane Mosley fight) Mayweather has all the skills going for him and has established a very good legacy. It could be better, but we won't get into that. Victor Ortiz really broke onto the scene and really got everybody's attention when he knocked out Mike Arnoutis in 2 rounds on a very highly rated Boxing After Dark show featuring Robert Guerrero and James Kirkland. He definitely has been on everybody's radar since then, his next fight after that though established a new household name in the boxing world. And that name would be Marcos Maidana. They both knocked each other down in the first 2 rounds and were in a great great slugfest, until the 5th round when Maidana continued to chip away and start to breakdown Ortiz with his aggression and power. In the 6th it would become too much for him and Ortiz decided to quit. After that Ortiz decided to go straight back into the fire taking on a good name in Antonio Diaz, and a soft touch in Hector Alatorre getting 17 rounds out of those fights. Trying to knockout the demons of the Maidana fight. He then continued on the path back facing the very dangerous, but faded Nate Campbell and winning a shutout. Then destroyed Vivan Harris in 3 rounds and to cap off the year of 2010 and on the doorstep of a world title shot taking on highly rated Lamont Peterson. Early in the fight all was going well for him dropping Peterson twice in the 3rd round. Ortiz stepped off the gas and Peterson pressed forward trying to take away the fight Ortiz seemed to have in the bag. And he almost did, he went home with a draw and doubters once again emerged as Ortiz couldn't finish off Peterson. He moved up to 147, went for a world title shot against Berto and the once goofy looking babyfaced kid decided enough was enough. He came out as a bearded seriel killer, serious, and intent on coming away with that world title. He did just that beating Andre Berto in a Fight of the Year, Round of the Year, and Upset of the year candidate. On Saturday night, Victor Ortiz will be looking ahead at another tough task. A fight, in which, virtually everybody is predicting him to lose a fight, in which, the champion is a 7/1 underdog. Once again, he is facing an uphill battle and determined to prove everybody wrong, yet again.
Here we are, the two are in the ring, how will this fight go? I got to say, if you are a Mayweather fan, or you got Mayweather on a bet...I would definitely feel uneasy in the the first 4 rounds, because rounds 2-4 we could see history and we may very well see Mayweather get his first loss. Mayweather is a very slow starter, and Ortiz is a fast starter. I can't see Mayweather getting knocked out in the first round. He's an all-time great...that's why I didn't include the first round, but rounds 2-4 Ortiz may catch him with a quick powerful shot and Mayweather might hit the deck and he might be gone. Mayweather has an average chin, superb defense, but if he gets hit point blank he does get hurt. (See Zab Judah fight, see DeMarcus Corley fight, and see Shane Mosley fight) and two out of those three fighters he's been buzzed/hurt by have been southpaws and Ortiz is a southpaw. So, as a betting man I'm sure you'll get great odds picking Ortiz by KO in rounds 2-4, there is massive danger there. If Mayweather does get by that, he'll be in the clear and start dominating from there. The thing is though, hypothetically, say Ortiz does win 3 of the first 4 rounds and gets a knockdown. He'll have massive momentum and he'll be pumped up. He'll be in Mayweather's face all night and if he's aggressive and throws punches in bunches. No matter how accurate Mayweather is the judges could give the swing rounds to Ortiz. It's definitely possible that could happen, it is very unlikely, but hey it is a realistic possibility. Anyway, after round 4 I think Mayweather is in the clear though, he starts breaking down Ortiz and starts pulling away and eventually does get the decision. A late round stoppage is very possible though as well. Mayweather isn't knocking out Ortiz, but a ref stoppage or corner stoppage could happen in the double digit rounds. I'm not rolling with that though, I've got Mayweather by decision, in unanimous fashion. A somewhat close, but clear decision for Mayweather in the 116-112/117-111 range.
September 2nd/3rd, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10584517&postcount=7205
Luis Alberto Lazarte-Nerys Espinoza II- Luis Alberto Lazarte by UD
Evans Mbamba vs. Vic Darchinyan- Vic Darchinyan by KO
Stuart Hall vs. Jamie McDonnell- Stuart Hall by KO
Thomas Oosthuizen vs. Aaron Pryor Jr.- Thomas Oosthuizen by UD
Jan Zaveck vs. Andre Berto- Andre Berto by UD
Very good week of boxing this week. After a bit of a drought this past month or so, with very few sprinkles..we finally are getting some nice bit of rain, and have massive storm clouds ahead for the next few weeks and months.
Alright, kicking it off is Luis Alberto Lazarte-Nerys Espinoza. This fight is, eh. This, is a week spot in the schedule. They fought once, Lazarte won by UD. And I see the same thing happening again. The big, and only reason really, is because this fight is taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is home to some of the worst hometown scoring since the Sven Ottke days. It is that bad there. Lazarte has a massive home advantage. His last two fights have taken place there and there is where he fought Ulises Solis. Solis clearly dominated the first fight, plus Lazarte got TWO points taken away, and somehow that fight was a draw. I'm sure you can find that fight on YouTube somewhere. It's worth a look at how bad the scoring is. They had a rematch, pretty much the same thing, Solis dominates for the whole fight, and the fight ends in a SD...luckly in favor of Solis. Espinoza, even if he does dominate the fight, there is no guarantee he gets the nod. So, with I gotta go with the 40 year old, lucky to be at home fighter Luis Alberto Lazarte via UD.
Vic Darchinyan is taking a tuneup fight in his native Armenia, and I gotta say, he has impressed me in his last two fights. He has done much better than I thought he would do. After looking horrible against Eric Barcelona at 118. He goes into the 118 Showtime tourney and takes on Abner Mares. I thought Mares would win and stop Darchinyan late. Now, Mares almost did he really came on strong at then end, but it was a razor thin decision and he quite possibly could have gotten the nod. And then he goes on and take Yonnhy Perez. Now, Perez looked flat out bad, one of the worst performances by a world champion boxer I've seen in a while. He looked lost, no gameplan, etc. But Dachinyan came in strong, powerful, firing off with that big left hand, and won the fight via technical decision due to a headbutt. A fight though Darchinyan completely dominated. So, I take my hat off to Darchinyan who is ad******g to the weight and is turning into a force again. His opponent is Evans Mbamba is definitely just a tuneup opponent. He has no notable victories and only one notable fighter on his resume, and that was a pretty much shutout loss to Tomas Rojas. Rojas swarmed him with flurries, outworked him and dropped him a couple of times in this fight. Darchinyan isn't much of a volume puncher, but he makes up for it with his big booming power, especially, in that left hand of his. This is a showcase fight for Darchinyan and I believe he wants to really impress his people in Armenia and I think he gets the durable Mbamba out of there early to the mid rounds.
This is the real meat and potatoes for this week. On Saturday, we got a nice domestic level fighter over in the UK. Undefeated Stuart Hall is looking to take that next step to world class against Jamie McDonnell. I think this has the makings of a very good fight. Both fighters are roughly the same skill level. McDonnell likes to use range, and box from the outside. Hall likes to come in, dig to the body, on the inside and really use his strength. So, it's going to be sort of the outside versus inside type style. Resume wise they both have fought roughly the same quality of fighters. McDonnell has fought Ian Napa, Jerome Arnould, and Stephane Jamoye, and Hall has fought Ian Napa as well and Martin Power twice. So, really, nobody really has an edge in anything. It's all going to comedown to who has the bigger heart? Who has really put in the time in training camp? And all that good stuff. And when it comes down to it, I like Hall's power to stop McDonnell late. I think both fighters have their moments and it really is a close fight, but I think McDonnell starts to wear down to Hall's PP...pressure and power. So, I've got Hall winning by late stoppage. Should be a good one.
Great to see Thomas Oosthuizen finally breaking out and into the States. He is a really talented fight along with Issac Chilemba, a fighter he has fought and fought to a draw with. Oosthuizen is a big guy, has a good jab, really talented fighter. It's just that resume wise he doesn't have much, he has Chilemba who he fought to a draw with, and that's about it. Still though, just talent wise alone it's a massive gulf class between him and Aaron Pryor Jr. When you think of Pryor, you think highly skilled, fast, strong, powerful, fearless...when you think of Pryor Jr. You think none of those things, well, he is fast, but that's about it. He's a tall guy, who has quick hands and feet. Other than that he has poor boxing skills, terrible jab, and when somebody gets in close he turns his back and he literally starts crying to the ref. He is really is a bad fighter, and is living off the Pryor name. He is a terrible fighter and it is even worse to watch him running with no skills, turning his back and flicking out a horrible jab. The only reason why he has a winning record is because he has the name of Pryor, and he is abnormally tall for his division and he is quick. Other than that he doesn't have much going for him and thankfully, Oosthuizen is about his size, and so Pryor doesn't have that advantage. So, now the only obstacle is the judges. The old saying...or at least it's what I say, when you have to travel over a body of water, it usually spells trouble. It's bad news and you are already at a huge disadvantage. I'm hoping though there is a fair shake, because I mean, come on, why would the judges really try and have Pryor Jr. winning this fight. He's old, has a horrible style and has 3 losses. There is no upside in trying to get him to win. So, we'll see what happens, I've got Oosthuizen clearly winning this fight, with a fair shake. Wide UD in favor of Oosthuizen.
So, we segment over to the main event and we have a fighter travelling over a body of water. Jan Zaveck is travelling to the States and right away you have to favor Andre Berto. Even though, Zaveck is the champion and Berto is the challenger. Funny how that works. Anyway, who is Zaveck? Well, he is a very very good fighter. Very tight defense, good jab, all around good fighter. Doesn't do anything great, but does everything well. He should be undefeated, but got a bad decision in Poland against Rafal Jackiewicz. He eventually, though who go on to win a 147 strap and avenge that loss. So, really, he should be an undefeated fighter. Would he be a world champion if there was 1 belt in the division? Probably not, but he is a top 5-10 fighter. He is a very good fighter that can really push you. He is a lot like Andriy Kotelnik. All around good fighter that has good boxing skills. And I think Berto is going to find out this Saturday. I believe he will get pushed and I think he does get a gift. Berto is a good fighter in his own right, but he doesn't have the same tools Zaveck does. Berto is a one handed fighter. He has a deadly right hand, overhand right and uppercut right hand that can drop any fighter and even knock them out. If he can time Zaveck as he jabs he can definitely hurt Zaveck and stop him early in the fight, that definitely could happen. No very likely, but still a possibility. Other than that though, Berto doesn't have any tools in his toolbox. Terrible jab, he's flat footed, no stamina, he's a limited fighter after that. So, I can definitely see this fight being close, Zaveck pressing the action, Berto trying to catch Zaveck with a right hand coming in. So, back to the Kotelnik comparison, I think this fight has the potential to be a Kotelnik-Alexander type fight. Except I thing this fight will be closer, but Berto gets the nod in a UD.
August 26th/27th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10528835&postcount=6951
Marco Antonio Avendano vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko- Vyacheslav Senchenko by UD
Karoly Balzsay vs. Stanyslav Kashtanov- Stanyslav Kashtanov by UD
Robert Helenius vs. Siarhei Liakhovich- Robert Helenius by KO
Alexander Povetkin vs. Ruslan Chagaev- Alexander Povetkin by SD
Stateside nothing is going on this weekend, but overseas there are some solid fights going on.
Getting right to it. Vyacheslav Senchenko is an undefeated, 147 pound world champion. Haven't heard of him? Don't worry, nobody would blame you. He's a good top 10 fighter, but he has a weak resume, solid skills, and shouldn't have a world title. But, unfortunately, he does and he is defending it for a 4th time, first time this year. The challenger is Marco Antonio Avendano. Pretty much every big fight he has had he has lost. Plus a few others he has lost. Not much in the skill department, but he does have a punch. That's his chance, a puncher's chance. I don't like those odds so I'll go with Senchenko via wide UD.
Robert Helenius is one of the Heavyweight prospects that is working his way up. He only has 15 fights, but already a good resume. He has already faced, and beaten the likes of Samuel Peter, Lamont Brewster, and even throw in Greg Tony and Attila Levin. Not bad for only 15 fights. And with number 16 it's another good named fighter that's on the slide. Siarhei Liakhovich, is a faded fighter, but still very dangerous. I like Helenius in this fight. He's younger, fresher, and has been on a roll. I'll take Helenius to stop Liakhovich late in this fight.
Karoly Balzsay is a bit on the slide. Back in 2009 he was a world champion at 168, but Robert Stieglitz upended him, and proceeded to get upset at the end of that year. He has since won two straight tune up fights, and is now fighting for a world title again...I know, he doesn't make sense that there is a belt on the line at 168, that's why I ignore the belts. Anyway, Stanyslav Kashtanov is undefeated and is taking a big step up. Very much a padded record up until the point and we will see if he is legit or not. Style wise, they are pretty much the same. They have the stand up style, throw a 1-2, stand there, block, 1-2, etc. They have the stand up style, I'll go with Kashtanov though. He seems to be just a bit quicker, and he is the fresher fighter. Kashtanov by UD.
Alexander Povetkin-Ruslan Chagaev is a real interesting fight. Finally, Povetkin is taking a step up, his first since beating Eddie Chambers. And that was over 3 years ago, closer to 4 years. Since then he has avoided Wladimir Klitschko, has had a couple of foot injuries, and is now being trained by Teddy Atlas. So, with that said, he and Teddy have only been together for 3 weeks for this training camp. Bad news for Povetkin fighting his best fighter, probably, overall in his career, or at least since Eddie Chambers. Ruslan Chagaev is a really good Heavyweight. He's beaten the likes of John Ruiz, Carl Drumond, Matt Skelton, Michael Sprott, and Nikolay Valuev. And of course, he took on Wladimir Klitschko, but came up short...real short, like everyone else. In his last fight, he didn't look all that good though against Travis Walker. So, who knows, if he still is the same fighter he was 3-5 years ago. So, both fighters have questions, but I worry more about Povetkin, because not having a full training camp is bad news. I'm very interested to see the weigh in, but right now I've got Alexander Povetkin winning by the skin of his teeth, by SD.
July 15th/16th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10181615&postcount=6136
Diego Magdaleno vs. Alejandro Perez- Diego Magdaleno by UD
Pawel Wolak vs. Delvin Rodriguez- Pawel Wolak by UD
Marco Huck vs. Hugo Hernan Garay- Marco Huck by KO
Likar Ramos vs. Juan Manuel Marquez- Juan Manuel Marquez by KO
John Murray vs. Kevin Mitchell- John Murray by UD
Nicky Cook vs. Ricky Burns- Ricky Burns by UD
Julio Cesar Miranda vs. Brian Viloria- Brian Viloria by UD
This week is a bit of a downer compared to, well, pretty much the whole year. While there aren't big match ups, there still are a couple of fights that are interesting.
Let's start out with the fights on Friday, which are probably the best fights of the weekend. On ShoBox, Diego Magdaleno is a very good undefeated prospect. He's got 19 fights, 19 wins, 7 via stoppage and his last 4 fights have come by way of stoppage. Which is interesting, because that's been his toughest opposition is his fights recently, yet, he has been stopping them. A very good sign for a young prospect. He is coming into his own and knocking out good competition. His opponent, Alejandro Perez, definitely is good competition. Perez was once a young, undefeated prospect. He was up ended by journeyman Adolfo Landeros, avenged that loss though, so big ups there, but lost yet again to Rico Ramos, who just won a world title at 122 just last week. After that, he took the whole year of 2010 off, rejuvenated training at Wild Card gym and in his comeback fight knocked out Antonio Escalante in 1 round. I expect this fight to be good and it is very interesting. If Perez can pull off yet another upset, he is sky high, and another quality win keeps the Magdaleno train rolling for bigger and better things. As for a prediction I think this fight goes the distance. Magdaleon is a nice well rounded fighter. Keeps his hands up, good speed, good power. When he throws his back hand, the left, he does reach a bit and that leaves counter opportunities. As Antonio Escalante knows, that right hand Perez throws is very hard, and quick. Magdaleno needs to watch out for that and make sure he doesn't get hit with that punch too often. I've got the prospect Diego Magdaleno getting tested, but wins a pretty close decision, close, but clear. I got him winning in the 97-93 range.
On Friday Night Fights we have an absolute war on paper. The tough Pawel Wolak is taking on the tough luck loser in Delvin Rodriguez. I say tough luck because Rodriguez has been screwed in pretty much all of his losses. Delvin Rodriguez is pretty much the new Glen Johnson. His last two "losses" were clear robberies and against the first fight against Hlatshwayo he was robbed. So, it's easy to root for a guy like Delvin Rodriguez, but at the same time, Wolak is just as easy to root for as well. He is a tough, blue collar worker, and that is exactly his style he brings into the ring. Fast first, slug it out type fighter. He definitely brings the excitement which makes this fight on ESPN 2's Friday Night Fights a can't miss. Rodriguez is a skilled boxer, nice pop, and a big heart. Wolak, good pressure fighter, that will breakdown anybody and has good pop as well. I think this goes to the scorecards as I can't really see either fighter getting knocked out. Both are too macho and have too much heart. I think the difference will be weight. Wolak is the bigger man and has fought at 154 his whole career. While Delvin Rodriguez has fought at 140 and 147 his whole career. This is his first fight at 154 and a very tough one at that. So, yea I think the difference is weight and Wolak gets a close, but clear unanimous decision against Rodriguez.
On Saturday, two big names in boxing will be fighting against less than stellar competition. In Germany, Marco Huck is taking on Hugo Hernan Garay, and Juan Manuel Marquez is taking on Likar Ramos. Marquez can be excused for fighting somebody that is pretty average, a journeyman with a padded record in Likar Ramos, because Marquez is getting a bit of a tuneup at a higher weight and has a date with Manny Pacquiao in November. So, that's ok for Marquez, oh and my prediction is a KO for Marquez. No need to go over Marquez' good resume, and everybody should know he is one of the top P4P boxers in the game. Ramos has a padded record, KO percentage is padded, and has shaky whiskers. I've got Marquez by KO. Huck on the other hand is taking on a what seems to be faded Hugo Hernan Garay who is a career 175 pound fighter. Garay, has lost two of his last 4 and has only fought at the Crusierweight limit 2 times. I don't see how that warrants a world title shot, but he is has it. Now, while he isn't a bum, still, he is getting long in the tooth and his best days seem to be behind him. He was a quality 175 pounder, but at Cruiserweight and him not looking too good recently. I gotta go with Marco Huck by stoppage.
A big fight in Hawaii, this Saturday night. This will be for the a world title at 112. Julio Cesar Miranda, the exciting Mexican is going on the road to defend his title against Brian Viloria. Both fighters are pretty much one in the same. Both have about the same experience, same level of competition, and both are about the same age. (Viloria 30 and Miranda 31) The difference though is that both are, at the moment, on two different spectrums. Viloria, in his last fight in Hawaii, he beat Jesus Iribe, but in his next fight he was TKO'd in 12 and had to go to the hospital for heat exhaustion and severe headaches. He was in very bad shape. He came back, scraped by to win a SD and won by TKO against a journeyman his last time out. While Miranda has won his last 5 fights in a row, all by stoppage and has picked up a world title. Miranda is a very customer and Viloria may'be just about a shot fighter. Although, Miranda is on the road and Viloria is fighting at home. If Viloria can make it the distance he may'be able to steal a victory and pull off the upset. Alright, let's get to a prediction. Viloria stands in the pocket and looks to counter. Countering is very good against a fight like Miranda, but standing in the pocket is very bad. Miranda, while he is crude at times, he does have decent boxing skills and has dynamite in his hands. Tough call, tough pick, but I like the underdog at home. I think I probably should go with Miranda by knock out as that is the safe pick, but I just have a weird feeling that Viloria is going to, I guess you can say, turn back the clock and have a great performance. I like Viloria's quick hands, and countering ability and that big right hand to get a close decision against Miranda.
John Murray and Kevin Mitchell both have really nice looking records, but they really haven't been fighting the toughest competition. Well, Kevin Mitchell has, in his most recent fight against Michael Katsidis he was knocked out in 3 rounds. Not to say they have been fighting nothing but bums, they haven't done that, they do have some quality wins and decent scalps, but it's just that when you see a 31-0 record and a 31-1 record you think that they are the best of the best, and they aren't. Skill level wise they are about the same. Mitchell has alright boxing skills, while Murray is a decent pressure fighter. Kevin Mitchell though, hasn't taken the Katsidis loss well, though. He has been drinking, and hasn't fought since that loss, which, was over a year ago. All in this, should lead to a pretty good fight. I think Murray wins this fight by unanimous decision.
Nicky Cook and Ricky Burns is a fight I'm looking forward to. I think this is a very good fight. This is for a world title at 130 and let's start things off with the challenger, which is Nicky Cook. Nicky Cook, back in 2007 stepped up to the world level and got knocked out. He was undefeated at the time and he didn't really have any quality wins at the time. A year later he won a world title at 130 against Alex Arthur, but then was stopped in 4 against Roman Martinez. Which brings the us to a full circle. Ricky Burns last year challenged Martinez and he beat him by unanimous decision which was one of the bigger upsets of the year. Burns has since defended his title a couple of more times against less than stellar competition, but now takes on Nicky Cook, who I believe is a good opponent and will really test Ricky Burns. Alright, Nicky Cook, decent foot work, doesn't do anything great, a bit on the small side...especially compared to Ricky Burns. So, with all that said, I do like this fight, England vs Scotland is always an interesting fight, but I've got Ricky Burns winning this fight. Cook has come up short in his two big fights and I think he comes up short again, but I don't think he gets knocked out though. I think he gets beat a losses by clear somewhat wide decision.
July 9th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10129225&postcount=5981
Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Tomas Villa- Jhonny Gonzalez by KO
Arturo Badillo vs. Hugo Fidel Cazares- Hugo Fidel Cazarez by KO
Lucian Bute vs. Jean Paul Mendy- Lucian Bute by KO
Another big weekend of boxing. In the States, Showtime and HBO are going head to head in one of those somewhat rare weekends. We'll get to those fights in a bit, but for now, let's talk about some of the other fights that will be going on this weekend as well.
Starting off we have Hugo Fidel Cazares taking on Arturo Badillo. The theme for pretty much every week, and this week as well, is that records do not tell the whole tale. Win-loss records lie quite a bit. You really have to dig into what the win-loss record really is. Hugo Fidel Cazares, like most mexicans, turned pro early in his life and took his lumps early. Four losses and a draw early in his career. You take that away and his record is very good 34 wins 2 losses and a draw. A very good win-loss record for a very good fighter. His two losses came against the great Ivan Calderon, and a draw against Nobuo Nashiro. Who he went on to take on 8 months later and beat by UD. Two epic fights, and has since defended that world title belt at 115 and has defended it 3 times. He is looking to defend it for a 4th time. Standing in his way is Arturo Badillo. He posses a 20-1-0 (18 KO) record, not bad, but again, records don't tell the tale. It is a padded record. He hasn't beaten anybody of note, he still is young, very green, but still it is worth noting he doesn't have any quality wins. He does posses legit power, but that's about his only shot at winning. I think this is too big of a step too soon, and Cazares will beat Badillo, stopping him along the way.
Jhonny Gonzalez is making his first defense of his world title belt at 126. He won it earlier this year by knocking out Hasgawa in 4 rounds. Sticking with the win-loss record theme, like many before him Jhonny Gonzalez took his lumps early in his career. Losing his first two fights in his career and took a couple of more losses along the way before really getting his groove and really became a professional boxer. From 2002 to 2006 Gonzalez went on a winning streak beating the likes of Roger Gonzalez, Ratanachai Singwancha, Mark Johnson, and Fernando Montiel. Then the winning streak came to a stop as Izzy Vazquez beat him and a couple of fights later Gerry Penalosa stopped him as well. It is worth noting that at the time of the two stoppages he was winning the fight. He proceeded to move up to 122, went on a nice winning streak beating Mauricio Pastrana and Edel Ruiz. Then got stopped yet again against Toshiaki Nishioka, and yet again, he was up at the time of the stoppage. Moved up to 126 and is winning yet again. Tomas Villa is in the way, but I don't think he beats Gonzalez. While Villa is a solid fighter, he isn't in the class of the fighters mentioned above. In fact, in his last 5 fights he has lost to two familiar names. Rogers Mtagwa and Miguel "Mikey" Garcia. He was stopped in 10 against Mtagwa and in 1 round versus Garcia. I think that give you a good indicator on where Jhonny Gonzalez stops him. Gonzalez is better than Mtagwa, but I rate Garcia higher, at the moment, so with that said I think Jhonny Gonzalez stops Villa somewhere in the middle may'be even early in the 4-6 range.
Lucian Bute. Ugh. Some much talent, so little opposition. Bute is taking a homecoming fight, In Romania, against Jean Paul Mendy. Bute is doing a good job of staying active, it's just all the best fighters have been tied up. (for those that don't know, tied up in the Super 6 World Boxing Classic with all the top 168 pounders fighting each other) pretty much everybody in the boxing community have given Bute a lot of flack for not fighting better opposition, but again, the top fighters have been tied up and Bute has fought decent opposition. After he was lucky not to have lost to Andrade the first time he went on to KO Fulgencio Zuniga, Librado Andrade, Edison Miranda, Jesse Brinkley, and Brian Magee. That is a pretty decent resume. Not terrific, and 3 of those fights were pretty much guaranteed Bute wins, just due to the fact that Bute is that good, but still solid wins. (by the way the pretty much guaranteed wins I'm talking about are against Zuniga, Brinkley, and Magee) This fight though, against Mendy, is a major step down. And sticking with the theme, the win-loss record lies. Mendy is not as good as his record says he is. He has a very padded record, two names he does have on his record are against Anthony Hanshaw, who never went on to be anything good he had a very padded record as well before losing to the shot Roy Jones Jr. and Andre Dirrell. He fought Hanshaw to a draw, and the other name is Bika. He won that fight 60 seconds in flat on his face. Bika hit him while he was down and as a result Mendy wins and gets a shot at Bute, 1 year later. Massive gulf in class, this one will not be close. Bute knocks out Mendy whenever he wants to really.
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10129227&postcount=5982
Kermit Cintron vs. Carlos Molina- Kermit Cintron by UD
Urbano Antillon vs. Brandon Rios- Brandon Rios by KO
Paul Williams vs. Erislandy Lara- Paul Williams by SD
Akifumi Shimoda vs. Rico Ramos- Rico Ramos by SD
Alright, then we got to the 4 fights shown in the States. Both cards on HBO and Showtime are different from each other. Let's get to the one on Showtime first. This card should be very entertaining, on paper, you have a pretty good idea of who might win, but both fights should be very entertaining. While the HBO card might not be so entertaining, the fights are more 50/50 toss ups. Again, though let's start with the Showtime card. First up Kermit Cintron and Carlos Molina. Kermit Cintron is back making his first appearance since that disgraceful performance against Paul Williams. He pretty much jumped out of the ring and then proceed to lay on the table/floor acting like he had a punctured lung. When all he had, in reality, is a couple of bruises. Not the first time he has been a disgrace, but at any rate. He has decent skills, very good power in his right hand, and a pretty decent resume. He loses to all of the top level guys. He's lost to Margarito twice, Paul Williams, and Sergio Martinez. (the record will show a draw, but he lost. He got KO'd and lost a decision all in that fight, but ended up with a draw) Sticking with the theme of this article, we go over to Carlos Molina and you see an 18-4-2 record, and you might think he is just some journeyman type fighter, but again, the record lies. Molina is a very crafty, good fighter. All 4 of his losses came early in his career, and while he wasn't a teen, he still suffered those losses early and has definitely rebounded. And recently he has beaten a couple of good guys on his resume Ed Paredes, and Danny Perez. On ESPN2 in March, he fought Erislandy Lara to a draw. Molina, is definitely a scrapy fighter. Very cagey and he brings it. Cintron doesn't like dog fights and Molina will definitely try and get Cintron into a dogfight. Early on I see Cintron having success, but as the fight progresses Molina starts getting the better of him, but Cintron holds on to the victory. The key, I think is Molina's lack of firepower. Should be a great fight, and Cintron wins a very close UD.
The main event of the Showtime card is extremely explosive. Brandon Rios broke onto the scene early last year stopping Jorge Luis Teron, which got everybody's attention, so much attention, that it led him to getting a fight on HBO where he fought Anthony Peterson. After starting slow, he eventually brokedown Anthony Peterson and scored a DQ win after tons of low blows from Peterson. He came back two months later on the Pacquiao-Margarito card and disposed of Omri Lowther in 5. He then would fight on Showtime and get his shot at a world title belt against Miguel Acosta. After starting slow again, he turned it on and stopped Acosta in 10 rounds in a thrilling Fight of The Year candidate. Now he looks to defend his belt against the equally tough Urbano Antillon. Antillon fights the same way as Rios, he is basically, a Rios clone. The difference is that in Antillon's two biggest fights he has come up short, while Rios has yet to lose a fight. Antillon was KO'd in 9 rounds against Acosta, and lost by a razor thin decision to Humberto Soto, both thrilling fights. This fight definitely has Fight of The Year candidate written all over it. It will be interesting to see who takes a step back in this fight. As for my prediction, I've got Rios winning this fight. I think Rios has a bit more tools to work with. I've got Rios slowly breaking down Antillon and gets him out in the mid to late rounds.
Now we hope on over to HBO and we get two very interesting fights. Two fights where you can't really get a grasp on who really is going to win. Starting off, we have Rico Ramos and Akifumi Shimoda and these two have skills...you know what you might have to make it skillz. These are talented fighters. Both have a lot of tools in the tool box and both are smart. They look for counters and have superb timing. Both are young and pretty green, although, Shimoda has an edge in that department. He has been fighting quality fighters for awhile and has been the 12 round distance twice and 10 rounds several times. And a couple of decent scalps, including, his most recent win against Ryol Li Lee for a world title belt at 122. And who Lee beat to get that belt was Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym a terrific fighter. This is a close fight, I think I gotta go with Ramos via close decision. I think if the fight is close, Ramos will get the nod. In neutral territory, like say just somewhere in Europe, I probably lean towards Shimoda, but being in the States and Ramos fighting in the States and having a undefeated record I think a close fight gets him the nod. So, I'll roll with Rico Ramos winning via SD.
The main event of the evening, and many major questions will be answered. Both of these fighters, Paul Williams and Erislandy Lara, are coming of their worst performances' as pros. Paul Williams last stepped foot in a ring with the lights on back in November and he was the victim of 2010's knockout of the year. Erislandy Lara is coming off a draw against Carlos Molina. He was in a dog fight and he didn't want any part of it. He looked terrible in the ring, and barely escaped with a draw. Paul Williams has also stated that he wants to retire after a couple of more fights. Which is very bizarre, why would he mention that now with a very tough fight coming up? And does he have any fight in him left? Did he take this fight seriously in training camp? A very bizarre attitude coming from Paul Williams when it was just a year ago he wanted to fight everybody in boxing. Sergio Martinez may have ruined Paul Williams. We will have that answer come saturday night, but we are not done asking questions. Lara, seems to have a motivational problem. going out, parting instead of working. And it definitely showed against Molina. So, what I would like to know is has he put in the work against his toughest challenge to date? Has he put in the time and effort to beat Tall Paul Williams? Now, Lara didn't have his trainer, Ronnie Shields, in his training camp the last time because Shields had his hands full training various other fighters, including Guillermo Rigondeauex. So, this is a very tough fight to pick. Lara has a couple of nice scalps on his resume beating Grady Brewer and Danny Perez in back to back fights back in 2010, but then took on 4 straight cupcake opponents, took another steep test, but this time didn't pass. Which was against Carlos Molina, the fight where he got a draw. Paul Williams meanwhile is already battle tested, he has a top of the line resume, and has won a world title (at 147) and has been a force in 3 weight classes.(147, 154, and 160) And what's funny is that Paul Williams is only one year older than Lara, but they are world's apart in experience as a pro. It is pretty crazy, but let's get onto the prediction. Paul Williams as seen fighters like Lara before, a crafty, accurate, skilled southpaw and he is 2-2 against fighters like that. (1-1 to both Carlos Quintana and Sergio Martinez) Lara, meanwhile, hasn't seen anybody like Paul Williams. Paul Williams is a different animal, a big tall, southpaw, that throws 100 punches a round, has good pop, and superb heart and stamina, but with all that good he does, that bad is that Paul Williams leaves himself wide open and that leaves him open to counter opertunites and somebody like Erislandy Lara can take advantage of that. Just like Quintana and Martinez did. This is a real tough fight to call. Ugh, I guess I'll roll with Tall Paul winning by a very close SD. This is a tough call, I think Williams' volume wins him the majority of the rounds, while one other judge likes Lara's accurate, potshotting. Tough call....how many times have I said that now? but yea, I've Williams winning via SD.
July 1st/2nd, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10049453&postcount=5648
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam vs. Takuya Kogawa- Pongsaklek Wonjongkam by KO
Jonathan Victor Barros vs. Celestino Caballero- Jonathan Victor Barros by UD
Edgar Sosa vs. Julio Paz- Edgar Sosa by KO
Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye- Wladimir Klitschko by KO
Hernan Marquez vs. Edrin Dapudong- Hernan Marquez by SD
I’d be lying to you if I said this was another good/great week of boxing, and I’m not. This week is average. The matchups on paper, are complete mismatches, and unfortunately, a couple of them are for a world title strap. This week though does posses one of the biggest fights in boxing, and a couple of very good matchups. So, this week is alright on paper, let’s hope that may’be, just may’be it will exceed expectations and have a thrilling week. Last week was probably the worst week of boxing in at least the past 5 years. I sure hope we never have to experience another week like that. So, let’s quickly turn the page and look forward to this week.
First up, let’s start with all the mismatches. Mismatch numero uno: Edgar Sosa, what are you doing? Edgar Sosa is one of the better Light Flyweight/Flyweight fighters. For most of his career he fought at 108, Light Flyweight, he defended a world title strap for a long time before getting stopped in 2 to a high class opponent in Rodel Mayol. After that he moved up to 112 and has been fighting there ever since. He has also been given a world title strap with “International” on it. So he has been defending it and his opponents have not been class. He is facing another one of those not so high class opponents. He is fighting Julio Paz, who has not fought anybody, somehow finds himself fighting Edgar Sosa. Edgar Sosa should win. If he doesn’t this is one of the bigger upsets of the year. I’ve got Sosa stopping Paz.
ミスマッチ番号2 or 2 จำนวนไม่ตรงกัน or in English mismatch number 2: What are you doing Pongsaklek Wonjongkam? Like Sosa, Wonjongkam is one of the better fighters at 112 and not only that is one of the better fighters P4P. Wonjongkam is very legit, but is making a world title defense against a very green, no resume, Takuya Kogawa. Kogawa who hasn’t fought anybody and hasn’t deserved to fight Wonjongkam, somehow, finds himself fighting Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Instead of Wonjongkam and Sosa fighting each other making a big matchup at 112, they instead take fights against fighters that have about a 1 percent of winning. Wonjongkam doesn’t really stop fighters, but against somebody like Kogawa, I would expect him to win this fight via stoppage. So, I’ve got Pongsaklek Wonjongkam by KO.
Now, we’ve got a good fight with a 112 world title strap on the line. Hernan Marquez of Mexico, is defending is belt that he most certainly earned going up against Luis Concepcion in Panama, and stopped him in the 11th round. A fight where both fighters were dropped in the first, and Concepcion was dropped in the 3rd and 10th. That fight was a classic. If you haven’t seen that fight, you must right now….after you’ve finished reading this article. Marquez is taking on Edrin Dapudong of the Philippines. Mexico and the Philippines is starting to become a bit of a little rivalry and this will be a worthy chapter to put in this young rivalry. Marquez is a good fighter, but does run hot and cold. You just aren’t exactly sure which Marquez will show up. He didn’t look good against Richie Mepranum, his first career loss, but he looked terrific against Concepcion. In some of his other wins as well, he didn’t look quite as good, but still got the win. Marquez is a bit tough to predict, because you just don’t know. He has a lot of potential though, when he’s on he is a very good fighter. On the other side we got Edrin Dapudong. Like most win-loss records, his record is deceptive. You see his record (22-3-0 13 KO’s) and you may think, oh well, he’s not all that good. That is definitely false. If you’ve never seen him fight, he is a very technical fighter that thinks. He goes forward, drops a jab, followed by a right hand. Nice tight D, he doesn’t go in bum rushing you or anything like that. Resume wide, not too much to talk, he’s got a couple of scalps, and a notable loss on his record (which was to Muhammad Rachman, a great 105 champion) still though Dapudong is a good fighter, and his aggression and Marquez' counterpunching should be a great contrast of styles and that should lead to having fireworks in this fight. If this was in neutral territory, I would tip Dapudong winning this fight. As it is, it's in Mexico, and I've gotta side with Marquez winning by SD.
A great fight in Argentina this week that, hopefully, will go through. Jonathan Victor Barros-Celestino Caballero. I say "hopefully" because this fight a couple of weeks ago was PPD to volcanic ash. So, let's hope this fight does happen this week. Anyway, let's assume it does and let's breakdown this fight shall we? Starting off with the 126 pound champion...now, let's see. Barros is a world title holder, aye? See, this is why I don't put stock in world title belts. Barros fought Gamboa in early 2010, and lost. He put up a good account of himself though. He lost, but wasn't blown out of the water and he won a couple of rounds. Anyway, back to my original point, Barros somehow got himself the same world title belt he was fighting for against Gamboa....also, the same organization has Chris John as a champion as well. It's a cluster. Anyway, Barros has himself a world title belt, but he is a very good fighter belt or no belt. Barros has very good boxing ability, nice and slick, and has good movement. Caballero, meanwhile, is trying to come off an embarrassing upset loss to Jason Litzau this past, up until that point though, Caballero was very high on most everybody's P4P list and he was already dubbed as one of the better fighters in the 126 division and people thought he would beat Gamboa and or JuanMa Lopez. That went all out the window when he was upended by Litzau. Now, he is looking to rebound, and this is a heck of a rebound fight. He is fighting a top notch opponent in his backyard. A very tall order for the tall, rangy, Caballero. I think Caballero's awkwardness, slick D, and his output do win him quite a few rounds, but I think overall, Barros is the better fighter, and In neutral territory I would take him, and since this is in Argentina, it is a no brainer for me to pick JV Barros by decision. Neither fighter hits all that hard, Barros has good power, Caballero has no power, he clubs and slaps a lot. I don't expected either fighter to stop each other. So, I've got Barros by a close, but clear, legit, decision in the 116-112 range.
And noooo***ww, the main event of the evening! 12 rounds of Heavyweight boxing for your entertainment. Dr. Steelhammer Klitschko and the Hayemaker David Haye are finally going at it, a bit overdue, but I think this fight got the perfect amount of seasoning and marinade. Haye a couple of years ago wasn't as big as he is now, and Klitschko, well, is still Klitschko. Ruler of the Heavyweight division along with his brother, Vitali. Speaking of Vitali, it's a bit of a shame that Haye isn't going after Vitali first, because I think Haye dominates Vitali Klitschko. I think Vitali is tailor made for somebody like Haye. I think Haye's speed absolutely befuddles and makes Vitali look baaad....but that doesn't matter, at the moment, because Haye isn't fighting Vitali. He is fighting Wlad, and Wlad has good boxing ability, that nice long stiff jab, and big power with that jab, sneaky left hook, and of course the Steelhammer right hand. Now, Haye has the style to dominate the Klitschko's. If history has told us anything the speed style dominates the European standup 1-2. Some recent example of this is Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler, Andre Ward-Mikkel Kessler, Gavin Rees-Andy Murray, Sergio Martinez-Sergiy Dzinziruk, etc. Haye definitely has the style to beat Wladimir, but I question his chin and his desire to really win. If Haye had heart, chin, swagger, desire of a Carl Froch I would pick in David Haye in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, he doesn't. Him wanting to retire in October are red flags and a major question of desire, and heart I'm talking about. Haye has the tools I just don't know if he can apply them. So, I've gotta go with Wlad by KO. Wladimir is just a top notch boxer, great power, he has a shaky chin, but he gets up when knocked down and Haye hasn't possed brutal one punch KYTFO at Heavyweight. Also, Klitschko has underrated footwork. Most people are surprised by how quick he is, especially, for a big man. So, all in all I've got Klitschko stopping Haye. Just a quick note I like all the hype this fight is getting, it's good for boxing, but, at the same time I just have this feeling that it will stink out the joint and all this momentum quickly grinds to a screeching stop. Hopefully, I'm wrong and this fight has good action throughout, high drama, and a great conclusion in somebody knocking somebody out.
June 4th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9813986&postcount=4793
Mikkel Kessler vs. Mehdi Bouadla- Mikkel Kessler by KO
Andy Murray vs. Gavin Rees- Gavin Rees by KO
Sebastian Zbik vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.- Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by UD
Miguel Beltran Jr. (replaced by Rafael Guzman) vs Miguel Angel Garcia- Miguel Angel Garcia by KO
Carl Froch vs. Glen Johnson- Carl Froch by UD
Saul Roman vs. Vanes Martirosyan- Vanes Martirosyan by UD
Byron Mitchell vs. Zsolt Erdei- Zsolt Erdei by KO
Yet another terrific weekend of boxing. A loaded weekend and let's get right to it.
Let's start off with the longtime former 175 WBO champion, Zsolt Erdei, he is making his 2nd straight fight in the States. He is taking on the former 168 WBA champion. That right there would say, hey this is a can't miss fight. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Byron Mitchell's career went south after two highly controversial decisions against Bruno Girard and Sven Ottke. He then fought Joe Calzaghe and was stopped in 2 back in 2003 and then retired. He came out of retirement back in 2007 and hasn't been the same. He isn't a top notch fighter anymore. He's in the journeyman level now, and with all that said Zsolt Erdei shouldn't have any problems with Mitchell and should stop in the mid rounds.
Let's all give a warm welcome back to Mikkel Kessler. It's already been over a year since he fought Carl Froch in Denmark back in April. In a thrilling Fight of The Year candidate. He is having a homecoming fight, a tune up against Mehdi Bouadla. This is a good fight for Mikkel Kessler, a very easy fight, and we'll see how he looks. Bouadla is slow, doesn't move much stands in the pocket, and doesn't have much pop. Kessler should have a field day and it shouldn't take long for Kessler to get rid of Bouadla. I would say mid round stoppage for The Viking Warrior.
Jumping back over into the States we got Top Rank's hot prospect, Mikey Garcia, fighting again for the 2nd straight time on HBO. Unfortunately, his opponent, Miguel Beltran Jr., was supposed to be a great stepup fight for Garcia, but he broke his hand and can't fight Garcia. So, Rafael Guzman has stepped in. He has a glossy record, but this is a step down from Beltran. Guzman has no quality wins, but with him being a late replacement that could screw up Garcia a bit, but Garcia should still win with ease. Garcia by mid round stoppage.
Now, we get to the meat and potatoes of the weekend. Let's star off with Vanes Martirosyan-Saul Roman. Aside the tuneup fight earlier in the year, Martirosyan has gotten a real good steady diet of very good opponents since 2008. Also, resume wise Martirosyan has one of the better resumes, underrated resumes, in all of boxing. Of all his 29 fighters only 3 have had a losing record. And then only 2 fighters have a record of .500, that means the other 25 fighters have been winning fighters. That is very very impressive right there. And going back to what I said, he has recently fought Harrison Cuello, Andrey Tsurkan, Willie Lee, Kassim Ouma, and Joe Greene just to name a few. He has a very impressive resume and skills to back it up. On the otherside of the ring we got Saul Roman. Very powerful fighter, big punch. Those 29 KO's are not a fluke. He just hasn't won the big fight yet, he's got Ouma and I guess you can throw in Yori Boy Campas as well, but other than that he hasn't won that big fight yet. He has experience though, he has been in the ring with Sergio Martinez, Yuri Foreman, Michael Medina, and Thomas Oosthuizen at 168 pounds. So, being in the ring with Martirosyan won't intimidate him in the slightest. With all that being said, Martirosyan while he has decent skills and a very strong resume, he has a very leaky defense. I think Roman has a big chance to upend the very confident Armenian. First few rounds I see Martirosyan banking rounds, halfway through the fight though I think he gets tagged, gets hurt, but survives to win a very close and controversial decision.
Alright, how about the Gavin Rees-Andy Murray fight? Should, be a good one, really interesting fight. Gavin Rees is a high motored fighter that throws punches in bunches. He was trained by Enzo Calzaghe (now is trained by Gary Lockett), father of Joe Calzaghe, and when you look at him fight he is a mini Joe Calzaghe. Throws a lot of punches, awkward at times, starts showboating. He has all those traits that Calzaghe possessed. While Andy Murray is the opposite of that. He is a stand up fighter that likes to use precision to be effective. He is a solid all around boxer, he doesn't do anything really bad, nor does he do anything great. Just a solid stand up boxer that throws out the 1-2 and looks to control distance. The key for this fight, though, I believe, is experience. This is a massive step up in class up in class for Murray. He hasn't fought any quality opponents, he has a very very thin resume. Rees meanwhile has been tested, winning Prizefighter, beating John Watson, and losing to Andriy Kotelnik. I think that's the key, how well will Murray swim in the deep end? I'm going to bank on Murray not being able to swim and he gets stopped in the championship rounds by the battle tested Gavin Rees.
I think this is a first. It is too bad this fight isn't in Germany, because it would be much much easier to predict. Instead, the tables have turned and the German is coming to the States to take on the golden child, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. After 43 fights, Chavez is fighting a top 10 fighter. Last year, he took a nice step in competition beating up on John Duddy and after beating Billy Lyell, he somehow, warrants fighting Zbik for a strap at 160. Zbik's last 5 fights have been top notch, including beating Domencio Spada twice. Going back to what I said at the top, if only this fight were in Germany, It would be much easier to predict. Unfortunately, this fight is a toss up in the States. Zbik, at the moment, I rate him much higher than Chavez, but with this fight being in the States and Chavez being a cash cow, I think he wins this fight by UD. Zbik doesn't have KO power, and that will be a big problem, because I don't think he is getting a decision. We all saw Kotelnik beat up Devon Alexander from pillar to post, but he didn't get the decision...and that could happen in this fight. So, I'm taking the "safe" pick in taking Chavez Jr. winning by a highly controversial decision. I think it's a pretty close fight, a close fight in which the majority would think Zbik wins, but Chavez gets the nod as he has $$$ written all over him.
Last, but not least, the Semi-Final of the Super 6. Carl Froch will be taking on Glencoffe Johnson in Atlantic City. I think we all know who Carl Froch and Glen Johnson have fought so there is no need to talk about their resumes. They both have great resumes. Both are battle tested and don't duck anybody. Stylewise, this definitely has the potential to be a great fight. Froch brings it, Johnson brings it. This is a must watch. Froch will be fighting off the back foot will be jabbing and throwing hooks and uppercuts from all angles while Johnson always fights the way he always fights. Gloves up, head bobbing and weaving and throwing 70-90 punches a round. I know, Johnson has great value, but I can't see him beating Froch. I think it will be a great fight and it will be close, but I think Froch has that extra gear that will get him the nod. Allan Green was able to outbox and give Johnson problems, so Froch should be able to do the same and for those that think Johnson will knockout Froch in the 6-8 rounds. It ain't gonna happen. Green got knocked out in 8....that means Froch won't get knocked out in less than 8 rounds. Froch has much more determination and heart than Allan Green. If Froch gets knocked out, and I seriously doubt that he does, it'll be in the last couple of rounds. Anyway, Johnson has his moments and wins his fair share of rounds, but I see Carl Froch winning by a close UD. In the 115-113, 116-112 range. I think early and in the mid rounds it's a pretty even fight, but from rounds 8-12 Froch wins pretty clearly and wins the fight close, but clear. And of course, Glen Johnson will be crying about how he was robbed. I love Glen Johnson, but he's a crybaby. Even if he loses a fight clearly he still cries. I think this is a guarantee since I do think this will be a close fight.
May 20th/21st, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9700005&postcount=4528
Joel Julio vs. Anges Adjaho- Joel Julio by UD
Jean Pascal vs. Bernard Hopkins II- Bernard Hopkins by SD
Chad Dawson vs. Adrian Diaconu- Chad Dawson by UD
Juan Palacios vs. Sammy Gutierrez- Sammy Gutierrez by SD
Denis Lebedev vs. Roy Jones Jr.- Denis Lebedev by KO
James DeGale vs. George Groves- James DeGale by UD
Alright big big weekend of boxing. On Friday we got great fights and on saturday great fights from morning to evening. Lots of fun fun fun this weekend.
Getting it started is the Friday Night Fights main event, Joel Julio vs Anges Adjaho. Julio was a once hot prospect, he suffered his first loss back in 2006 at 147 when Carlos Quintana dominated him in a 12 rounds UD. Joel then fought one more time at 147, barely beating Cosme Rivera, then he moved up and has since fought at 154, where he had minimal success. He proceeded to beat K9 Bundrage and Ishe Smith, but was unable to win against the top shel fighters of Sergiy Dzinziruk, James Kirkland and Alfrado Angulo. Now, he's back down to 147 fighting Anges Adjaho. Adjaho like Julio hasn't been able to get over that hump as well. He suffered his first loss back in 2007 at 130 to Miguel Acosta, moved up to 135 lost to Antonio DeMarco, where he was stopped in a close fight. Moved up to 147 and has lost to Mark Jason Melligen, Brad Solomon, and Shawn Porter. He is looking to finally snap that 4 fight losing streak, but again fighting a notable fighter I don't think that will happen. I've got Julio winning comfortably in the 7-3, 8-2 range of this 10 round bout.
Then we got the early morning saturday fight...or erm, early morning for me at least. Anyway, this fight for Roy Jones Jr. spells trouble. I've been trying to figure out a way RJJ can win, but I just don't see it. RJJ has shot legs, no confidence, and a chin that is very fragile....especially to someone like Denis Lebedev. A top 3 Cruiserweight, who is a young lion, and has deadly power. I can't see how RJJ wins this fight. I've got Lebedev winning by early KO....heck, who doesn't?
Let's jump ahead a bit and talk about the return of Chad Dawson, he is fighting Adrian Diaconu, who quite frankly, has really fallen off since losing to Jean Pascal. He looked really bad in his last fight against Omar Shieka and doesn't have the same luster he once had just a couple of years ago. A couple of years ago this would have been a great fight, now it's an ok fight. A solid fight, but nothing big like it would have been if these two would have met earlier. Anyway, I've got Dawson big in this fight. I believe that Dawson will look to impress and I've got him winning almost every round, due to the fact that Dawson is still a very good fighter, and Diaconu seems to be slipping a bit. If this is a 10 round fight I say Dawson by shutout or 9-1...with fair judging, but if it is a 12 round fight Dawson may even get the stoppage, but I'll stick with wide UD in the 10-2 range...with fair judging.
Sammy Gutierrez-Juan Palacios is a 50/50 fight and on paper a really FUN fight. I really can't wait for this one. Gutierrez and Palacios both bring the power, and they got nice skills. Sammy Gutierrez is an old 25 year old fighter. He's been in a lot of wars already and he's got a lot of tread. As usual, he turned pro at 18 got an early loss and early draw in his career. He has since avenged that early loss to Oscar Martinez. He also has gone 36 with Raul Garcia losding 2 of the fights by MD and SD, and has fought to a draw against Garcia. He then got stopped in 7 in South Africa to Nkosinathi Joyi, and lost a 10 round decision to Omar Nino Romero. So, he basically hasn't been able to beat the elites in his division so far in his career. Is Juan Palacios an elite fighter? You can definitely make a case. He also lost very very early in his career, in his 5th fight he was scheduled for 12 rounds and got stopped in 9. He has since beaten everybody else except for two fights, both on the road. A SD loss to Jose Antonio Aguirre, and a MD loss to Oleydong Sithsamerchai in Japan. Two fights where anywhere else he may have gotten the nod. So, essentially, he pretty much is an undefeated fighter. This fight is in Mexico, the home country for Sammy Gutierrez, but fighting on the road is nothing new for Palacios either, other than the already mentioned Oleydong and Aguirre fights he has fought Omar Soto: Puerto Rico, Erik Ramirez: Mexico, and Teruo Misawa: China. So, this will be nothing new for him, so how do I see this fight? Well, as I said it's a 50/50 fight where you can flip a coin. Both are very skillful and both have dynamite. I think, Gutierrez might have enough in the tank to win a real close fight. A really war where both fighters will be going toe to toe and will probably drop each other at least once. I've got Gutierrez winning by a close SD.
On the otherside of the pond over in Europe we got a great domestic fight between two fighters that really hate each other. Two young, talented, undefeated prospects going at it. On paper that sounds great and it is...but I just don't think this fight will live up to the hype and be a competitive fight. Before I get into that let's take a look at both fighters. Starting off with George Groves, he is talented, good speed, good head movement, ok power, and a big heart from the looks of things. Groves only has 12 fights, but he has a great resume for somebody with such limited experience. Last year he fought all kinds of solid fighters such as Charles Adamu, Alfrado Contreras, and Kenny Anderson. He had success against all of them except Kenny Anderson. That fight showed his weaknesses. He trys to be slik with his left hand low and have lots of head movement. Which is nice if you know what to do with your hands. Groves I don't think really knows why he has his left hand low. Fighters that have their hands low usually have an idead of what they want to do. For example, Carl Froch keeps that left hand low, but keeps a good distance, when you comes close enough boom, here comes a stiff left jab and Froch procedes to take a step back or to the side. Groves doesn't do that. He has his left hand low and when somebody comes in on him he goes straight back and moves his head. This is a flaw, he has leaky D and he goes straight back into the ropes. That is a big no-no.
Good fighter, but a lot of flaws that need to be worked out and I think for him this fight is way too soon, because he is too green. As opposed to his rival, James DeGale. DeGale is very very good fighter as well, and a great resume for somebody with only 10 fights. Last year he fought Sam Horton, Carl Dilks, and Paul Smith. All he showed, especially against Paul Smith, is that he is a very talented fighter with all the tools to go a long way. Good offense, good D. All around good fighter. We have yet to really see him get tested, but that just shows how talented a fighter he is. We will see if Groves can really push DeGale, but I don't think he will. DeGale reminds me a bit of like Dirrell and Ward. Dirrell with his speed, and Ward by just the way his style is....minus the clinching and headbutting. Anyhow, as I've said I think DeGale beats up Groves by wide UD...may'be even gets a late KO in the championship rounds. I think Groves may have some success early within the first 4 rounds, but Groves will get tired with all that feints, and all that head movement and DeGale will pick him apart and dominate the second half of the fight. DeGale by wide UD 117-111. As I've said I won't be surprised if he does KO Groves though late.
The rematch, Pascal and Hopkins are doing it again. As I said back in December Hopkins knows what he is doing. His mind knows that he can easily beat Pascal, I just questioned whether or not his body could execute it. And it was able to, just came up a bit short with the two KDs he suffered early in the fight. I really don't know if Pascal can do anything different. If he trys to fight for all 36 minutes he'll get knocked out late and if he does what he did the last time he'll just lose almost every round in a lopsided decision...but then again the question must be asked, can Hopkins' body do what the mind is telling it to do? If his body can execute the plan this is a whitewash, Pascal doesn't stand a chance. If it can't were in for another close fight, a fight where Pascal might and probably will win. I'm banking that this will be like the first fight minus the two knockdowns. Hopkins wins the fight in the 116-112 range, but I say Hopkins wins by SD, due to the fact that the fight still is taking place in Quebec, and who knows....Hopkins could definitely get robbed, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but anyway, I'll take B-Hop to make history at age 46 and win another strap at 175 by SD.
April 15th/16th/17th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9395360&postcount=3518
Kiko Martinez vs. Jason Booth- Kiko Martinez by UD
Ruslan Provodnikov vs. Ivan Popoca- Ruslan Provodnikov by KO
Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Orlando Salido- Juan Manuel Lopez by UD
Amir Khan vs. Paul McCloskey- Amir Khan by KO
Alright, great weekend of boxing (even with the canceled fight of Macklin-Gevor and the Roman Martinez getting injured in his preparation for his fight against Luis Cruz. Rumor is though Cruz is going to fight Martin Honorio which is a great fight as well) ok enough talking lots of great fights still and without further adou...
Ok, the only real lopsided mismatch, Khan-McCloskey. Before I start McCloskey is a real nice fighter. He's undefeated for a reason, he can beat fighters of the lower level and while it is unknown if he can beat somebody like Amir Khan, I'm banking that he can't. I feel the gulf in class is far too great. He's there there to make Khan look good. It's a nice tune up fight in which Khan wins and I'll take a guess that King Khan stops McCloskey.
Ok, now for the almost 50/50 matchups. First up is the FNF main event, Ruslan Provodnikov is back and he is taking on the undefeated, Ivan Popoca. I think everybody reading this already knows about Provodnikov (and if you don't know, you can read my breakdown of the fight he had against Mauricio Herrera shameless plug, I know, ) Ok, and we got Popoca who has a glossy record, but he hasn't fought anybody yet. He has 15 wins, but no real step up fights as I like to say and no he is taking on somebody like Provodnikov who is aBIG step up. He hasn't fought somebody like Ruslan who is as battle tested and hasn't fought anybody that will be on him for 3 minutes throwing 100 punches a round. And speaking of rounds this will be his first 10 round fight in his career. This fight will really show how good Popoca is, a lot of question marks surrounding him and I'm banking that Ruslan stops him mid to late rounds.
Now, we got our first 50/50 fight of the week. Kiko Martinez-Jason Booth. Both of these fighters are good, good solid fighters. Starting with the hometown fighter, Kiko Martinez, Martinez has very good power in the early rounds, but as the fight wears on his power starts to fade and he has to rely on his boxing skills. 122, the weight it is taking place at, is his natural weight. He has fought at 122 his whole career. And he has solid scalps on his resume. With the likes of Bernard Dunne, FDAL, and Arsen Martirosyan. He has also fought Rendall Monroe twice and Takalani Ndlovu...who just beat Steve Molitor, who beat Jason Booth about 6 months ago. Then now Booth, he is the much much smaller man. He started his career at 112 and has plently of quality wins and losses as well. Michael Hunter, Mark Moran, Dale Robinson, and of course Steve Molitor, just to name a few. So, where does that leave us? Well, I gotta think if Kiko his Booth with anything really clean, Booth is gone, but Booth is nice and smooth...just like his nickname. He's got nice D and can box really well. I think though the key for Booth is to put rounds in the bank early, because if he doesn't things could get very ugly. What Booth has shown over the past few fights at 122 is that he doesn't have the strength or size to keep up with natural 122 fighters. In the later rounds Kiko will start getting to him and who knows may'be even drops him and stops him late. That wouldn't be a surprise, but I think Booth goes the distance loses by a close UD in Spain, Kiko Martinez' hometown.
Then we got the for sure barnburner of a fight Juan Manuel Lopez vs Orlando Salido. Now, before I start the only thing you need to know is that this is P.R. vs Mexico. P.R. vs Mexico. It's worth saying twice. That's the only motivation you need to watch this fight. Now, let's go inside the numbers. Now, before you scoff and say "Well, this Salido has 11 losses, and 5 of which have come by KO....why should I watch this fight? The other guy is undefeated!" While that may'be true, it lies at the sametime. You gotta realize Salido turned Pro early and that's where most of his losses, and losses by KO were when he was in his teens and early twenties. And back in 2001 when he fought Alejandro Gonzalez, you can see the potential he had. Only 21 years old and he fought to a MD loss to a very very quality fighter. He then eventually, racked up some wins before he lost to JMM. Racked up some more wins, then lost pretty recently to Cristobal Cruz and then his latest fight last year he took on Gamboa and fought really close. So, what does all that mean? Well, it means that Salido's real career he has only lost four times and none by KO, and none of them were really beatings...except ofr the JMM fight. He lost that fight by a pretty wide margin....and I guess Gamboa too, but he made it to the final bell which nobody really thought he would. So, with all that said he is a quality opponent and it will be interesting looking at who did the better job. JuanMa, or Gamboa? And I don't really need to go over JuanMa. He's got a superb resume, superb skills. All arounds great fighter, great power. Should be a great night, in which I think JuanMa wins by somewhat wide UD, he is fighting in P.R. Should be a great fight though.
Alright, I've wrote a lot and will be writing some more on another page. That way it doesn't look so long and what not.
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9395606&postcount=3520
Omar Andres Narvaez vs. Cesar Seda- Omar Andres Narvaez by UD
Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz- Victor Ortiz by KO
Chris John vs. Daud Cino Yordan- Daud Yordan by KO
Alright, let's start off with the main event on HBO. Andre Berto vs Victor Ortiz, and let me start off by saying. Berto is NOT fighting "another" 140 fighter. Ortiz was a massive 140 fighter who had lots of trouble making weight and now at 147 he is probably his most comfortable he has been probably since Maidana. Meaning, Ortiz is probably naturally the bigger guy and I think that has been shown during the press conferences, will be shown in the weigh in and in the ring. So, stop with that "Berto is cherrypicking and fighting another small JWW." That could not be farther from the truth. Ok, now with all that said, let's get to the fight itself. This, in my eyes, is a high risk high reward fight for both fighters and I feel this fight could be a major stinker. Just looking at the styles and how both of them act I just feel that this fight will be a stinker, not to me, but in terms of what others view as a bad fight. Personally, it would take a lot for me to say a fight is bad.
Anyway, I think there will be a lot of standing around, lots of feeling out throughout the fight. Both fighters don't want to make the first wrong move because that could be it. Both are mirror images of each other. Both are very fast, strong, powerful, below average D, and shaky chins. You got all that which is usually a recipe for a great fight, but I don't see it. I think it has the potential to be a good fight, but not a war or a FOTY canidate which seems to be the buzz around this fight. Anyway, yea, I view this fight as a 25/25/25/25 type fight. Meaning, Ortiz has a 25/25 chance of a KO or decision and same goes for Berto. It really is that close of a fight. And this is a really hard fight to call. Both have a lot to gain and a lot to lose. Ortiz, well, red flags for me started popping up when he didn't get the decision win over Peterson, a fight in which, looked like he should have gotten, and now he's fighting Berto. Meaning, GBP isn't holding Ortiz' hand anymore. There throwing him in the lions den and are saying "Hey, go prove yourself" and Berto is continuing doing the same fighting yet another quality fighter in Victor Ortiz. And you know, I start leaning towards Ortiz, but then my mind starts replaying the last few rounds of the Peterson fight and then I tell myself "What would happen if that was Berto" because you know Berto is just as quick as Peterson, but much much more powerful. So, I start leaning towards Berto, but then I start thinking about the Collazo and Quintana fights. Damn, a realy really tough fight to call. You know, I think I'll go with Ortiz by KO. I may end up changing my pick tommorrow when i see the weigh in, but Ima go with Ortiz by KO as of right now. I'm really looking forward to this fight, I'm not expecting a barnburner or a war or anything like that I'm very interested in the chess match that goes on in the ring saturday night.
This fight though, might be my favorite fight of the weekend. Omar Narvaez-Cesar Seda. Where do I start with Narvaez? He's a lot like Calzaghe or fellow Argentine Maravilla.. Very talented, very slick, the only difference is he hasn't had his chance to shine in the States and he is in a much much lower weight class at 115 currently, which is probably why he hasn't been showed at the States. Either way, that doesn't take away the fact that Narvaez is the longest reigning champ, ATM, and that he is very very talented. Then we got the prospect from P.R. Cesar Seda who has been moved very quick, and now has his shot at another world title (if you call the IBO a world title) Good boxer lots of 1, 2's from him. Solid D, and the comparison for him is that he's like his fellow countryman as well, JuanMa. Sprinkle in some D, less vulnerability, chin isn't as shaky (but then again it has never really been tested because he doesn't leave himself open too much) less power, and you got yourself a Cesar Seda. Really tight, good one two's, backs up and throws a left uppercut with a right hook that follows. Very consistant, good solid all around boxer. Now, in this fight I've got Narvaez winning the decision. I think this fight will be very close and may'be even debatable as to who wins the fight. A big factor is that Narvaez will be fighting at home. A lot of close rounds, and I'm sure there will be at least 4-6 close rounds in the fight and I gotta think Narvaez will get most of those rounds. Close fight, but I've got Omar winning because of his stamina, and a big factor his volume. He throws very fast 10 punch combos in 1 second. Very fast and I think that will be the difference. Narvaez winning in the 116-112 range.
Uh oh, I've got Yordan pulling off the upset against John. John is quickly fading and hasn't looked like him in his prime in the last 3 or 4 fights. I think age is catching up to him and I think his team realizes that. I think that is why this fight is getting made against very popular Daud Yordan. Yordan, is just as popular as John, over there in Indonesia. It might be time for a new reign, and Yordan is damn good. He is crude at times, but shows excellent skill at times. He is a big of a hot n cold fighter, but I think he'll be up for this fight and John sill get caught early and often by a Yordan counter that will shake up and eventually stop John. John has a very very shaky jaw and Yordan has good power and again I'm expecting that inbetween a John combo, Yordan will throw a sneaky counter punch that will catch John and hurt him badly. Yordan is a relentless fighter that will never stop and John doesn't have anything in his bag of tricks that can or will stop Yordan.
March 18th/19th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9147102&postcount=2334
Demetrius Hopkins vs. Brad Solomon- Brad Solomon by UD
Lucian Bute vs. Brian Magee- Lucian Bute by KO
Vitali Klitschko vs. Odlanier Solis- Vitali Klitschko by KO
Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Willie Casey- Guillermo Rigondeaux by KO
Ok, on paper this isn't a reasonably hard week to predict. Bute, is winning. No doubt about that. Bute is much better in skillwise, he's at home, Showtime has a contract with him, and again he is much much better than Magee. Magee is in the Brinkley class, a good solid fighter, by no means a bum, but not an elite, champion class either. So, Bute is winning however much money you got in your bank account put it on Bute. (Just imagine if somebody actually did that, and Bute lost )
Then you know Klitschko is pretty much a lock pick as well, same with Rigo. Klitschko is fighting a small little fat man that thinks he's good, but he's not. He's a small little fat man that can punch, and that's about it. Horrible footwork, horrible speed, horrible work ethic, horrible attitude, horrible everything, except power. He's got good power that folds lesser fighters, but not somebody like Vitali. Vitali will pummel this little small fat man for, I'm hoping for 12 rounds, and brutally knocks him out. I hate Solis, and for the most part I don't hate any fighter nor do I wish them bad luck in the ring, but Solis has a shitty attitude, and itsn't a boxing fan, and anybody that boxes and doesn't like. Well, **** them. Odlanier Solis, or anybody from Team Solis that for some reason is on ESB and happens to stumble on this post. Here's a big FU.
Rigo as I said is pretty much a lock for a win due to the fact that he is much more skilled than Casey, and Casey is way too wide and opens up too much, and I think against somebody like Rigo he will be caught with that deadly left uppercut. So, I've got Rigo by stoppage arounds 5, 6 somewhere in there. I don't recommend betting your bank account on Rigo though. Casey does have a punchers chance and he will have all of Ireland supporting him. Never underestimate the power of the hometown.
Now, for the toughest pick of the week Brad Soloman-Demetrius Hopkins. Let's start with the name fighter in this fight and that is Hopkins, Demetrius. Demetrius has well, basically, been babied throughout his career. For the majority of his career, he has been up against not really tough opposition and made them look tougher than they should be. Also, when he was very marketable, and had his "0" I believe he got some decisions he shouldn't have gotten or the judges' scorecards were too wide and that it was pretty obvious the oppoent didn't have much of a shot. He got beat by Kendall Holt in his only "world title" shot and he got beat pretty easily and lost by SD. Fought twice last year and has moved up to 147. He's looked "eh" in those two fights. Definitely, not exciting and definitely not impressive. Then we got Brad Soloman. The handful of times I've seen him, I've been pretty impressed, for the most part. He has been fast tracked and for his last 8 fights or so he has had to work his way up the hard way, and he's only had 16 fights so that tells you about his caracter. (wink wink get ) Anyway, he's got nice skills, he is the bigger fighte, and stylewise I don't think either fighter will look impressive, but I got him winning a UD in the 97-93 region.
February 19th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8937650&postcount=1397
Luis Ramon Campas vs. Matt Vanda- Luis Ramon Campas by UD
Humberto Toledo vs. Likar Ramos- Likar Ramos by KO
Felix Sturm vs Ronald Hearns- Felix Sturm by UD
Fernando Montiel vs. Nonito Donaire- Nonuto Donaire by UD
Mike Jones vs. Jesus Soto Karass II- Mike Jones by UD
Alright I'm on my PS3 so Im going to try and keep this short and sweet. I've got Likar Ramos by KO over Humberto Toledo. Both have horrible padded records. Every fighter they have stepped up against they have lost, usually by KO, Toledo is more chinny so I'm going with Ramos by KO.
I've got Yuri Boy Campas to win by UD, and continuing his quest for 100 wins. Vanda is durable so he probably won't get stopped and he's fighting in Mexico so there is no way he wins a decision and Campas wants 100 wins. Campas will get it and he will be 4 away after saturday night.
Felix Sturm and Germany will beat Hearns. Hearns has a very padded record and he will get beat by Sturm. It probably won't be close and with German judges it's a sure thing that Sturm will win. I don't think Sturm will get the stoppage due to him not having much pop, but a for sure win.
Mike Jones won a controversial decision the last time, this time should be no controversy. If he doesn't blow his load in the 2nd round, this fight doesn't happen. Jones has all the skills, Karass has determination and better stamina which will win him a few rounds, but not enough to win, and Jones will win close but very clear this go around.
Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel. This has epic fight written all over it and with a win someone will skyrocket into P4P glory. (or if you follow the ring ratings both are about as high as you can get) Donaire has all the looks of a superstar fighter, all the skills, all the talent in the world. All he needs is a resume (to me, not the ridiculous ring ratings) he has the KO win over Darchinyan and lesser, but solid, wins against the likes of Raul Martinez and Volodymyr Sydorenko. A Fernando Montiel win would be huge and really boost his resume. Then we got Fernando Montiel, the unsung hero of Mexico. Montiel has gotten the popularity of a Morales, MAB, and even a JMM to a lesser extent and Montiel should be on that level. With a win though that should catapult him into that category. So, with all that said which will prevail speed or power? I've got Donaire by decision and I believe his skills and speed will be enough to overcome Montiel's power. Donaire does almost everything better than Montiel, except in the power department which means one connect and the tide of the whole fight is changed. So, I've got Donaire pretty wide UD. Wouldn't be shocked to see Donaire eventually stope Montiel late. Only decision that would surpise me is if Montiel outpoints and wins more rounds than Donaire. That would be a shocker, but anyway I've got speed, size, skills > power in this contest, but hey this has been an upset kind of year and Montiel winning wouldn't be world shattering stuff. Looking forward to the weekend as we have two good fights...two fights where I don't have to stay up until 5 in the morning to watch.
January 29th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8758192&postcount=657
Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley- Timothy Bradley by UD
Argenis Mendez vs. Cassius Baloyi- Cassius Baloyi by SD
Nkosinathi Joyi vs. Katsunari Takayama- Nkosinathi Joyi by UD
Alright, I'm a liar I'm just going to do the writeups for the other fights right now because I am fired up for this weekend coming up.
[IMG]****://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh141/SwordSaint892/Gif/MajinVegetaresize.gif[/IMG]
Alright, we'll start off with the Joyi-Takayama fight. Joyi is a good fighter with a couple of world title belts at 105 already. He's beaten a couple of good fighters in Sammy Gutierrez and in his most recent fight he beat Raul Garcia by a wide UD. From what very little I have seen of Takayama he seems to be a pretty decent opponent. He fought Roman Gonzalez and was beaten by a very wide UD, and he also lost to Yutaka Niida in a very close fight and an entertaining fight as well. Based off that I gotta go with the hometown fighter in Joyi for being the better fighter overall and being in his hometown I dont see how Joyi can lose, especially, with Takayama not having the ability to bring out a 1 punch KO. So, with that I gotta go with Joyi winning by UD.
Then we got on the same card Cassius Baloyi vs Argenis Mendez. Mendez really broke onto the scene last year with his upset win over Martin Honorio, which was on the undercard of Williams-Cintron. So, unfortunatly, I haven't been able to see it because HBO didn't show the fight, but when I heard that Honorio got upset it was very shocking. Considering Honorio was on a roll and Mendez was very much unknown, and still is unknown. I've never been able to see him fight and I still would love to watch that fight against Honorio, but anyway, this fight on paper looks damn good and very very interesting. Mendez looking at his resume his only notable fighter was against Honorio and that's it. Also, that was his only time he was scheduled and fought 12 rounds. It's unbelieveable what he was able to do. So, he brings a big danger just basing this fight off that. Then we got the old vet fom South Africa, Cassius Baloyi. He's got a lot of tread and a lot of names on his resume Fana, Klassen, Arrieta, and Medina just to name a few. This looks to be an interesting fight on paper and I would really love to see it, but anyway, I'll take Baloyi by SD. I think him being at home is a huge advantage and may'be he can take away whatever Mendez did to Honorio.
Then we got the main event of the night. One of the biggest fights that can be made in boxing Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander are squaring off. After breaking things down and really looking at it I see Bradley dominating this fight from almost start to finish. Bradley is a bulldog and his skills are vastly underrated. He's got great quickness, great skills, decent enough power, good footwork, basically he does everything better than Alexander except in the power department, Alexander has the edge there. Other than that I don't see much of an advantage for Alexander. The only way I see Alexander winning is if he times up Bradley and knocks him out with one punch. He cannot outbox Bradley and I don't think he can out point Bradley for 12 rounds. Alexander is pretty much basic. Jab, jab, cross, jab, jab, cross. And every once in awhile he will throw his money punch, the lead uppercut. He threw it against Urango and we all saw what happen, he didn't throw it against Kotelnik and we all saw what happen. Alexander needs that uppercut if he wants to win and he needs that uppercut to land ala against Urango if he wants to win, and even then Bradley has amazing conditioning and amazing heart. Like I say I think Bradley dominates from almost start to finish, I think Alexander may get a couple of early rounds, but other than that Bradley dominates and wins this one rather easily and then we may see threads flooding with people jumping back on the Bradley bandwagon "Bradley KO's Khan" "Alexander sucks, Bradley's great" etc. you know how it works in the General after a fight. Still though I am pumped for this fight because anything can happen and this is two of the top 3 fighters in the division.
January 28th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8756795&postcount=642
Chris Arreola vs. Joey Abell- Chris Arreola by KO
Friday Night Fights is back and looking on paper this looks to be a great match....but when you dig deep and really examine these fighters this fight is a total mismatch. Let's start off with Arreola since everybody knows Arreola. Big guy, big power, comes forward, and has fought solid competition. His record of 29 wins, 2 losses and 25 wins by KO is no nonsense. Arreola is very good and has fought the likes of solid contenders such as Chazz Witherspoon, Travis Walker, Manuel Quezada, an old Jameel McCline, and then losses to Tomasz Adamek, and Vitali Klitschko. A very solid resume indeed. Then we got Joey Abell, going back to what I said earlier on paper a very good record of 27-4 with 26 wins coming by way of KO and you might think he is a very worthy contender and might be on the cusp of fighting the top fighters such as the Klitschko bros., Adamek, Haye, Povetkin, etc. but he isn't. His resume is full of cans, and I don't use tomato cans too often, but that's what his resume is. No notable names, no top 20 contenders, no nothing just tomato cans. So, I gotta think his power is very overrated and I gotta think he he is very chinny and will be hurt badly by Arreola considering half his losses have come by way of knockout. So, realistically, this fight should end in 1 or 2 rounds. If this goes more than say 3 rounds then it's a very disappointing fight for Arreola.
The Saturday fights I'll have a writeup on Wednesday.
November 13th, 2010:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8173349&postcount=4438
Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito- Manny Pacquiao by UD
Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Ricardo Cordoba- Guillermo Rigondeaux by KO
Mike Jones vs. Jesus Soto- Mike Jones by KO
David Haye vs. Audley Harrison- David Haye by KO
Alright then here we go a nice little weekend this week. Got a couple of decent fights here and there.
Anyway, let's start off with Mike Jones and Jesus Soto Karass. This is a nice little showcase fight for probably the most popular prospect in the U.S., Mike Jones. He draws big crowds and sell out crowds in Atlantic City and he has had a big long article about him in USA Today. So, back to the fight at hand. It should be a good one, Soto Karass is a come forward slug it out type fighter and Mike Jones will have to use a little boxing ability and a little big of slugging to get Karass to respect his power. I think he will be able to do all of that, and will eventually stop him late in the fight in a pretty entertaining fight.
Then we got Guillermo Rigondeaux vs Ricardo Cordoba this is interesting because this is a big step up for Rigo, and Rigo has been fighting decent competition since he turned pro so that is saying something, but Rigo is very talented and a two time gold medal winner and he is 30 years old so time isn't on his side which is why such a big jump for such little pro experience. Then we got Ricardo Cordoba why is he a dangerous oppoenent? Well, back in 2004 he got his first big name quality win over Celestino Caballero then in 2005 he lost by SD to Poonsawat Kratingdaengymm who is a very good fighter and a little tank. Then after a couple of controversial draws in Germany against Volodymyr Sydorenko in 2009 he got another shot at a world title and lost to Bernard Dunne by 11th round TKO in a FOTY canidate. So, now he is back and looking to get back on track vs Rigo. Will he be successful? I don't think so I see him getting knocked out by Rigo may'be in the middle rounds. Cordoba throws a lot of punches which I believe will be his downfall, which is why I think he will be stopped. Rigo is a smart, accurate fighter who places his punches perfectly. So, I got Rigo by stoppage.
Then we got the big fight in the U.K. David Haye-Audley Harrison. David Haye I think will score a pretty quick KO in this fight. Haye has big power, great speed, and is just too much for Audley Harrson. If anybody still doubted Haye's power at heavyweight before the Ruiz fight, then nobody doubts it now. Haye destroyed Ruiz and shot or not, that's still mpressive. Then we got Audley Harrison who really doesn't deserve a shot at the WBA world title that Haye is holding. Harrison won prizefighter and had to KO Michael Sprott, his last fight, by a last minute KO to pull that one off. Even before that he lost to Martin Rogan, got a couple of wins, got KO'd by Sprott, got a couple of wins (one of which was a rematch of a loss he suffered), and got beat a couple of times. So, he doesn't deserve a world title fight, but whatever he's got it. All in all, I don't see this one being all that competitive. Harrision needs to use his size and he needs to bring a an Evander Holyfield, Arturo Gatti type heart if he wants to win this fight. I see Haye by a blowout early to mid rounds around 4-6 I would say.
Then we got the main event in the U.S. Pacquiao-Margarito, everybody knows the backstory between these two guys so, let's cut right to the chase. Margarito is a big, slow, walk forward type fighter, so in that regard he is like Joshua Clottey, but he is a defensive mastermind at blocking punches with his chin and he throws a lot of punches so in that regard he is a lot like David Diaz. Then we got Manny Pacquiao who is super quick, good power, never tires and with all this in mind I think Pacquiao wins. The x-factor is Margarito's power, if Margarito's power is like say the power he has against Cotto or Cintron, then I may think twice about taking Pacquiao. So, this is really bugging me about this fight. We really don't know how hard Margarito hits. Basically, It all comes down to just a guess at how hard Margarito hits. He never was a one punch KO artist he was more of a wear you down type of power, not to say he didn't show one punch type power he was just mostly a wear you down type fighter. Anyway, with all that said I think Pacquiao uses his speed moves in and out and eventually beats Margarito by a hard fought UD, and I say hard fought because Pacquiao doesn't clinch and he will be moving all around the ring for 3 minutes every single round as Margarito smiles at him like a bloodthirsty animal. Should be a pretty entertaining fight and it definitely won't be that stinker that Clottey put up back in March.
November 6th, 2010:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8121308&postcount=4338
Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Rafael Marquez- Juan Manuel Lopez by KO
Glen Johnson vs. Allan Green- Glen Johnson by UD
Zab Judah vs. Lucas Matthysse- Zab Judah by SD
Omar Niño vs. Gilberto Keb Baas II- Omar Nino Romero by UD
Robert Guerrero vs. Vicente Escobedo- Robert Guerrero by UD
Kiko Martinez (Paul Hyland is replacing Kiko Martinez) vs. Willie Casey- Willie Casey by KO
Alright, let's start with the Willie Casey-Paul Hyland fight. Two Irishman and bad blood between them should lead to being a great fight. Willie Casey is an in-your-face type fighter that throws a lot of punches, while Paul Hyland is a slick boxer that will look to keep Casey on the outside and outbox him. The question is which fighter will execute their gameplan the best? Personally, I think Willie Casey will and stop Paul Hyland in the late rounds. I don't think Hyland has enough pop in his punches to keep Casey and bay and for Casey to respect his power. I believe Casey will be able to go on the inside and wear down Hyland.
I can't really blame Omar Nino Romero for fighting Gilberto Keb Bass. Sure, Keb Bass doesn't deserve a shot at Romero's 108 WBC belt, but I can see why Romero wants to fight him because Keb Bass gave Romero his first loss. He stopped him in 5 back in 1998, but this time around I think Omar Nino Romero dominates this fight and wins by wide UD.
Now, let's start off with the TV fights, and let's start with the HBO undercard Robert Guerrero and Vicente Escobedo. This fight will be at 135 which is good because Guerrero's last fight against Casamayor at 140 was not only pretty boring (and I don't normally use the term boring too often) but Guerrero just didn't look good as well. Anyway, is an interesting fight. Guerrero and Escobedo know each other from back in the day of fighting as amateurs. This is an interesting fight, both fighters really don't do anything great, everything they do is good, but basic as well. From an entertainment standpoint it might not be all that great, but I do think this will be a close fight that goes to the cards with The Ghost getting the nod by UD.
The main event of the HBO card is Zab Judah vs Lucas Matthysse and this is a very interesting fight that I'm looking forward to. Judah is on his comeback trail and Matthysse is going to try and hit the jackpot and crash into the scene ala Marcos Maidana like. And it is funny Matthysse does remind me of Maidana. He's a one trick pony that comes forward and knocks you out. Then we got Judah, and I've never been all that gaga over Judah, even back in is prime and his first fight with Santa Cruz he looked like the same old Judah, and judah has always had problems with pressure fighters and he's fighting a pressure fighter. What I expect is Judah will come out strong and score at will for the first 4 or 5 rounds. After that Matthysse may start picking up steam and with Judah's stamina problems he may'be in trouble as the late rounds go by, but with the help of his home crowd (and may'be some generous judges) Judah finds a way to win by SD on the scorecards. I've been having trouble deciding if Judah by decision or Matthysse by late KO, I'm picking Judah by decision, so we'll see what happens.
Now, we move over to Showtime where we have two steller fights happening. The first is the Super 6 fight of Glen Johnson vs Allan Green. I've been going back and forth with this fight as well. It all really depends on how fit and ready Glen Johnson looks at the weigh in, but as of right now I think I will pick Glen Johnson by UD. Johnson has great D and comes forward all recipes that frustrate Allan Green. If Allan Green can't land his money punch left hook, then pretty much all hope is lost for Green. While Glen Johnson will come forward and pressure Green to the ropes. Just like Johnson was able to do in one of his more recent fights against Yusaf Mack, and Andre Ward was able to do that against Allan Green, in Green's recent fight. So, I'm leaning towards Glen Johnson by UD.
And now the main event of the day, the guaranteed thriller Mexico vs Puerto Rico, Rafael Marquez vs Juan Manuel Lopez. This fight is at 126 for Lopez' WBO title and really I think Lopez is too big and strong for Rafa Marquez. Marquez started his career at 118 that started in 1995 and he fought at 118 until 2007. Lopez is obviously the bigger man, and in Rafael Marquez' 5 losses 4 of them have been by KO, and then you tack on the 3 grueling wars he had with Izzy Vazquez and I think that has taken a lot out of Rafa leading to a KO victory for Lopez, but that by no means that Rafa will lay down for Lopez, Rafa will get his share of punches and may even drop Lopez a couple of times in this fight which will lead to a FOTY canidate for 2010. I just think that Lopez' youth, strength, and size will stop Rafa late.
http://checkhookboxing.com/content.php?208-Kazuto-Ioka-vs-Akira-Yaegashi-Fight-Preview&postid=20341
The battle for Japan is almost here. Kazuto Ioka vs Akira Yaegashi is just over a day away, depending on when you are actually reading this, of course, but at them moment, it is almost upon us. This might possibly be the biggest fight in Japan's history. This is the first time that two Japanese fighters are squaring off in a unification bout. Now, soak that in for a moment. In all of their country's history, this is the very first time that two of Japan's own will be going head to head, in a unification bout. It really is unbelievable! If that doesn't get you pumped for this fight, to witness history, well, let's talk about both fighters.
Who is Kazuto Ioka? Kazuto Ioka is a talented fighter with only 9 fights under his belt. Out of those 9 fights, 8 of those fighters had a winning record, in his 7th fight he won the WBC belt from long time, undefeated champion, Oleydong Sithsamerchai. Sithsamerchai was somewhat competitive with Ioka. But, Ioka showed his class, dropping Oleydong in the 2nd round, and then finishing him off with a left hook to the body that left Oleydong rolling on the ground in pain. He couldn't make the count, and that launched the young, at the time, 21 year old fighter to another world of stardom. 6 months later, still in 2011, Juan Hernandez would become the 8th victim to fall against Ioka. Hernandez, though, was able to stay on his feet and lose a unanimous decision. Ioka, though, showed his class winning virtually every round versus Hernandez. And Ioka's last fight was against, young, green, 8-0 fighter Yodngoen Tor Chalermchai, and Yodngoen wasn't anywhere close to Ioka's class. Yodngoen was brutally knocked out, and left the ring on a stretcher. Literally. He really did leave the ring on a stretcher.
Kazuto Ioka definitely has the looks of a future P4P superstar. And he has proved it so far, resume wise. Skills wise, he is definitely world class and he is one of the few, on a technical level, that is superb. He doesn't make mistakes. He picks his shots, looks for holes and counter opportunities. He comes forward, but not dumbly. He is a boxer-puncher, gloves always up, he thinks defense. Both of his gloves carry dynamite. He throws nice, crisp, short shots. Nothing amateur like. He doesn't throw wide, looping shots. He really is the full package when it comes to technical skills. He really is on the short list of great, technical boxers. When you look at him, when he throws his uppercuts and hooks, it's a lot like Juan Manuel Marquez. If I had to get you to pick a boxer who he reminds me of a bit, it would be Juan Manuel Marquez. Just the way you see him dip his legs, and come up throwing a left hook, or a right uppercut. He really is a class fighter.
So, you have me rambling on at just how talented Ioka is, there is no possibly way his opponent, Akira Yaegashi, has a chance, right? Nope. Yaegashi has a very good chance, and that's what makes this fight such a great, great fight. Not only from a historical perspective, but just from a skills perspective. Yaegashi isn't great from a technical stand point. He relies on a lot of speed, a lot of head movement, going from side to side, and throwing a jumping hook, gloves at his side. If I had to pick a boxer he reminds me of, it would be like a Roy Jones Jr type fighter. Now, I'm not saying he is a Roy Jones Jr. I'm just trying to get you to picture his fighting style, how Yaegashi fights like. Yaegashi, though, unlike Jones, is a tough cookie, and can take punch, after punch, after punch, after punch.
Yaegashi, not only has speed, power, but he is tough, he is durable. And he showcased these skills, in his most recent battle versus Pornsawan Porpramook. Yaegashi-Porpramook was an absolute classic. A real underground thriller. Both men took a real pounding, and round 8 was one of the best rounds of last year. It was such a terrific 8th round in which Porpramook looked as though he was on his way to getting stopped, but then he lands two massive right hands that staggered Yaegashi back. By all accounts, that should have at least knocked him down, but it didn't. And in round 10, Yaegashi hurt Porpramook again, but this time finished. It was the end, of a classic war. Ioka-Yaegashi could be like Yaegashi-Porpramook and that's what makes this fight a can't miss.
Both men have fought fighters that resemble a bit like them. For Yaegashi his last fight was against Porpramook, as mentioned above. And Porpramook, in terms of pressure, and power, he resembles a bit like Ioka. Not as good, though, mind you, just in terms of the power Porpramook brought, and his pressure. For Ioka, fighting someone like a Juan Hernandez really helped him out, because Hernandez fought a bit like Yaegashi. Hernandez was moving, moving, trying to pick his spots, but just wasn't quick enough. But, still, Ioka had to keep moving forward, cut off the ring, and had to catch Hernandez. and he'll have to do that again versus Yaegashi.
All in all, this is a very intriguing fight, and really is pretty close to a 50/50 fight. Ioka is really talented, but don't write off Yaegashi. Yaegashi has speed, has the quickness, has the determination, and toughness to pull off the upset. Ioka, has never been in a war of attrition. This is the one big, x-factor. If Yaegashi can hurt Ioka, take some of his power away, catch him on the outside with some nice, quick shots, and then maybe drag him in a dog fight, he may just very well pull off the upset. It really isn't out of the question. But, as a prediction, I'll go with Ioka to win. I'll take Ioka by unanimous decision. Really though, this is a about 25/25/25/25 type fight. All across the board. Nothing in this fight would really surprise me, though. This should be an epic fight, and it really is a fight worth staying up for, or getting up early for.
June 16th, 2012:
http://checkhookboxing.com/content.php?196-Chavez-lee-thoughts
On Saturday night in the States, we'll have two quality main events going on. On HBO, we have Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. taking on the skilled boxer in Andy Lee. What makes this so intriguing is that both have really grown leaps and bounds over the years. For Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. just about every fight he was in had some controversy. Okay, well, that's obviously a bit of an exaggeration, but there were a handful of fights where he could have easily gotten a loss, and probably should have gotten a loss. Both of his fights with Carlos Molina he should have suffered at least one loss. Against Matt Vanda he should have suffered at least one loss. And against Luciano Cuello, it was a tough, close fight... that, of course, went to Chavez Jr.
Since the Duddy fight, though, since working with Roach and company, he has grown as a fighter. He's got a bit more of a mean streak in him, he's developing his skills and become a more well rounded fighter. Against Duddy he looked great, his next fight against Billy Lyell, he took a bit of a step back. He wasn't nearly as impressive, but still effective. Against quality top 10-15 contender, Sebastian Zbik, he gritted his teeth, and come away with a close win. It was close, but just the way he was able to fight back and really stand toe to toe with Zbik was impressive. Now, he is a big guy and Zbik doesn't hit hard, but even so, if this was a greener Chavez, a Chavez with Roach, there is no way he can pull off that win. And his last two fights versus Peter Manfredo Jr. and Marco Antonio Rubio he came away with a couple of good, solid scalps again.
Andy Lee, much like Chavez, has had some early touches, but of late, he's been in there with some quality fighters, and he's won impressively. His rematch versus Brian Vera about 8 months ago, was a bit of a litmus test, back in 2008, Andy Lee suffered a surprising, and shocking TKO loss to Vera. It was a big step back for Andy Lee, but he has brushed himself off, and has continued to develop, and as I was saying, his rematch versus Vera was a bit of a litmus test to see how much he has grown over the past 3 years or so. And, if that was a test, Andy Lee passed with flying colors. He looked as sharp as ever and won just about every round versus Vera, and never was in trouble.
Before the Vera fight though, four fights ago rather, Lee was in a brutal war versus Scotland's own Craig McEwan. Lee was rocked, hurt, and lost just about the first part of the fight. He then though, made an adjustment, and with the help of McEwan getting tired, he fought back and really turned the tide. He started chipping away getting closer and closer, and then, finally, in round 9 McEwan was dropped. McEwan survived, but was in real bad shape. In round 10, Andy Lee pounced and was able to stop Craig McEwan in the 10th round. It was a thrilling, come from behind, victory for Andy Lee that showed his heart, grit, and determination.
Both, have improved skills wise, and both have had their metal tested. They have had to dig deep, and both have done that successfully in their respective fights. So, now, style wise, how will this fight play out? Andy Lee will be boxing from the outside, on the back foot, trying to keep Chavez Jr. at bay with his jab. Lee is a southpaw, so, Lee will be doubling and tripling up that jab and stepping to his right. Being a bit slick, using angles to get way from the aggressive Chavez. Chavez Jr. has always had the length on his opponents, but still, he'd fight small and be aggressive. In this fight, he'll have to be aggressive, and dig to the body with that left hook...which I believe he will. Chavez may get picked apart coming in, but Lee doesn't hit particularly hard. So, I'm not sure if Lee will be able to discourage Chavez Jr. from coming in, and taking two shots to land his one.
So, with all that, I'm leaning towards Chavez Jr. Now, this is from an everything's fair perspective. Boxing isn't always fair. From an everything's fair perspective this is a good matchup of styles and it really is just about a 50/50 fight. A will versus skill sort of fight, so to speak. But, again, boxing isn't always fair. And with that, Chavez' chances start steadily climbing. To me, from a betting point of view, I'm shocked that Lee is only a 3/1 underdog, and Chavez is a...about a 2/7 favorite, which to me, seems quite small and he should be a larger favorite. Chavez at 2/7 seems to be free money. Chavez Jr. is the cash cow and no way Top Rank cashes out on him now. Not against Andy Lee. Against Sergio Martinez? May'be. But, I doubt against Andy Lee. It's way too soon. All right, I'll wrap this up. Andy Lee, I don't think, has enough power to Chavez. He doesn't hit all that hard. Chavez Jr. doesn't have the best of chins, but I just can't see Lee stopping Chavez. Plus, Chavez will be weighing in at about 185-190. He may out weigh Lee by a wide margin. So, keep that in mind as well. And winning a decision against a cash cow is just so, so hard.
With all that said, I'm definitely going with Chavez to win, and may'be by stoppage. Late stoppage or decision....I'll go with 10th, 11th round stoppage. I think Chavez will lose the early rounds, but will get closer and closer, and eventually stops Andy Lee.
http://checkhookboxing.com/content.php?197-Adamek-chambers-thoughts
Tomasz Adamek-Eddie Chambers is a really good fight between top 10 heavyweight contenders. Not only that, but the heavyweights have been the ones putting on a show this year. Think about it, Alexander Povetkin-Marco Huck, Bryant Jennings-Maurice Byarm, Bryant Jennings-Siarhei Liakhovich, Dereck Chisora-Vitali Klitschko, and then...well, you have the unofficial 30 second fight of David Haye and Dereck Chisora. The heavyweights have really been pulling their own weight this year. This one could be another good, quality fight. And, I think it will. Adamek is rarely in a bad fight. He throws the leather, he's got good skills, he brings the speed. Eddie Chambers is the same way, only he doesn't really throw the leather. And that might be the key difference in this fight, but we will get to that a bit later.
But not only is it a good, even match up on paper, but what makes a good fight even better is a good, loud crowd. And this fight is going to be fought in Newark, New Jersey. This is the unofficial home sweet home for Tomasz Adamek. Adamek has fought at the Prudential Center 7 times in his past 11 fights. And it all kicked off with Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham. That underground cult classic in December of 2008, shown on Versus (now called NBC Network, the station that is broadcasting Adamek-Chambers). But back to what I was saying, a good fight becomes even better with a good crowd, and the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey will be very loud. They will cheer every time Adamek makes a move, they will start chanting "Polska, Polska, Polska!" It will be a fun environment.
Both have a lot in common, both have fought just once since losing in a stoppage versus a Klitschko brother, as mentioned above, both are skilled, both have quick hands, both are smallish heavyweight. But Adamek has been the far more active of the two. This is Eddie Chambers' first fight in a year and a half. Where he won a, "meh" type decision versus Derric Rossy. And then a year after the Rossy fight, in March of 2010 he was brutally knocked out in the 12th round versus Wladimir Klitschko. He's been plagued with nagging injuries that forced him to pull out in multiple fights with Tony Thompson. So, questions have to arise, is Chambers focused and ready versus Adamek? Does he really want it any more?
Adamek, meanwhile, he still has the hunger, and he still is focused on becoming heavyweight champion. If paper belt titlist Alexander Povetkin can claim he is the "heavyweight champion of the world, then I don't see any reason why Adamek can't eventually. Given the choice, right now, I'd favor Adamek just slightly, because of his fitness. Povetkin gets tired, and struggles down the stretch. And that is why I favor Adamek over Chambers in this fight. Adamek will be fit and ready to go to war. He's focused. Eddie Chambers meanwhile? We don't know. He hasn't shown it, he doesn't have the look that he's hungry any more.
So, making a pick, I'm picking Tomasz Adamek. And the main key being, fitness and activity. Adamek moves well, uses the jab nicely, throws in combinations, and keeps up that pace over the distance of a fight. I think Chambers will have his moments. He'll have those gloves up, picking some shots off, and then landing the right hand every now and again, but as a whole, I think Adamek wins the majority of the rounds and wins a pretty close, but clear fight. I'd take a gander that the majority of scorecards will be in the 116-112/117-111 range....not necessarily the judges, but the majority of fans scoring the fight without bias.
May 19th, 2012:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12852563&postcount=6892
All right, let's see, I've gotten a couple of messages asking for a breakdown of the Mikkel Kessler-Allen Green fight. So, here go:
This is an easy fight to call and predict. If Allen Green were to actualy win, it would be a very big upset in my eyes. It would be top 3, alongside Sonny Boy Jaro's win over Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Ismayl Sillahk's, Lennox Lewis moment of controlling the fight, having too much fun, and getting KO'd by a guy he should have easily beat and stopped versus Denis Grachev. So, basically, Kessler should be a major, major favorite over Green. The best odds on the fight is Kessler a 1/6 favorite. And that is going up, last night they were at 1/5. So, you need to jump on it in a hurry, because it's free money.
What Allen Green needs to do in order to win is, well, basically throw his left hook when Kessler is throwing punches in bunches. That's Green's only shot of winning, is that punchers chance. Green has a good left hook, he's knocked out many when landing flush with that left hook. Nobody, world class, but still, it is a weapon. That's pretty much Green's game plan. He can't do much else. He does have solid boxing ability. He showed in a few rounds versus Glen Johnson that he does have a good jab, he can move, but he can't do that for 12 rounds, heck, he can't do it for 3 minutes of a round. He gets tired and loses focus. So, that's about it for Green. He doesn't throw punches in bunches, he can't stick and move for an entire fight, he really just can't do anything at the world class level. He just has that one punch power in his back pocket. That's his only hope. And the thing about that is, Green doesn't like getting hit. And I don't think he's smart, nor his corner, to realize that's his only bet. When Kessler starts coming forward and throwing a combo, unleash that left hand, and see what happens. Throw when he throws. That's his only chance is to catch Kessler coming forward, throwing, and not anticipating a punch.
What Mikkel Kessler needs to do to win, is just be Mikkel Kessler. Come forward, establish that jab, use your size to bully him. Unleash that 1-2, and Green will fold. That's really all Kessler has to do in order to win the fight. Pump the jab, get in range, throw the straight right, get Green on the ropes, and then unload a combo. He'll twist and turn, trying not to get hit, but he will, and he'll be hurt. Eventually quitting in the ropes, or he'll fall down and pretty much say no mas while taking a 10 count.
So, this fight is pretty simple, and pretty much easy money, if you got in on Kessler on those 1/4, 1/5 odds. Get on it early. I may even throw a couple of bucks on round 5. I don't know, round 5 just looks good to me for some reason. May'be even round 6. But, I think this will be a fairly early stoppage. First couple of minutes in the first round may'be starts off a bit slow, Green lands a few jabs, but after that Kessler starts landing the jab, really establishing the heat, coming forward, lands the right hand. Round, much the same. Kessler starts tagging Green more and more, round 3, 4, and then 5. That's it. After that Green quits. So, there you go.
March 16th/17th, 2012:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12334617&postcount=4367
Kendall Holt vs. Tim Coleman- Kendall Holt by KO
Kell Brook vs. Matthew Hatton- Kell Brook by UD
Giacobbe Fragomeni vs. Silvio Branco- Giacobbe Fragomeni by UD
Antonio DeMarco vs. Miguel Roman- Antonio DeMarco by UD
Roman Gonzalez vs. Miguel Jimenez- Roman Gonzalez by KO
Sergio Gabriel Martinez vs. Matthew Macklin- Sergio Martinez by KO
Edwin Rodriguez vs. Don George- Edwin Rodriguez by UD
Alex Leapai vs. Kevin Johnson- Alex Leapai by KO
Yukinori Oguni vs. Hiromasa Ohashi- Yukinori Oguni by UD
Just a brief overview of some of these fights:
Kendall Holt-Tim Coleman is a good fight. Finally, ESPN2 offers a good fight on paper. Hopefully, it does turn out to be good in the ring. Coleman is like his nickname, "pit bull" he's an aggressive little dude and throws those hands. Holt, is inactive quite a bit, but has dynamite in those hands. Style wise, this could produce some fireworks. If Coleman can survive the first few rounds, he could potentially produce that minor upset, because Holt is a mental midget. He starts daydreaming, and goes into la la land, but if Holt lands early and often, could be lights out for Coleman. I do sort of think Holt will win, and win by KO. Not confident at all, just really a hunch.
Miguel Roman has an up hill battle. He's a short dude as it is, but now he's going up in weight against a really tall fighter in Antonio DeMarco. Skills wise, DeMarco is a little better, but really, the height and weight advantage for DeMarco will more than likely be too much. And Roman might even get stopped late. Not that DeMarco is that good or that powerfully, it's just that he's that much bigger than Roman. Tough fight for Roman and will be a pretty be upset, if he did win.
I'm not high on Edwin Rodriguez or Don George. Never been impressed, they have the skills of club fighters with padded records. But, they are fun fighters and when you have two fighters in the same level of skill set, they make for fun fights. This could be a really good fight between two below average to average fighters. Both are tough, both got power, both got heart, and both could produce a great fight.
Sergio Martinez and Matthew Macklin reminds me, and it pains me to say, but it really does remind me of Pacquiao-Hatton....without all the hype. Macklin is that tough, come forward fighter, Martinez is that southpaw with speed and power. And with that I think Martinez wins, wins early, and wins big. I'm thinking Martinez KO's Macklin within the first 4 rounds. If, and it's a big if, Macklin can overcome the fast, speed, powerful start of Martinez, then he can start to wear down Martinez and may'be pull off the upset, but that's a huge task and I don't think he can do that. Macklin is a good fighter, and a really tough fighter, but style wise, it is just a tough matchup. Plus, Martinez is a pretty decent fighter himself. Gotta go with Martinez by early stoppage.
February 17th/18th, 2012:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12082478&postcount=2427
Mike Dallas Jr. vs. Miguel Gonzalez- Mike Dallas Jr. by UD
Thomas Dulorme vs. Aris Ambriz- Thomas Dulorme by KO
Adonis Stevenson vs. Jesus Gonzales- Adonis Stevenson by KO
Eledier Alvarez Vs. Otis Griffin- Eledier Alvarez by KO
Brian Magee vs. Rudy Markussen- Rudy Markussen by SD
Vitali Klitschko vs. Dereck Chisora- Vitali Klitschko by UD
Paul Williams vs. Nobuhiro Ishida- Paul Williams by UD
Tavoris Cloud vs. Gabriel Campillo- Tavoris Cloud by UD
Chris Arreola vs. Eric Molina- Chris Arreola by KO
Jorge Arce vs. Lorenzo Parra II- Jorge Arce by KO
After virtually nothing last week, this week, we got some big time fights back. A lot of fights, a lot of filler fights. So, I'll just go into detail about some of the better fights on tap.
ESPN 2 FNF, Mike Dallas Jr. is back. He's lost his last two fights, but in his last one he was robbed of a victory and it was really heartbreaking to see. His interview after words definitely hit home. Thankfully, he hasn't been thrown to the curb because of two straight losses. Instead, he's back on FNF and given a chance to bounce back. Dallas is a good talent. Good jab, good speed. He's a pretty good young fighter. Miguel Gonzalez is taking a huge step up. He's got a very padded record, and a padded KO record. We'll see exactly how good and where he's at, but I think he is quite below Dallas. Plus, Dallas has had a full training camp with Virgil Hunter, Andre Ward's trainer, and he should be 100% back. I've got Dallas winning by pretty wide UD.
Thomas Dulorme is a very good prospect. Good boxing skills, seems to have a good head, great power. He's definitely one to watch for, for years to come. This fight with Ariz Ambriz is not so good. He really won't be, or shouldn't be, pushed by Ambriz. Dulorme should win by KO.
Adonis Stevenson-Jesus Gonzalez is a fight to definitely get up for. Both guys are very good 168 fighters and they make for great fights. Both are vulnerable, both got power, and both got skills. This definitely could be a Fight of the Year candidate. Plus, we've got drama! And not the kind of fake drama of trying to hype a fight "Oh, this gonna be Hagler-Hearns" and put on a tough guy face or "Oh, I'm gonna knock him out in 3" this is legit hatred. Gonzalez called Stevenson a rapist, Stevenson didn't like that said some things, said he's a racist and a liar, yada, yada, yada. So, this fight could definitely be explosive. Gonzalez is the slicker of the two, showed his tough and grit by battling a Francisco Sierra who at the weigh in was one weight class higher then him and was probably, at least, a good 20 pounds heavier than he by fight time. He was bloodied up and he took a lot of punishment, but fought through it and got the win. Stevenson very powerful, built nicely. Two southpaws, you know, I'm just really looking forward to this fight. I've got Stevenson by KO, but every round will be heart pounding and edge of your seat stuff. Can't wait.
Jorge Arce is on a roll, he's got that second wind in his career and I like what he's been doing. He recently avenged a loss Simphiwe Nongqayi and is now trying to avenge a draw he suffered against Lorenzo Parra a little while back. I like that in a fighter, trying to avenge those blemishes. Parra was recently out classed in a forgettable fight versus Anselmo Moreno, but Parra is a good fighter, but the question is whether or not he wants to be there and actually wants to fight. Parra doesn't have the desire anymore. If Parra does show up and try to win, we'll have a good close fight, but I don't think Parra does want to fight and will get stopped in the mid to late rounds.
Brian Magee-Rudy Markussen is a good fight. It's one of those power vs skills type fighter, only not at a high level you might be thinking of, but on a much lower level. Magee isn't that skilled, and Markussen doesn't have world class power. He has good power, but not billed like he is to have some major league world class power. Magee looked horrible in a horrible fight versus that I had the pleasure of doing an RBR against Jaime Barboza. All right, style wise, Markussen comes forward, hands down, he loads up, Magee should be able to tag Markussen quite frequently and possibly knock him out. The thing is, Magee looked so bad, and he couldn't pull the trigger that I have to wonder if he can really put the pressure and let those hands go. I don't know, Markussen just has to land a couple of booming shots a round and he should get the nod. He's at home, and so that's why I'm rolling with Markussen. Magee is the better fighter, even though he's a faded fighter, still the much better fighter, but Markussen at home. The debut of "Nordic Fight Night" I can't go against the home fighter. Markussen it is by SD.
On Showtime, we have an exciting tripleheader. Big name fighters are on tap. Paul Williams and Tavoris Cloud are on and along withChris Arreola. So, we'll start off with Arreola. Arreola needs to step up, but doesn't look like that'll ever happen. There's a lot of quality fights that could be made, but Arreola is choosing to fight fighters like Eric Molina. He's staying active and good for him, but I'd rather see him really earn his shot at a rematch versus Vitali or against younger brother Wladimir Klitschko. Anyway, Arreola by KO.
Tavoris Cloud is an exciting fighter, but he should be bigger than where he is now, but because of Don King he isn't. If he was with Top Rank he'd probably be a bit bigger and he'd definitely be much more active. When he does fight, though it has been against quality opposition. Gabriel Campillo is no different. Campillo is a big, strong, fighter. Very durable fighter, he doesn't have much slickness, not much speed, but he definitely does push you. I could definitely see Cloud having some problems in this fight. Cloud gets hit quite a bit, and is quite crude. What he lacks for skills he makes up with his power and volume. So, anyway, both fighters should take turns pressing the action. Look for a lot of leather from Cloud, and Campillo being in that high guard for quite a bit early on. And with that Cloud should be winning rounds early on. Late in the fight it gets interesting. We'll see if Campillos starts pressing forward, starts getting to Cloud, and we'll see how Cloud reacts. Anyway, I've got Cloud winning a decision pretty close, but clear decision. Should be an interesting fight.
Paul Williams-Nobuhiro Ishida again, is an interesting fight. Paul Williams is a question mark. Who knows how he'll react? He's coming off two bad, bad losses. Two losses on both ends of the spectrum. One was a brutal KO by Sergio Martinez and the other was just a boxing beat down by Erislandy Lara where he didn't win 10 seconds of any round. He came forward, boom left hand. Boom another left hand. Williams is lucky though, Ishida isn't a southpaw like Martinez and Lara. So, right away Williams has got a bit of a mental victory coming into the fight. Ishida really broke onto the scene last year when he destroyed James Kirkland in about 2 minutes. Ishida was quite an unknown to even boxing fans. But he's basically what you saw against Kirkland. He's a nice little boxer, wants to have space to throw a 1-2, 1-2. Over and over again. Now, he's power though isn't quite what you saw against Kirkland. He isn't some deadly fighter that drops fighters with one punch. He's got decent pop over a course of a 12 round fight, but nothing more than that. So, when both are in the ring you will see two very tall fighters. Williams in the first couple of rounds might be a bit tentative. A lot of pressure, a lot of tension to try and not get hit. After the butterflies got away he should be back to being the Paul Williams we know. Come forward and throw 80 punches a round. Ishida will be backing up and trying to counter him. I think Ishida will have a lot of success. Williams is there to be hit and he'll be open often. Plus, Ishida is long and lanky, what normally wouldn't hit Williams he'll be getting hit with because Ishida is a tall fighter with long arms. So, I see this as a very close fight and Williams might need a decision to go his way. We'll see, I've got Williams, but definitely wouldn't be surprised at him getting beat.
Vitali Klitschko is back in the ring going up against the aggressive Dereck Chisora. Chisora is coming off a nice upset win over Robert Helenius. Chisora pressure, threw, brought more pressure, and really beat the hell out of Helenius. This is a good match up, about the only real good match up for Vitali Klitschko left now. Chisora brings it, and he could quite possibly be undefeated if he took Tyson Fury seriously. Instead he came in fat, and out of shape, and paid the price. Either way though, Vitali Klitschko is just too tough. Mentally, physically, he's just too good. I seriously doubt Chisora makes a fool out of everybody and comes up with a performance like David Haye's performance against Wladimir Klitschko. Chisora should bring it and should go out on his shield..if he does get KO'd. I don't think he will though, I think he takes a beating and could quite possibly stopped late, but I think Chisora makes it to the finish line. Chisora brings the pressure, brings volume, the only thing he doesn't have is power. If he did have power, this would be a much, much more interesting fight. But he doesn't so, it's sort of a well, we'll see what happens type fight. Cautiously optimistic that'll be a good fight. I've got Klitschko by UD.
January 27th/28th, 2012:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11897397&postcount=1002
Ruslan Provodnikov vs. David Torres- Ruslan Provodnikov by KO
Yakubu Amidu vs. Ji Hoon Kim- Ji-Hoon Kim by KO
Robinson Castellanos vs. Orlando Rizo- Robinson Castellanos by UD
Carl Frampton vs. Kris Hughes- Carl Frampton by KO
It's the end of the month, and on paper it looked as though it'd be a slow month, and in reality, it has been. This week should be no different. There's a couple of decent fights on tap, but nothing that really gets the blood boiling. Next week (next month) things will start picking up, and in a big way. So, just gotta get through this week, and we got some nice fights on the horizon. Anyway, that's next week, let's talk about this week.
After a stellar season last year, Friday Night Fights is off to a bit of a slow start. This week, well, in terms of entertainment it should be fun because there should be knockouts, but in terms of a close fight, this probably isn't it. Ruslan Provodnikov is a familiar face on Friday Night Fights, he's been on 4 times, and is 3-1. He'll be looking to go 4-1 and he has a great chance to do that. David Torres is a solid fighter, who...can't get to that next level to be a real live contender. He's more of a journeyman with a glossy record. In a couple of years he'll be a good fighter for a prospect to step up against, is what I'm trying to say. In his last 4 fights he is 1-2-2, and two of those losses have been against that next level of fighters. Julio Diaz and Raymundo Beltran. They both knocked him out. And he's drawn against Santos Pakau and Michael Stewart. That's about his level, and against Provodnikov, that won't be enough. Provodnikov is a real good, impact puncher. He doesn't have that one punch power, but when he hits you, he hurts you. Torres doesn't have a good chin, his punch resistance isn't all there and this fight should be quick. This fight, probably, doesn't go past 4 or 5 rounds.
Ji-Hoon Kim and Yakubu Amidu is an interesting fight. Kim, like Provodnikov, is a big hitter and doesn't know the meaning of defense. So, he is fan friendly in that regard. Kim though, his chin has been tested and it isn't rock hard. Hard hitting, once good looking prospect, Leo Zappavigna smashed him in 1 round. Now, Amidu he's a pretty hard hitter, not as hard as his record indicates though. Not even close. 20 wins 18 by knockout, you must be thinking he hits like George Foreman or something. Nah, he doesn't hit that hard. He's got decent power, but nothing earth shattering. But still, he may hit hard enough to trouble Kim. Kim struggled in his most recent fight against a novice so one has to wonder if Kim is pretty much down as a low level contender. So, this fight is interesting, because there are questions. Amidu has worked at Wild Card, and funny enough is managed by the actor Vince Vaughn. Don't think that's all that relevant, but just a funny foot note, none the less. Amidu has decent boxing skills he's a bit stiff, and has his chin sticking out a bit. And I don't think his chin is up to snuff. He's been stopped by Ricky Burns, who doesn't hit hard at all. I think that's the key. I think Kim can take Amidu's punches, while Amidu can't take Kim's punches. So, I've got Kim stopping Amidu somewhat early to mid rounds.
I like this fight, Robinson Castellanos-Orlando Rizo could be one of those under the radar type fights that is a good fight. Like last week, David Quijano-Javier Gallo. Great fight, under the radar though, unfortunately. Anyway, Castellanos and Rizo are quite similar in a lot of ways. Both are have been hot winning there last 5 fights, same amount of KO's, and style wise there about the same. Both stand up, gloves up, not much of a jab, more a less just stick it out there. More of a range finder. Castellanos though is more of a back foot fighter and may'be a bit slower. Rizo, can fight backing up as well, but prefers fighting forward, and I think he'll mainly be the one moving forward. Both got good power in their back hand. So, I think it's going to be a pretty good fight. I'm favoring Castellanos because he's at home, Rizo has never fought in Mexico and has only fought outside Nicaragua just the one time. Plus, Castellanos has got pretty good timing, good countering abilities in his right hand. I think that could potentially trouble Rizo as he works his way in there. But this should be a good scrap. I'll take Castellanos by UD, but this is a toss up fight. Definitely could go either way.
Barry McGuigan is very high on Carl Frampton, I think calling him the best prospect he's seen in 25 years. Something along those lines, but I highly, highly disagree with that. Not to say that he isn't a good fighter, yeah, he looks pretty good, but I've seen better prospects in the past 5 years. Carl Frampton is a fun fighter, but he's flawed. He doesn't have any defense to speak of. He's still really green, this will only be his 12th fight, and they have gone nice and slow, but they are slowly getting him good developmental fights. In his 2nd to last fight he fought Robbie Turley a real crafty, unorthodox type fight. And Turley gave him fits. Turley was able to land and if Turley had any power to speak of he would have given Frampton boat loads of trouble. This fight with Kris Hughes I think could emulate that fight. Hughes is a lanky, very tall southpaw. He has no paw, so he won't trouble Frampton at all with his power, if Hughes sticks on the outside and uses that long jab he could definitely pull off an upset...well, if the judges score it right. Close fight though, I think this will be very close, and I'm definitely not going to pick Hughes because he's not the chosen one. So, I'm going with the safe pick in Frampton, but I'd expect a close fight. If Frampton can get in and use his power and stop Hughes, that would definitely be impressive, but I think, eventually, Frampton gets to Hughes in the later rounds and stops him. You know, one of those British stoppages. So, to recap, I expect a close fight, but a late, bit of a questionable stoppage.
January 20th/21st, 2012:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11837264&postcount=686
Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Rigo Ramos- Guillermo Rigondeaux by UD
Derry Mathews vs. Emiliano Marsili- Derry Mathews by UD
David Price vs. John McDermott- David Price by KO
Gabriel Rosado vs. Jesus Soto Karass- Gabriel Rosado by SD
Miguel Vazquez vs. Ameth Diaz- Miguel Vazquez by UD
Two weeks into the boxing season and it has been slow, really slow. Unfortunately, just a couple of really good fights have been shown. So, if you are keeping track the really early clubhouse leader for Fight of The Year would be -Michael Perez, network of the Year would be Showtime. But, anyway, too early, way too early to be saying that. But, this week there are a couple of intriguing fights and I think they might be pretty good.
Friday night we have a title fight on ShoBox. Guillermo Rigondeaux is taking on Rico Ramos. This fight is intriguing, but it looks to be a snooze fest on paper. Both fighters are undefeated, both are skilled, and both are counter punchers. A recipe for a boring, boring fight. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as Dyah Davis-Alfonso Lopez which is definitely the Worst Fight of The Year. (and hopefully that won't be topped) Again, this fight is intriguing, because it is a bit of a toss up. Who's going to throw more than 10 punches? Who will be the one coming forward? As bad as this fight is, style wise, it is an interesting fight to see who will win. What I'm expecting is Rigondeaux will be the one that comes forward, he'll be the one making the effort to at least try and throw. Ramos will be on his bike and lose the rounds because of that. A bit like Ramos' last fight against Akifumi Shimoda. This time though I don't think Ramos lands that lucky punch on Rigondeaux. So, basically, I'm going with Rigondeaux winning based on coming forward and landing a couple of more punches, throwing a few more punches. We'll see though, it is an interesting fight.
Earlier in the day though, Derry Mathews will be taking on undefeated Italian Emilano Marsili. Marsili is definitely not a household name so I'll tell you a bit about him and what he's like. He's a boxer, like his record indicates he doesn't have much pop. Hops around, uses angles, okay jab, paws with it a bit and doesn't have much power. He doesn't step into. Mostly, just a 1-2 type fighter. Oh yeah, he's a southpaw. So picture a southpaw. Circles to the right, to the left, jab, straight left, always moving, jab, jab, moves to the left, jab, straight left, moves to the right. Always moving, always using angles. Mathews is a boxer as well. A little bit faster though, and has a bit more tools in the tool box, I believe. Has a bad chin, doesn't take a punch well, but he shouldn't have to worry about Marsili's power. He doesn't have much pop in his punches. So, I think, it'll be a boxing match, I think Derry though is the better boxer of the two, but even if he isn't, he's at home and the judges will surely give it to Mathews. So, I've got Mathews by UD. Hmm, you know, I didn't even consider Mathews stopping him...I guess that's a possibility. I don't think I've seen Marsili's chin getting checked. Hmmm, but eh, I'll go with Mathews by decision. Yeah, why not.
David Price is the next heavyweight hopefully that people are trying to anoint as the next great heavyweight star. Price has the looks, the skills, and the power to be a great heavyweight. What he doesn't have are step up fights, nor does he have the experience. He's taking a big, huge, gigantic step up in solid low level contender/journeyman fighter John McDermott. McDermott hasn't fought in almost a year, and has only had 1 round under his belt in a year. So, rust could be a big factor and who knows what McDermott will look like and whether or not he's even taking this seriously. We'll see how he looks at the weigh in, but right now, on paper, this is a good intriguing fight. Right now, I'm going with Price and by KO. A lot of it depends on how McDermot looks. If he looks like a fat slob, well than Price by KO looks good. If McDermott looks somewhat in shape and is around 250 then he has a good shot at taking Price's oohhh. We'll see though, but I'm going with Price by KO.
This is one of those intriguing fights that has a chance to be really, really good. Gabriel Rosado and Jesus Soto Karass are two fighters that are bordering on being journeyman type fighters. And well probably some people do rate them as journeyman, but the main thing is that both fighters are really at the same level. Both are fan friendly and it should be a good fight. Most importantly, this is the main event of the debut on NBC Sports Network. This is an important fight for both fighters, and important for the sport of boxing as a whole. No title on the line, but both fighters will fight like it is. Both have below average to average boxing skills, and same goes for coming forward as brawlers. Rosado will probably be more on the backfoot, but both fighters should take turns leading. Karass is on a bit of a losing streak. In his last 4 fights he's lost 3 of them and 1 was a no contest. Many say though, he beat Mike Jones the first time around, but nevertheless, he is showing a bit of a wear and tear. Rosado has been winning of late. After having that tough stretch in the middle of his career being an opponent for Alfrado Angulo and Fernando Guerrero. He's dusted himself off and won his last 4. Prediction time: I think it's a good, close fight and one that Rosado squeaks by, by split decision.
For those that I guess read these breakdown on a weekly basis (all 5 of you ) you know how high I'm onMiguel Vazquez. I definitely think Vazquez is one of the best P4P fighters in the sport and definitely top 2 in his weight class. Vazquez is a superb boxer, and is once again taking on a power punching fighter. Ameth Diaz is a power punching heavy hitter who in his last fight knocked out Leo Zappavigna, that's why he's getting this shot against Miguel Vazquez, but he's a hard hitter. I think Vazquez though is just too clever, too crafty, for Diaz and outboxes him to a 12 round decision. There's always that danger with the power, but Vazquez is just too good and I don't think Diaz will be able to catch him. I've got Vazquez via UD.
December 17th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11551926&postcount=11954
Andre Ward-Carl Froch. This. Is. It. Well, for the Super 6 tournament it is. It's bittersweet for me. Because when looking into 2010 and 2011 it was always, well we are guaranteed to have some of the best in the division fight each other. In 2012? No guarantees. And no more Fight Camp 360's, for the time being, (I'm really hoping there is a FC 360 for Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto, but that's my point atop, no guarantees. We may or may not. We'll just have to wait and see.) with the Super 6 you knew, okay, in 2011 I will see Froch-Johnson and Ward-Abraham...we wouldn't know when, but, we knew that they would take place. So, anyway, Andre Ward-Carl Froch, oh, one more thing, I was actually quite all right with this fight being pushed back to now. There was just something about it being stuck towards the end of October in the middle of mayhem. It just didn't feel right. This is about as close to a Super Bowl, or a World Cup, for all you non-American readers, as we will get in boxing. A tourney with some of the best fighters in the division and a conclusion. It just feels right that the biggest event in boxing (aside from a Floyd/Manny fight) is reserved for the end.
All right, there's my long winded intro...didn't plan on that being that long, but hey it is what it is. All right, Andre Ward-Carl Froch or Carl Froch-Andre Ward, doesn't matter to me, but we will finally have a unification and a lineal title holder. This is history we will be witnessing, one of the biggest fights ever at 168. Andre Ward has gotten here the easy way. He's gotten all his fights in California and has had 3 of the 4 in Oakland. People bash Ward for this, but I say why? Where was Ward supposed to face Allan Green at? Or Sakio Bika? Those fights had to be in Oakland, because that's the only place those fights would have sold at. If he fought Mikkel Kessler in Denmark, then that would have been 3 fights in Europe and 0 in the States in the first round. That's not exactly fair. So, Ward shouldn't get blame for having all his fights in Oakland. The semi-final fight against Arthur Abraham was in Los Angeles, and that was a good neutral venue. Abraham is an Armenian and L.A. has a big Armenian population so L.A. was fair enough. Abraham may have had more fans there for him, then Ward. So, when you break it down like that, how can you blame Ward for fighting in Oakland? All right, Ward has nice speed, good footwork, and just enough power to get fighter's respect. There really isn't much not to like about Ward, Ward just has every single tool in his toolbox. The best attribute though, is his mind. He has a great boxing I.Q. and can adapt in the ring.
On the other side is Carl Froch. His style may not looking good, it may not look pretty, but it definitely gets the job done. In 29 fights he's won 28 fights and he has an impressive resume, even without the Super 6. Charles Adamu, Brian Magee, Tony Dodson, Robin Reid, Jean Pascal, and Jermain Taylor. That is quite good, and then, of course, the Super 6 he has taken on Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, and Glen Johnson. Froch is on an impressive run and has looked fantastic in his last two fights barely losing a handful of rounds. In this fight though, I'm not expecting him to win a handful of rounds. I would give Froch a big hand if he won 3 rounds in this fight. Not to say Froch is bad, he's great, but Ward is just that much better. Everybody's got a key to why so and so will win. Ward's speed, Froch's power, etc. The key I'm seeing is punch placement. Punch placement? Yes, punch placement. Ward goes up and down stairs with his punches. Froch is strictly a head hunter. He hardly ever goes down stairs. Ward will be there sort of ending at the knees, Froch throws a jab or a left hook, Ward will move his head to his right, counter, and clinch. If you want to hit Ward with your left hook you have to aim, basically, for his waist, because that's where he moves his head, over to the right and comes up with a left hook or straight right. Also, when Ward starts leading, he'll be jabbing up to Froch's head, and he will jab at his and to his body to slow him down. Jab to the body, right to the body, move away, left hook to the head, clinch. Rinse, wash, and repeat. Froch really doesn't have a chance in this fight. Froch will miss Ward time and time again winging shots to Ward's head, and missing. Ward will throw and land and win this fight barely losing a round. Just a guess, I could, obviously, be totally, totally wrong, but Froch can't outbox Ward, and he has about a puncher's chance to stop Ward. Froch has good power, but he hasn't shown world class power. So, I've got Andre Ward by UD.
December 10th/11th/12th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11491410&postcount=11661
Adonis Stevenson vs Aaron Pryor Jr- Adonis Stevenson by UD
David Lemieux vs. Joachim Alcine- David Lemieux by KO
Gennady Golovkin vs. Lajuan Simon- Gennady Golovkin by UD
Jose Salgado vs. Laborio Solis- Jose Salgado by KO
Ray Bautista vs. Miguel Angel Mendoza- Rey Bautista by UD
Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson- Amir Khan by UD
Timur Ibragimov vs. Seth Mitchell- Seth Mitchell by UD
Brian Viloria vs. Giovani Segura- Giovanni Segura by KO
Not much going on this weekend, most of the match ups look like white washes on paper, but we'll see. Fights are won and lost in the ring, not on paper or somebody's opinion. So, let's get to it.
Up in Canada, David Lemieux is back fighting Joachim Alcine. Alcine is a decent boxer, shaky chin. Lemiuex should come right and knock out Alcine in 1 or 2 rounds. Lemiuex may lack stamina and heart, but the dude has major league power. This fight will end early. Also, Adonis Stevenson is taking on Aaron Pryor Jr. Pryor Jr. is a horrible fighter. He doesn't have any skill, he's just abnormally tall for his division. Stevenson is quite powerful, but he is quite a bit shorter than Pryor Jr. and that's his only saving grace. Plus, Pryor's only knows one way to fight and that's backwards. He is quite a spoiler, and this fight will be a stinker if Stevenson can't catch him. Stevenson should win though, he's at home and I don't know if he will catch him, but I've got him by UD.
Gennady Golovkin is taking on quality fighter Lajuan Simon. Simon is a quality fighter who is very experienced and been in with guys such as Sebastian Sylvester, and Arthur Abraham. He lost to both, but he went the distance against both. This another step in the right direction for Golovkin, after taking on Kassim Ouma, now he's going against Lajuan Simon. He's heading in the right direction. I think Golokvin definitely wins, but how will he win is interesting. I'll say Simon goes the distance, but Golovkin wins by UD.
Jose Salgado can bang, Liborio Solis is quite slow and is more of an outside fighter. Don't see too many from Colombia that does that, but he does to an extent. Anyway, I've got Salgado, he has good power, pretty decent boxer, nice young prospect from Mexico. I've got him by stoppage.
Rey Bautista and Miguel Mendoza are fighting for a world international title. Mendoza is quite an unknown, he's fought nothing but a bunch of novices. Bautista is powerful fighter, I'll take Bautista by stoppage, and I actually don't know a whole lot about Mendoza, surprisingly enough. We'll see what happens, but Bautista should win.
Seth Mitchell is probably the best American Heavyweight prospect, and that isn't saying a whole lot. He's got a lot of fights under his belt, not much substance in those fights though. Largely untested, this fight withTimur Ibragimov is going to be a good test just to see how good Mitchell really is. As it stands Mitchell does have good power, nice skills, but every attribute is in question. How is his stamina? How is his chin? How is his heart? All that, he's unknown, I think he'll beat Ibragimov by UD. We'll see what happens though, hopefully, Ibragimov puts up a good fight, tests his chin, but Ibragimov is quite faded. He looked bad against Jean Marc Mormeck. So, we'll see what happens Mitchell should win easily by UD.
Amir Khan-Lamont Peterson is a good fight. I'm actually looking forward to it. Peterson has a lot of dog in him. He really does dig deep and he really wants it. Khan is the better overall fighter though, he has a nice jab, very fast, good pop, etc. I think the odds are way too much in favor of Amir Khan, 1/14 favorite? Really? They shouldn't be that wide, Khan should be a favorite, but not 1/14 odds. Peterson doesn't give up, solid fighter. He's got decent skills, but more than likely he'll just be coming forward, throwing that James Toney-esque type right hand. Where he torques his body and whips it out there. Khan has a shaky chin, and if Peterson lands nicely on it, watch out. This will be a tough, tough fight for Khan and Khan won't have a massive size advantage like he has in his most recent fights...probably not since the Bredis Prescott fight. Peterson is just as big, skills a bit less, a little less speed, about the same power, but Peterson has big, big heart. Peterson will be right there pressuring Khan all night long. Khan will most likely win by UD, but don't count out Peterson. Slight chance of Khan beating Peterson by stoppage...ref stoppage, may'be corner stoppage. That's the only stoppage possible, but I doubt that happens. I've got Khan by UD, but much, much closer than what people think.
A Sunday special. Giovanni Segura is a fantastic little pressure fighter. Brian Viloria is a fantastic skilled fighter. His problem is that he hates pressure, and he literally starts running and tiring out as the rounds progress. This should be an action packed fight, and I think Viloria will have success early in this fight, but Segura's pressure, and power eventually starts to wear down Viloria. Segura by late stoppage, if you can. You have to try and watch this fight. This will be a late consideration as Fight of The Year. It has all the makings of it, skill, will, pressure, power, boxer. Can't miss this one.
November 12th/13th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11202999&postcount=10088
Diego Magdaleno vs. Emmanuel Lucero- Diego Magdaleno by KO
Austin Trout vs. Frank LoPorto- Austin Trout by KO
Tyson Fury vs. Neven Pajkic- Tyson Fury by KO
Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III- Manny Pacquiao by KO
Timothy Bradley vs. Joel Casamayor- Timothy Bradley by UD
Juan Carlos Burgos vs. Luis Cruz- Juan Carlos Burgos by SD
Breidis Prescott vs. Mike Alvarado- Mike Alvarado by KO
Here we are again boxing fans, another good fight weekend, and not only that it is a big big event. An event where the casuals pay attention. Now, boxing, overall, has been a good year, but in terms of the big fights where all the casuals watch...not so much. We have had Shane Mosley run and touch gloves for 12 rounds against Manny Pacquiao, we had David Haye run, and fall down for 12 rounds against Wladimir Klitschko (and to make matters worse, he blamed his pinky toe. Standing there with his shoe off showing everybody, ugh.) We have had the weird circus finish of Mayweather-Ortiz. Ortiz headbutts, Joe Cortez loses control and in WWE fashion Mayweather knocked out Ortiz, while, Cortez, the ref, wasn't looking at what was going on. For two rounds Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson threw a total of 5 punches, Hopkins jumps on Dawson, Dawson shoulders him off, Hopkins can't continue and it is ruled a TKO. (for now...) All in all, boxing's big fights haven't delivered, but this Saturday, with full confidence, I can say that the main event this Saturday will. But before we get into the main course, let's take a look at some of the appitizers to feast on this weekend.
First up two Friday fights. These, not so competitive on paper, and more than likely, won't be competitive.Diego Magdaleno is taking on Emmanuel Lucero. Now, if boxing had stocks on prospects (and some people get confused on the term 'prospect' a prospect is a young fighter, usually early to mid 20's, a number of fights in the teens to early 20's, and doesn't have a world title belt) and the question was "Who has all the skills to be a long time champion, and who has the looks to be a future superstar?" Talking boxing stocks, I would definitely buy on Diego Magdaleno. Magdaleno is a slick fighter, very skilled, is a young fighter, and has the looks of a Oscar De La Hoya. Magdaleno has all the looks and tools to be in that class. He is fighting Emmanuel Lucero, who, really isn't a step up from his last fight against Alejandro Perez. Lucero is a decent gatekeeper/journeyman type fighter who, basically, loses to good fighters. He has lost to Manny Pacquiao, Daniel Ponce De Leon, Rocky Juraez, and Jason Litzau. Not only that, but he was stopped in those fights. This will be a good barometer to see exactly where Magdaleno is, and if he does stop him (and he should) then he'll be on the right track. So, prediction, Magdaleno by pretty quick stoppage. About the 4th round or so.
Also, on Friday, the boxing world will finally be able to see Austin Trout. Trout is a good, young, boxer, who just recently picked up a world title at 154. Not only does Trout have the goods, but he has been a road warrior, and a winning road warrior no less. His last 4 fights have been in 3 different countries. Once in Panama (where he was very close to getting robbed.) once in the States, and his last two fights in Mexico. Earlier this year he took on Rigoberto Alvarez (Canelo's hermano) and beat him for a vacant world title. He then defended it back down to Mexico against David Lopez and beat him by wide UD. Now, he's back in the States and it is more a less a showcase fight. He is taking on Frank LoPorto, who is more of a Australian club fighter. On paper this isn't a competitive fight and Trout should easily have his way. Trout is fast, throws lots of punches, decent pop, and all that should be an easy win and a mid stoppage win.
Tyson Fury, oh how he has grown. Tyson Fury of 2008/2009 was a clown. A big, goofy, uncoordinated heavyweight who was punching himself in the face, to now. A fighter who is getting diciplined and is forming into a pretty good heavyweight prospect. 2011 Tyson Fury has grown leaps and bounds and has been getting better and better and has been making for exciting fights. He stopped Marcelo Luiz Nascimento in 5, but then, the true test came for him. Fellow undefeated Englishmen, Dereck Chisora, took him on and they produced a very entertaining fight and a fight Fury looked quite good at times. His last fight was against Nicolai Firtha and for 4 rounds that was his most complete performance. He looked great, using distance, using his jab, while being exciting, but probably a bit too exciting for him. In the 3rd round he was rocked with a big time right hand and was badly, badly hurt. He recovered though and ended up stopping Firtha in the 5ht round. In this fight, he is fighting Neven Pajkic, who is basically a club fighter with a padded record...a very glossy record. He is undefeated and that is just to make Fury's resume look good. Beating a guy with an undefeated record. That's it. This fight does nothing for Fury, just to make him look good in the ring, and out of the ring. I expect Fury to look good, put on a good performance, and win by early knockout.
Now, we go to the States to the "fight capital of the world" Las Vegas, Nevada where Top Rank, surprisingly, has a pretty good card on tap. First up, Mike Alvarado is taking on Bredis Prescott. Now, what sucks is that the building will be 80% empty (or I guess 20% full, if you're an optomist) but this fight should be quite good. Mike Alvarado is a fighter that comes forward for 3 minutes, shows nice head movement, thinks about D, and throws nice power shots. Alvarado is coming off a very one sided performance against Gabriel Martinez. Prescott will be coming to fight. Prescott is coming off a good performance where he looked very, very good against Paul McCloskey, a close fight, where he didn't get the nod. Prescott boxed well, beautiful jab, nice straight right. If Prescott comes out motivated tries to box, this will definitely be a fun fight. One of those, bull versus matador type fights. I gotta think Prescott will have a good early rounds, but Alvarado starts hitting up, Prescott gets tired, and Alvarado stops Prescott in the late rounds.
By this time now, the arena should be 50-65% full by now. And this is all that needs to be said...Mexico versus Puerto Rico. That's it. Nothing more needs to be said...but I'm going to still talk about it. Luis Cruz is an undefeated fighter, but largely untested. His only notable scrap is beating Martin Honorio, but Honorio only had a week's notice and still made it the distance and really did give Cruz fits at times. Cruz is a nice boxer that has had a good arsenal, but he really doesn't do anything that's really "wow'ing" at least, not yet. Juan Carlos Burgos is a bit of the same way. He is a nice, well, rounded boxer, just a little bit better resume. His only really big, big fight was a fight he lost, to Hozumi Hasegawa. Both, nice outside boxers, nice jabs, both very tall for 126/130...this fight will be taking place at 130. Very interesting fight that I think will be a couple of feel out rounds and then it starts to heat up from round 4 on up and I believe we will have a war. This is a very, very even fight on paper and I think most rounds will be very close and we will have a debatable decision...if it makes it to the cards, but, most importantly, it will be a great fight.
Unfortunately, this is the co-feature of the PPV. The most important fight on a PPV, the gateway to the main event. This fight, with most people that bought the PPV will be tuning in, and pretty much the building will be filled up to watch Timothy Bradley and Joel Casamayor fight. Ugh, now Bradley is a P4P fighter, a top rated fighter, but this fight will most certainly hurt his stock. Casamayor is, not only a tough fighter to look good against, but he is old now. Casamayor looked horrible in his last fight against Manuel Leyva, then it was against Robert Guerrero another snooze induced fight. Basically, tell all your friends to not get mad at Bradley-Casamayor. Tell them that this might be a horrible, horrible fight and have very low expectations of it. And just hope that Bradley comes out with a man on a mission, comes out swinging, and makes Casamayor quit on his stool. Bradley has below average pop, just respectable power, nowhere near knockout type power. Casamayor, same thing and both have really good beards. So, hope that Bradley saves the day, comes out aggressive and just wears down Casamayor, otherwise, we are in for a very bad fight. Prediction: Timothy Bradley by wide UD.
October 7th/8th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10890219&postcount=8431
Roman Karmazin vs. Osumanu Adama- Roman Karmazin by UD
Sharif Bogere vs Fransisco Contreras- Sharif Bogere by UD*
Rodrigo Guerrero vs. Raul Martinez- Rodrigo Guerrero by SD
AJ Banal vs. Mario Briones- A.J. Banal by KO
Donnie Nietes vs. Ramon Garcia Hirales- Donnie Nietes by UD
Dmitry Sukhotski vs. Nadjib Mohammedi- Dmitry Sukhotski by UD
Saul Roman vs. Sebastien Madani- Saul Roman by KO
Kell Brook vs. Rafal Jackiewicz- Kell Brook by UD
Last week was a big bang, this week, eh, not so much. Solid enough week though. It’s a solid week, no real big big names, but a couple of up and coming prospects, and a couple of fights that can produce some fireworks. Also, since it isn’t a massive week, I’m going to do a little twist just to have some fun. Throughout the write up there’s going to be some key words, don’t know if anybody will see ‘em, but we’ll see what happens.
All right, first fight on Friday night the best nickname in the sport is back Roman “Made in Hell” Karmazin is coming back and taking on Osumanu Adama. This really is a make or break fight for Karmazin, Adama is a solid fighter, a solid journeyman type fighter. A type of fighter where you want a prospect to win, or a fighter that looks to be on the slide (like Karmazin) and you see exactly where you stand. If Karmazin wins, well, he still has enough left to make some noise. If not, well, may’be it’s time to hang them up. Adama though, has major motivation to win this fight and definitely won’t be rolling over. If he wins this it is an eliminator for a world title belt at 160, and if he wins, then he gets a contract from Golden Boy Promotions. It would be a terrific story. Karmazin has all the experience, good resume, and has been world champion. And that’s all fine and well, but he may not exactly be up for this fight. He’s already been there and done that and Adama may come up and bite Karamzin right on the behind. In a year full of upsets, we may see another one on Friday. I’m not picking Adama, I’m taking, on paper, the better fighter in Karamzin to win by decision. I’ll go with a close Unanimous Decision.
On ShoBox, Sharif Bogere is back. The undefeated, flashy, prospect he is taking on another quality fighter, a bit of a step back from his last fight versus Raymundo Beltran, but still a quality fight. Francisco Contreras is an undefeated fighter as well, but he is 5 years older and hasn't gotten any hype around him and he hasn't fought any real notable names. Still though, that can be said about Bogere as well. He hadn't fought anybody really of note until his last fight against Beltran where it was a very close fight and one he was lucky to have gotten the win. So, resume wise they are very even on paper. Now, let's take a look at their skill sets. Bogere is quite fast, and very entertaining. especially, his ring walk, he comes out in a rusty cage (not exactly rusty, but like I said from the start I'm doing something a bit different wink wink) in a lion's out fit. Very funny, and much the reason why he is an undefeated, hyped, prospect. Anyway, back to the stuff he does inside the ring, he is fast, solid, pop, and might have stamina problems. Beltran pushed Bogere and really took him to deep waters for the first time and Bogere got tired late in the fight.
A.J. Banal is a young, explosive, southpaw out of the Philippines. His only blemish in his young career so far is when he took on Rafael Concepcion for an interim world title belt. He was only 20 at the time and just too green, and was stopped in the 10th round, a fight in which, was really close though. A very good fight. His opponent, Mario Briones, is a superunknown. Very good record, but no notable names. Not even, any journeyman or anything like that. Of his 20 wins only 2 fighters had a winning record. Everybody else were either making their debut, had a losing record, or a 500 record. That is what you call a very padded record. He is traveling for the first time and he is taking on a buzz saw in A.J. Banal. I believe Banal's speed and power is just going tear up Briones and stop him early to mid rounds.
Kell Brook is the next United Kingdom fighter that is about ready to take that next step into world level. He is a talented fighter that looks to have all the goods. Speed, power, etc. This is his second fight in a row, not only taking on a really good opponent, but a very durable opponent. He took on Lovemore N'Dou a fighter who had never been stopped and Brook came very close. N'Dou was out of it a couple of times and was very tired near the end. Brook just couldn't quite do it. Even though N'Dou is 40 years old that would have been a big accomplishment. His opponent this time is Rafal Jackiewicz, another very notable opponent and a fighter who has never been stopped. Since 2004 he has only lost twice (one of his losses were very controversial, but he got a couple of gifts as well. In his first fight against Jan Zaveck and against Delvin Rodriguez) I don't like saying anybody has no chance, I don't ever say that, but this is a pretty close to a no chance. Brook is a talented fighter and at home while Jackiewicz is a limited basic fighter. This is a good fight just to see if Brook can pass the test, and the big question is whether or not he can stop Jackiewicz. I think Brook does pass the test only losing about 2 or 3 rounds, but I don't think he stops Jackiewicz. I've got Brook via wide UD.
Dmitry Sukhotski and Nadjib Mohammedi might be tough to pronounce and say, but don't be fooled by their names, they are pretty good fighters. Nadjib Mohammedi's most significant fight was going over to the United Kingdom and really giving Nathan Cleverly a good fight. He pushed Cleverly, a very close, and a fight in which Cleverly was fortunate enough to get the win. Dmitry Sukhotski, same thing, he traveled to Germany to fight Juergen Braehmer and he really pushed Brahmer as well. Sukhotsky had his moments in that fight and didn't make life easy for Brahmer. Sukhotsky is as strong as an ox. A very durable fighter that likes to come forward and throw big shots. Limited boxing ability though, he's flat footed, and doesn't throw a jab. Going back to Mohammedi he does a lot of boxing and fights off the back foot. Lots of jabs from Mohammedi and pretty quick. He does pull back straight back at times though, and he has been hurt and has been stopped. That is a bit of a flaw in Mohammedi's game, but both of these fighter are good in their own way. It is a toss up fight, the difference for me is that this fight is in Russia and that favors Sukhotski. So, I do think Mohammedi will have a lot of success, but Sukhotsky will have his moments as well, so I'll take Sukhotsky by...let's go with by decision.
Saul Roman-Sebastian Madani is an interesting fight. Not because it's a 50/50 fight or that it has the potential to be a barn burner, the interesting part is that it is taking place in Spain. Neither fighter is from Spain. Roman is a Mexican and Madani is a Frenchman. So, both of them will be making a power trip out to Spain. Saul Roman is a fighter, recently, that has fallen on black days. In his last 5 fights he has lost in 3 of those 5 and his other losses have come against some of the big names in the sport such as Yuri Foreman, Sergio Martinez, Marco Antonio Rubio, and Jesus Soto Karass early in his career. Sebastian Madani, meanwhile, has fought his entire career at home, and has fought in his home town defending his 154 Frenchman title. Now, he is taking a big step in going up against Saul Roman and not only that, but it is for a title...a small title, but a title nonetheless. Roman has been stopped 6 out of his 9 losses, but I don't think he'll have to worry about being stopped in this fight. Madani is a boxer, and he has only 9 KO's in his 31 victories. This will be a lot like fighting Yuri Foreman, but Madani isn't as good as a boxer as Foreman. He doesn't move as much and he is slower than Foreman, so I do think Roman will be able to get lots of chances to get inside and I don't think Madani will like it. I like Roman to stop Madani in this fight.
This is a rematch between Raul Martinez and Rodrigo Guerrero. It was almost a year ago that these two waged in a great war. Guerrero sucked Martinez in a war and he barely escaped with a SD victory. Since then Raul Martinez hasn't fought and Guerrero has only fought once. He ballooned up to 126 pounds and won in 5 rounds in a tuneup fight. Guerrero is a young fighter, but he is already an old 23 year old fighter. He hasn't taken massive punishment in his 19 fights. He upset Juan Alberto Rojas in a war, and upset Luis Maldonado as well which actually catapulted him a shot versus Vic Darchinyan. And in that fight he didn't get the win, but still managed to get punished big time. He didn't go down or get stopped and survived all 12 brutal rounds. And then in his most recent war was against Raul Martinez, and came up just a bit short in that one. Rodrigo Guerrero is an iron chinned warrior, a very respectable fighter. Raul Martinez is the more talented fighter of the two and just has the one blemish in which he was blown out by Nonito Donaire. A solid resume beating the likes of Rodrigo Guerrero, Gabriel Elizondo, and Isidro Garcia. A thin, but decent resume so far. This should be another terrific fight and if Martinez doesn't use his skills and gets sucked into a war, he may lose this fight. Guerrero has shown an iron chin and durability for 12 rounds and he just keeps coming and coming. Guerrero was outshined the last time, but for the rematch I like Rodrigo Guerrero in an upset. I think he comes in, gets inside, and gets the better of Raul Martinez and this time he gets the decision via SD.
September 24th/25th, 2011:
http://www.boxingforum24.com/showpost.php?p=10775102&postcount=7960
Alexander Dimitrenko vs. Michael Sprott- Alexander Dimitrenko by KO
Simphiwe Nongqayi vs Jorge Arce II- Jorge Arce by UD
Adrian Hernandez vs. Gideon Buthelezi- Adrian Hernandez by KO
Chris van Heerden vs. Kaizer Mabuza- Chris van Heerden by UD
Gennady Martirosyan vs. Dmitry Pirog- Dmitry Pirog by KO
Everybody around the world is still talking about last weeks' boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz. What is in store for us this week? Well, nothing explosive. We have a solid group of fights, but it's nothing wowing and really captures everybody's attention. And while I'm on the subject why oh why did HBO not have the Sergio Martinez-Darren Barker fight this week? I don't get why the big heads at HBO didn't have the Martinez fight right after the Mayweather-Ortiz fight. This matters because it would be a great way to showcase who Sergio Martinez is to people that may have not have seen him that would have seen him during the Mayweather-Ortiz replay. Instead, all HBO is going to show is the rerun of the fight. No live fight. This is yet another terrible decision by HBO, but let's not get into that. Let's talk about this week of fights.
Alexander Dimitrenko, the tall German is taking on the journeyman Michael Sprott. Dimitrenko has a very good record, and is tall and has pretty good power, but I don't see him as a legit threat. I don't even rate him as a top 10 Heavyweight. Dimitrenko is very weak physically and mentally. When the going gets tough he folds and has no answers. His big name on his resume is Eddie Chambers and Chambers destroyed Dimitrenko. Dimitrenko's other name fighter is Albert Sosnowski, who is a nice journeyman fighter, but he was having difficulty with him too, before knocking him out a very tired Sosnowski. He's taking on Michael Sprott who is a journeyman, but is very very long in the tooth. His last great moment was winning the prizefighter...eh, and beating on Audley Harrison before getting knocked out in the last round. Since that fight he hasn't gone more than 4 rounds. So, with that, I have to think Sprott really isn't in it anymore and Dimitrenko will stop Sprott sometime in this fight. Again, I don't think highly of Dimitrenko, but Sprott is chinny, old, and he may'be just coming in for a paycheck. And even if he actually does manage to beat on Dimitrenko...he isn't winning a decision in Germany. Dimitrenko wins this fight guaranteed and I see him stopping Sprott.
Adrian Hernandez is taking on Gideon Buthelezi. Hernandez is now a belt holder at 108 after beating Gilberto Keb Baas in a rematch and it was a very entertaining fight. Hernandez just had too much skill, and is a great worker to the body. Very accurate and very powerful. Hernandez is a lot like other Mexican fighters, great body work and comes forward quite wild and wide, but it gets the job down. Gideon Buthelzi is a bit of a slick southpaw, very accurate puncher that has very good boxing ability. He can be slick and can fight off the back foot. He did a lot of that in his last fight against Budler where he frustrated Budler with nice sharp punching and movement. It was a razor thin fight though, one where he won by SD. And a lot of could be influenced because he does fight off the back foot and he looks to be a counter puncher rather than a straight up, in the pocket, banger. I think this definitely has the potential to be a very entertaining fight. It's one of those bull versus the matador type fight. Hernandez will be coming, using his strength and power to beat Buthelezi and Buthelezy will look to use his speed, and counter punching ability to outpoint Adrian Hernandez. There is a problem there though. This fight is in Mexico and it will be tough for Buthelezi to win this fight on the cards. I don't think though this fight will go to the cards. I think Buthelezi is too green, and this moment is too big for him at this time. Him on the road, and fighting a tough fighter like Hernandez is just a very tall and tough task. I think Buthelezi gives a good effort and puts on a good show, but he gets stopped in the mid to may'be late rounds. Hernandez' body work will be devastating and that will definitely knock the wind out of Buthelezi's sails. Hernandez via stoppage.
Now, let's talk about the Simphiwe Nongqayi-Jorge Arce rematch. Who says a counter puncher, that boxes off the back foot can't win in Mexico. This is rematch of just a little over 2 years ago now. When they fought a little over two years ago Simphiwe Nongqayi made Arce looked old, slow, and just really outboxed him badly. At that point it looked as though Arce was on the way out. Early that year, in 2009, he was dominated and beat up by Vic Darchinyan. The new year would be good for Arce though as he would fight one last time at 115 (picked up a world title belt...for whatever that's worth) moved up to the 122 division (fighting around 120ish though) and during that tiem he went 5-0-1. Pretty good, and he would be rewarded by getting a shot at the undefeated belt holder Wilfredo Vazquez Jr on the Pacquiao-Mosley undercard, and they both ended up stealing the show. The Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry would produce yet another classic with Jorge Arce fighting like a madman and getting Vazquez out of there in the last round, in a close fight. The opposite has happened to Simphiwe Nongqayi since his biggest win. After he beat Arce and won a world title belt in the process. He went to France, and ended up with a draw. Went back down to Mexico and got knocked out in 6. It's been a tough road since the Arce victory and this will be his first fight since getting knocked out, and that was almost 14 months ago now. Nongqayi looks to resurrect his career by beating Arce yet again. The two big questions though is, concerning Arce, was the Vazquez victory his last hurrah? And for Nongqayi was his win over Arce his peak win and will his career continue to go down hill? That's what makes this fight intriguing. I think Arce is in a great state of mind and he really is catching a second wind in his career. I think his momentum continues and he avenges his loss and wins a decision. I don't think Arce will stop Nongqayi because, if he is motivated, he is a very durable and tough fighter. He gets in that shell, keeps his distance and starts outboxing you....ah, dang, this could turn out to be exactly like the first fight, but I just got a hunch Arce wins this fight. Winning two on the road is tough, I don't know if Nongqayi will be able to do it. I say Arce by close UD.
Chris van Heerden-Kaizer Mabuza this is a very good fight down in South Africa, which is quitely becoming a very good place for boxing. Quite a few up and coming fighters from down there that I believe will start making noise in the next couple of years. Isaac Chilemba, Thomas Oosthuizen, Nkosinathi Joyi, all very good fighters, and I believe Chris van Heerden will be in that class as well. He is a very talented 147 fighter, southpaw. Very slick, nice jab, fights off thee back foot. He really is talented, and has shown good skills against his opposition thus far. Now, he is stepping up in class against Kaizer Mabuza, but it is a good step up in class. Not too difficult, but someone that may push him a bit. Mabuza made noise when he made Kendall Holt quit and had a shot at a 140 title against Zab Judah, but came up short. Mabuza is quite crude, comes forward, and has good power. We will see how good Heerden really is, but I think he is the real deal. I see him outboxing Mabuza all the way to the finish line losing just a couple of rounds. He has been the full 12 distance before so mentally and physically it won't be a problem for him. So, I look for a great fight out of van Heerden, and also, it is worth noting Mabuza is coming up in weight again and Heerden is a natural 147 fighter. All signs point toward a van Heerden victory and I think he does win via UD.
This fight isn't on the list, but it should be, is the Vicente Escobedo-Rocky Juarez fight. This is probably the fight this week that is pretty close to a toss up this weekend. Both fighters are very much on a downward spiral and both need wins very very badly. Escobedo, since the Katsidis fight, is 2-2. that's a tune up after the Katsidis win and his most recent victory was against Walter Estrada, which he looked very bad. If that's not bad enough, Juarez is even worse. His last 4 fights have all been losses. If we include the fights since tje Juand Manuel Marquez fight 1-5-1. And as we all know, the Chris John draw was very generous in favor of Rocky Juarez. He could very easily be 1-6. His last fight was against Alejandro Sanabria....let that sink in for awhile. Alejandro Sanabria. Now, no disrespect to Sanabria, he may turn out to be a world beater, but at this time he has a very glossy record with no notable wins...not including the Juarez victory. So, may'be he turns out to be a good fighter, but at the moment, we don't know and Juarez looks really bad at this time. So, this is a fight between used to be good fighters that are soon becoming journeyman. One can even argue that Juarez already is a journeyman and is a stepping stone for young fighters. This fight is at 130, a weight Escobedo hasn't fought at since 2007. So, that's very intriguing, so you know, we'll see what happens. I would take Escobedo by unanimous decision.
September 17th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10697968&postcount=7783
Jessie Vargas vs. Josesito Lopez- Jessie Vargas by SD
Saul Alvarez vs. Alfonso Gomez- Saul Alvarez by KO
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Victor Ortiz- Floyd Mayweather by UD
What turned put to be a very big event on Saturday night has sort of lost a little bit of luster. Kassim Ouma-Ewan McEwen were supposed to fight, but now that fight is off. And Erik Morales-Lucas Matthysse were supposed to fight as well, but that fight is off now. Morales is still fighting and is on the Mayweather-Ortiz card, but is fighting Pablo Cesar Cano. An undefeated fighter, a padded record, good power, but is very slow and is definitely not worthy enough of a world title shot, at the moment. Still, there are a couple of good fights on tap and, of course, the Mayweather-Ortiz mega fight.
The first fight on the PPV card will be rising prospect Jessie Vargas. A very strong, powerful undefeated prospect. He is taking on his toughest test to date against a very solid contender in Josesito Lopez. Lopez, very cagey, very experience, and is an all around solid fighter. Coming into this fight both have had big moments in the year of 2011 and both are on fire. Jessie Vargas had a Knockout of the Year nominee when he blasted out Walter Estrada last July, who at that time was his biggest test...a big step up fight for him. And he passed with flying colors blasting Estrada out with a left hook. Lopez in January took on the undefeated prospect of Mike Dallas Jr. fought him very tough, very cagey, took the undefeated prospect into deep waters and eventually drowned him in the 7th round. I like where Josesito Lopez' head is at right now. He has experience and he has been here before and knows that Vargas has had some problems making 140 and has had problems in the past and is lucky that he is still undefeated. Journeyman Cristian Favela too Vargas into deep waters, but Vargas barely escaped with an 8 round unanimous decision, a very controversial unanimous decision. Style wise, Vargas has balance problems. He tends to fall forward when throwing, doesn't use his jab enough, and is really in love with his left hook. Throws it a bit too much, but that left hook has dynamite in it. Josesito Lopez will look to close the distance, and really try and bully Vargas and do some inside work. Lopez on the outside, gets hit a bit, his defense seems very leaky, but he is tough. On paper a really close fight, very much a 50/50 type fight. I think this goes to the cards and Jessie Vargas gets a controversial SD victory. So, my prediction in Vargas by SD. I really hope that it isn't controversial, I don't care who wins as long as it is the best man. It would really suck if the first fight off "Starpower" starts off in controversial fashion.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is on this card as well, but not in Vegas. He is in Southern California taking on Alfonso Gomez. And to be honest, this is basically a worthless fight. Alvarez is a champion now and looked to be heading in the right direction when he took on Ryan Rhodes, but now he is taking a giant lead step back in competition. Alfonso Gomez is a quality opponent, don't get me wrong, he isn't a bum by any means. This would be a good fight 2 years ago when Alvarez was taking these step up fights. Taking on the likes of Jose Cotto, Lanardo Tyner, Carlos Baldomir, etc. Gomez would have fit in nicely, but now it definitely isn't the same. Saul Alvarez is now a champion and took on a very good opponent in Ryan Rhodes last time out and really beat him up. He needs to build on that. Instead, he is taking a giant step back, and not only is he taking a giant step back, he is doing it where people have to shell out 60-70 bucks on PPV, or 10-20 bucks seeing it in a theater. Not only, is this fight a slap in the face to everybody, but it adds salt in the wound having people pay money to see what will probably be a beat down until Alvarez stops him in the mid to late rounds. People want to be entertained with good, competitive fights. Not one sided beatdowns. So, that's my rant on this fight, and again no disrespect to Alfonso Gomez who is a solid fighter himself, it's just that this is not a worthy title fight. Plain and simple and this fight should not be one of the fights you have to pay money for. If Alvarez took on an Austin Trout, a Vanes Martirosyan, or just any top 10 fighter at 154 then yeah, it's a good fight. It just isn't a complete waste of time. Anyway, we got this fight and let's break it down. Alvarez is much bigger, better skills, faster, more power, basically, he has every attribute in the book besides heart, and may'be chin. Everything else is a whitewash in favor of Canelo Alvarez and it will be shown on Saturday night. Alvarez will just be beating and beating on Gomez. Gomez a tough fighter, will try his best, but eventually the ref or his corner will stop this fight in the mid to late rounds. It wouldn't be a total shocker to see Alvarez win by decision...a pretty much shut out win, but I'm expecting Gomez to get stopped in this fight.
And now we come down to the main event of the evening. Floyd 'Money' Mayweather is making his return and is taking on the newly crowned title holder of 147 and that is the young, strong, hungry, "tree", that is 'Vicious' Victor Ortiz. You know Mayweather, everybody knows what Mayweather is all about. He is a highly skilled fighter and not only that, but a very smart fighter as well. Mayweather is a thinker in the ring and hardly makes a mistake, and if he does make a mistake, he doesn't make the same mistake. (IE: throwing a lead left hook and getting caught in the 2nd round of the Shane Mosley fight) Mayweather has all the skills going for him and has established a very good legacy. It could be better, but we won't get into that. Victor Ortiz really broke onto the scene and really got everybody's attention when he knocked out Mike Arnoutis in 2 rounds on a very highly rated Boxing After Dark show featuring Robert Guerrero and James Kirkland. He definitely has been on everybody's radar since then, his next fight after that though established a new household name in the boxing world. And that name would be Marcos Maidana. They both knocked each other down in the first 2 rounds and were in a great great slugfest, until the 5th round when Maidana continued to chip away and start to breakdown Ortiz with his aggression and power. In the 6th it would become too much for him and Ortiz decided to quit. After that Ortiz decided to go straight back into the fire taking on a good name in Antonio Diaz, and a soft touch in Hector Alatorre getting 17 rounds out of those fights. Trying to knockout the demons of the Maidana fight. He then continued on the path back facing the very dangerous, but faded Nate Campbell and winning a shutout. Then destroyed Vivan Harris in 3 rounds and to cap off the year of 2010 and on the doorstep of a world title shot taking on highly rated Lamont Peterson. Early in the fight all was going well for him dropping Peterson twice in the 3rd round. Ortiz stepped off the gas and Peterson pressed forward trying to take away the fight Ortiz seemed to have in the bag. And he almost did, he went home with a draw and doubters once again emerged as Ortiz couldn't finish off Peterson. He moved up to 147, went for a world title shot against Berto and the once goofy looking babyfaced kid decided enough was enough. He came out as a bearded seriel killer, serious, and intent on coming away with that world title. He did just that beating Andre Berto in a Fight of the Year, Round of the Year, and Upset of the year candidate. On Saturday night, Victor Ortiz will be looking ahead at another tough task. A fight, in which, virtually everybody is predicting him to lose a fight, in which, the champion is a 7/1 underdog. Once again, he is facing an uphill battle and determined to prove everybody wrong, yet again.
Here we are, the two are in the ring, how will this fight go? I got to say, if you are a Mayweather fan, or you got Mayweather on a bet...I would definitely feel uneasy in the the first 4 rounds, because rounds 2-4 we could see history and we may very well see Mayweather get his first loss. Mayweather is a very slow starter, and Ortiz is a fast starter. I can't see Mayweather getting knocked out in the first round. He's an all-time great...that's why I didn't include the first round, but rounds 2-4 Ortiz may catch him with a quick powerful shot and Mayweather might hit the deck and he might be gone. Mayweather has an average chin, superb defense, but if he gets hit point blank he does get hurt. (See Zab Judah fight, see DeMarcus Corley fight, and see Shane Mosley fight) and two out of those three fighters he's been buzzed/hurt by have been southpaws and Ortiz is a southpaw. So, as a betting man I'm sure you'll get great odds picking Ortiz by KO in rounds 2-4, there is massive danger there. If Mayweather does get by that, he'll be in the clear and start dominating from there. The thing is though, hypothetically, say Ortiz does win 3 of the first 4 rounds and gets a knockdown. He'll have massive momentum and he'll be pumped up. He'll be in Mayweather's face all night and if he's aggressive and throws punches in bunches. No matter how accurate Mayweather is the judges could give the swing rounds to Ortiz. It's definitely possible that could happen, it is very unlikely, but hey it is a realistic possibility. Anyway, after round 4 I think Mayweather is in the clear though, he starts breaking down Ortiz and starts pulling away and eventually does get the decision. A late round stoppage is very possible though as well. Mayweather isn't knocking out Ortiz, but a ref stoppage or corner stoppage could happen in the double digit rounds. I'm not rolling with that though, I've got Mayweather by decision, in unanimous fashion. A somewhat close, but clear decision for Mayweather in the 116-112/117-111 range.
September 2nd/3rd, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10584517&postcount=7205
Luis Alberto Lazarte-Nerys Espinoza II- Luis Alberto Lazarte by UD
Evans Mbamba vs. Vic Darchinyan- Vic Darchinyan by KO
Stuart Hall vs. Jamie McDonnell- Stuart Hall by KO
Thomas Oosthuizen vs. Aaron Pryor Jr.- Thomas Oosthuizen by UD
Jan Zaveck vs. Andre Berto- Andre Berto by UD
Very good week of boxing this week. After a bit of a drought this past month or so, with very few sprinkles..we finally are getting some nice bit of rain, and have massive storm clouds ahead for the next few weeks and months.
Alright, kicking it off is Luis Alberto Lazarte-Nerys Espinoza. This fight is, eh. This, is a week spot in the schedule. They fought once, Lazarte won by UD. And I see the same thing happening again. The big, and only reason really, is because this fight is taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is home to some of the worst hometown scoring since the Sven Ottke days. It is that bad there. Lazarte has a massive home advantage. His last two fights have taken place there and there is where he fought Ulises Solis. Solis clearly dominated the first fight, plus Lazarte got TWO points taken away, and somehow that fight was a draw. I'm sure you can find that fight on YouTube somewhere. It's worth a look at how bad the scoring is. They had a rematch, pretty much the same thing, Solis dominates for the whole fight, and the fight ends in a SD...luckly in favor of Solis. Espinoza, even if he does dominate the fight, there is no guarantee he gets the nod. So, with I gotta go with the 40 year old, lucky to be at home fighter Luis Alberto Lazarte via UD.
Vic Darchinyan is taking a tuneup fight in his native Armenia, and I gotta say, he has impressed me in his last two fights. He has done much better than I thought he would do. After looking horrible against Eric Barcelona at 118. He goes into the 118 Showtime tourney and takes on Abner Mares. I thought Mares would win and stop Darchinyan late. Now, Mares almost did he really came on strong at then end, but it was a razor thin decision and he quite possibly could have gotten the nod. And then he goes on and take Yonnhy Perez. Now, Perez looked flat out bad, one of the worst performances by a world champion boxer I've seen in a while. He looked lost, no gameplan, etc. But Dachinyan came in strong, powerful, firing off with that big left hand, and won the fight via technical decision due to a headbutt. A fight though Darchinyan completely dominated. So, I take my hat off to Darchinyan who is ad******g to the weight and is turning into a force again. His opponent is Evans Mbamba is definitely just a tuneup opponent. He has no notable victories and only one notable fighter on his resume, and that was a pretty much shutout loss to Tomas Rojas. Rojas swarmed him with flurries, outworked him and dropped him a couple of times in this fight. Darchinyan isn't much of a volume puncher, but he makes up for it with his big booming power, especially, in that left hand of his. This is a showcase fight for Darchinyan and I believe he wants to really impress his people in Armenia and I think he gets the durable Mbamba out of there early to the mid rounds.
This is the real meat and potatoes for this week. On Saturday, we got a nice domestic level fighter over in the UK. Undefeated Stuart Hall is looking to take that next step to world class against Jamie McDonnell. I think this has the makings of a very good fight. Both fighters are roughly the same skill level. McDonnell likes to use range, and box from the outside. Hall likes to come in, dig to the body, on the inside and really use his strength. So, it's going to be sort of the outside versus inside type style. Resume wise they both have fought roughly the same quality of fighters. McDonnell has fought Ian Napa, Jerome Arnould, and Stephane Jamoye, and Hall has fought Ian Napa as well and Martin Power twice. So, really, nobody really has an edge in anything. It's all going to comedown to who has the bigger heart? Who has really put in the time in training camp? And all that good stuff. And when it comes down to it, I like Hall's power to stop McDonnell late. I think both fighters have their moments and it really is a close fight, but I think McDonnell starts to wear down to Hall's PP...pressure and power. So, I've got Hall winning by late stoppage. Should be a good one.
Great to see Thomas Oosthuizen finally breaking out and into the States. He is a really talented fight along with Issac Chilemba, a fighter he has fought and fought to a draw with. Oosthuizen is a big guy, has a good jab, really talented fighter. It's just that resume wise he doesn't have much, he has Chilemba who he fought to a draw with, and that's about it. Still though, just talent wise alone it's a massive gulf class between him and Aaron Pryor Jr. When you think of Pryor, you think highly skilled, fast, strong, powerful, fearless...when you think of Pryor Jr. You think none of those things, well, he is fast, but that's about it. He's a tall guy, who has quick hands and feet. Other than that he has poor boxing skills, terrible jab, and when somebody gets in close he turns his back and he literally starts crying to the ref. He is really is a bad fighter, and is living off the Pryor name. He is a terrible fighter and it is even worse to watch him running with no skills, turning his back and flicking out a horrible jab. The only reason why he has a winning record is because he has the name of Pryor, and he is abnormally tall for his division and he is quick. Other than that he doesn't have much going for him and thankfully, Oosthuizen is about his size, and so Pryor doesn't have that advantage. So, now the only obstacle is the judges. The old saying...or at least it's what I say, when you have to travel over a body of water, it usually spells trouble. It's bad news and you are already at a huge disadvantage. I'm hoping though there is a fair shake, because I mean, come on, why would the judges really try and have Pryor Jr. winning this fight. He's old, has a horrible style and has 3 losses. There is no upside in trying to get him to win. So, we'll see what happens, I've got Oosthuizen clearly winning this fight, with a fair shake. Wide UD in favor of Oosthuizen.
So, we segment over to the main event and we have a fighter travelling over a body of water. Jan Zaveck is travelling to the States and right away you have to favor Andre Berto. Even though, Zaveck is the champion and Berto is the challenger. Funny how that works. Anyway, who is Zaveck? Well, he is a very very good fighter. Very tight defense, good jab, all around good fighter. Doesn't do anything great, but does everything well. He should be undefeated, but got a bad decision in Poland against Rafal Jackiewicz. He eventually, though who go on to win a 147 strap and avenge that loss. So, really, he should be an undefeated fighter. Would he be a world champion if there was 1 belt in the division? Probably not, but he is a top 5-10 fighter. He is a very good fighter that can really push you. He is a lot like Andriy Kotelnik. All around good fighter that has good boxing skills. And I think Berto is going to find out this Saturday. I believe he will get pushed and I think he does get a gift. Berto is a good fighter in his own right, but he doesn't have the same tools Zaveck does. Berto is a one handed fighter. He has a deadly right hand, overhand right and uppercut right hand that can drop any fighter and even knock them out. If he can time Zaveck as he jabs he can definitely hurt Zaveck and stop him early in the fight, that definitely could happen. No very likely, but still a possibility. Other than that though, Berto doesn't have any tools in his toolbox. Terrible jab, he's flat footed, no stamina, he's a limited fighter after that. So, I can definitely see this fight being close, Zaveck pressing the action, Berto trying to catch Zaveck with a right hand coming in. So, back to the Kotelnik comparison, I think this fight has the potential to be a Kotelnik-Alexander type fight. Except I thing this fight will be closer, but Berto gets the nod in a UD.
August 26th/27th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10528835&postcount=6951
Marco Antonio Avendano vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko- Vyacheslav Senchenko by UD
Karoly Balzsay vs. Stanyslav Kashtanov- Stanyslav Kashtanov by UD
Robert Helenius vs. Siarhei Liakhovich- Robert Helenius by KO
Alexander Povetkin vs. Ruslan Chagaev- Alexander Povetkin by SD
Stateside nothing is going on this weekend, but overseas there are some solid fights going on.
Getting right to it. Vyacheslav Senchenko is an undefeated, 147 pound world champion. Haven't heard of him? Don't worry, nobody would blame you. He's a good top 10 fighter, but he has a weak resume, solid skills, and shouldn't have a world title. But, unfortunately, he does and he is defending it for a 4th time, first time this year. The challenger is Marco Antonio Avendano. Pretty much every big fight he has had he has lost. Plus a few others he has lost. Not much in the skill department, but he does have a punch. That's his chance, a puncher's chance. I don't like those odds so I'll go with Senchenko via wide UD.
Robert Helenius is one of the Heavyweight prospects that is working his way up. He only has 15 fights, but already a good resume. He has already faced, and beaten the likes of Samuel Peter, Lamont Brewster, and even throw in Greg Tony and Attila Levin. Not bad for only 15 fights. And with number 16 it's another good named fighter that's on the slide. Siarhei Liakhovich, is a faded fighter, but still very dangerous. I like Helenius in this fight. He's younger, fresher, and has been on a roll. I'll take Helenius to stop Liakhovich late in this fight.
Karoly Balzsay is a bit on the slide. Back in 2009 he was a world champion at 168, but Robert Stieglitz upended him, and proceeded to get upset at the end of that year. He has since won two straight tune up fights, and is now fighting for a world title again...I know, he doesn't make sense that there is a belt on the line at 168, that's why I ignore the belts. Anyway, Stanyslav Kashtanov is undefeated and is taking a big step up. Very much a padded record up until the point and we will see if he is legit or not. Style wise, they are pretty much the same. They have the stand up style, throw a 1-2, stand there, block, 1-2, etc. They have the stand up style, I'll go with Kashtanov though. He seems to be just a bit quicker, and he is the fresher fighter. Kashtanov by UD.
Alexander Povetkin-Ruslan Chagaev is a real interesting fight. Finally, Povetkin is taking a step up, his first since beating Eddie Chambers. And that was over 3 years ago, closer to 4 years. Since then he has avoided Wladimir Klitschko, has had a couple of foot injuries, and is now being trained by Teddy Atlas. So, with that said, he and Teddy have only been together for 3 weeks for this training camp. Bad news for Povetkin fighting his best fighter, probably, overall in his career, or at least since Eddie Chambers. Ruslan Chagaev is a really good Heavyweight. He's beaten the likes of John Ruiz, Carl Drumond, Matt Skelton, Michael Sprott, and Nikolay Valuev. And of course, he took on Wladimir Klitschko, but came up short...real short, like everyone else. In his last fight, he didn't look all that good though against Travis Walker. So, who knows, if he still is the same fighter he was 3-5 years ago. So, both fighters have questions, but I worry more about Povetkin, because not having a full training camp is bad news. I'm very interested to see the weigh in, but right now I've got Alexander Povetkin winning by the skin of his teeth, by SD.
July 15th/16th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10181615&postcount=6136
Diego Magdaleno vs. Alejandro Perez- Diego Magdaleno by UD
Pawel Wolak vs. Delvin Rodriguez- Pawel Wolak by UD
Marco Huck vs. Hugo Hernan Garay- Marco Huck by KO
Likar Ramos vs. Juan Manuel Marquez- Juan Manuel Marquez by KO
John Murray vs. Kevin Mitchell- John Murray by UD
Nicky Cook vs. Ricky Burns- Ricky Burns by UD
Julio Cesar Miranda vs. Brian Viloria- Brian Viloria by UD
This week is a bit of a downer compared to, well, pretty much the whole year. While there aren't big match ups, there still are a couple of fights that are interesting.
Let's start out with the fights on Friday, which are probably the best fights of the weekend. On ShoBox, Diego Magdaleno is a very good undefeated prospect. He's got 19 fights, 19 wins, 7 via stoppage and his last 4 fights have come by way of stoppage. Which is interesting, because that's been his toughest opposition is his fights recently, yet, he has been stopping them. A very good sign for a young prospect. He is coming into his own and knocking out good competition. His opponent, Alejandro Perez, definitely is good competition. Perez was once a young, undefeated prospect. He was up ended by journeyman Adolfo Landeros, avenged that loss though, so big ups there, but lost yet again to Rico Ramos, who just won a world title at 122 just last week. After that, he took the whole year of 2010 off, rejuvenated training at Wild Card gym and in his comeback fight knocked out Antonio Escalante in 1 round. I expect this fight to be good and it is very interesting. If Perez can pull off yet another upset, he is sky high, and another quality win keeps the Magdaleno train rolling for bigger and better things. As for a prediction I think this fight goes the distance. Magdaleon is a nice well rounded fighter. Keeps his hands up, good speed, good power. When he throws his back hand, the left, he does reach a bit and that leaves counter opportunities. As Antonio Escalante knows, that right hand Perez throws is very hard, and quick. Magdaleno needs to watch out for that and make sure he doesn't get hit with that punch too often. I've got the prospect Diego Magdaleno getting tested, but wins a pretty close decision, close, but clear. I got him winning in the 97-93 range.
On Friday Night Fights we have an absolute war on paper. The tough Pawel Wolak is taking on the tough luck loser in Delvin Rodriguez. I say tough luck because Rodriguez has been screwed in pretty much all of his losses. Delvin Rodriguez is pretty much the new Glen Johnson. His last two "losses" were clear robberies and against the first fight against Hlatshwayo he was robbed. So, it's easy to root for a guy like Delvin Rodriguez, but at the same time, Wolak is just as easy to root for as well. He is a tough, blue collar worker, and that is exactly his style he brings into the ring. Fast first, slug it out type fighter. He definitely brings the excitement which makes this fight on ESPN 2's Friday Night Fights a can't miss. Rodriguez is a skilled boxer, nice pop, and a big heart. Wolak, good pressure fighter, that will breakdown anybody and has good pop as well. I think this goes to the scorecards as I can't really see either fighter getting knocked out. Both are too macho and have too much heart. I think the difference will be weight. Wolak is the bigger man and has fought at 154 his whole career. While Delvin Rodriguez has fought at 140 and 147 his whole career. This is his first fight at 154 and a very tough one at that. So, yea I think the difference is weight and Wolak gets a close, but clear unanimous decision against Rodriguez.
On Saturday, two big names in boxing will be fighting against less than stellar competition. In Germany, Marco Huck is taking on Hugo Hernan Garay, and Juan Manuel Marquez is taking on Likar Ramos. Marquez can be excused for fighting somebody that is pretty average, a journeyman with a padded record in Likar Ramos, because Marquez is getting a bit of a tuneup at a higher weight and has a date with Manny Pacquiao in November. So, that's ok for Marquez, oh and my prediction is a KO for Marquez. No need to go over Marquez' good resume, and everybody should know he is one of the top P4P boxers in the game. Ramos has a padded record, KO percentage is padded, and has shaky whiskers. I've got Marquez by KO. Huck on the other hand is taking on a what seems to be faded Hugo Hernan Garay who is a career 175 pound fighter. Garay, has lost two of his last 4 and has only fought at the Crusierweight limit 2 times. I don't see how that warrants a world title shot, but he is has it. Now, while he isn't a bum, still, he is getting long in the tooth and his best days seem to be behind him. He was a quality 175 pounder, but at Cruiserweight and him not looking too good recently. I gotta go with Marco Huck by stoppage.
A big fight in Hawaii, this Saturday night. This will be for the a world title at 112. Julio Cesar Miranda, the exciting Mexican is going on the road to defend his title against Brian Viloria. Both fighters are pretty much one in the same. Both have about the same experience, same level of competition, and both are about the same age. (Viloria 30 and Miranda 31) The difference though is that both are, at the moment, on two different spectrums. Viloria, in his last fight in Hawaii, he beat Jesus Iribe, but in his next fight he was TKO'd in 12 and had to go to the hospital for heat exhaustion and severe headaches. He was in very bad shape. He came back, scraped by to win a SD and won by TKO against a journeyman his last time out. While Miranda has won his last 5 fights in a row, all by stoppage and has picked up a world title. Miranda is a very customer and Viloria may'be just about a shot fighter. Although, Miranda is on the road and Viloria is fighting at home. If Viloria can make it the distance he may'be able to steal a victory and pull off the upset. Alright, let's get to a prediction. Viloria stands in the pocket and looks to counter. Countering is very good against a fight like Miranda, but standing in the pocket is very bad. Miranda, while he is crude at times, he does have decent boxing skills and has dynamite in his hands. Tough call, tough pick, but I like the underdog at home. I think I probably should go with Miranda by knock out as that is the safe pick, but I just have a weird feeling that Viloria is going to, I guess you can say, turn back the clock and have a great performance. I like Viloria's quick hands, and countering ability and that big right hand to get a close decision against Miranda.
John Murray and Kevin Mitchell both have really nice looking records, but they really haven't been fighting the toughest competition. Well, Kevin Mitchell has, in his most recent fight against Michael Katsidis he was knocked out in 3 rounds. Not to say they have been fighting nothing but bums, they haven't done that, they do have some quality wins and decent scalps, but it's just that when you see a 31-0 record and a 31-1 record you think that they are the best of the best, and they aren't. Skill level wise they are about the same. Mitchell has alright boxing skills, while Murray is a decent pressure fighter. Kevin Mitchell though, hasn't taken the Katsidis loss well, though. He has been drinking, and hasn't fought since that loss, which, was over a year ago. All in this, should lead to a pretty good fight. I think Murray wins this fight by unanimous decision.
Nicky Cook and Ricky Burns is a fight I'm looking forward to. I think this is a very good fight. This is for a world title at 130 and let's start things off with the challenger, which is Nicky Cook. Nicky Cook, back in 2007 stepped up to the world level and got knocked out. He was undefeated at the time and he didn't really have any quality wins at the time. A year later he won a world title at 130 against Alex Arthur, but then was stopped in 4 against Roman Martinez. Which brings the us to a full circle. Ricky Burns last year challenged Martinez and he beat him by unanimous decision which was one of the bigger upsets of the year. Burns has since defended his title a couple of more times against less than stellar competition, but now takes on Nicky Cook, who I believe is a good opponent and will really test Ricky Burns. Alright, Nicky Cook, decent foot work, doesn't do anything great, a bit on the small side...especially compared to Ricky Burns. So, with all that said, I do like this fight, England vs Scotland is always an interesting fight, but I've got Ricky Burns winning this fight. Cook has come up short in his two big fights and I think he comes up short again, but I don't think he gets knocked out though. I think he gets beat a losses by clear somewhat wide decision.
July 9th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10129225&postcount=5981
Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Tomas Villa- Jhonny Gonzalez by KO
Arturo Badillo vs. Hugo Fidel Cazares- Hugo Fidel Cazarez by KO
Lucian Bute vs. Jean Paul Mendy- Lucian Bute by KO
Another big weekend of boxing. In the States, Showtime and HBO are going head to head in one of those somewhat rare weekends. We'll get to those fights in a bit, but for now, let's talk about some of the other fights that will be going on this weekend as well.
Starting off we have Hugo Fidel Cazares taking on Arturo Badillo. The theme for pretty much every week, and this week as well, is that records do not tell the whole tale. Win-loss records lie quite a bit. You really have to dig into what the win-loss record really is. Hugo Fidel Cazares, like most mexicans, turned pro early in his life and took his lumps early. Four losses and a draw early in his career. You take that away and his record is very good 34 wins 2 losses and a draw. A very good win-loss record for a very good fighter. His two losses came against the great Ivan Calderon, and a draw against Nobuo Nashiro. Who he went on to take on 8 months later and beat by UD. Two epic fights, and has since defended that world title belt at 115 and has defended it 3 times. He is looking to defend it for a 4th time. Standing in his way is Arturo Badillo. He posses a 20-1-0 (18 KO) record, not bad, but again, records don't tell the tale. It is a padded record. He hasn't beaten anybody of note, he still is young, very green, but still it is worth noting he doesn't have any quality wins. He does posses legit power, but that's about his only shot at winning. I think this is too big of a step too soon, and Cazares will beat Badillo, stopping him along the way.
Jhonny Gonzalez is making his first defense of his world title belt at 126. He won it earlier this year by knocking out Hasgawa in 4 rounds. Sticking with the win-loss record theme, like many before him Jhonny Gonzalez took his lumps early in his career. Losing his first two fights in his career and took a couple of more losses along the way before really getting his groove and really became a professional boxer. From 2002 to 2006 Gonzalez went on a winning streak beating the likes of Roger Gonzalez, Ratanachai Singwancha, Mark Johnson, and Fernando Montiel. Then the winning streak came to a stop as Izzy Vazquez beat him and a couple of fights later Gerry Penalosa stopped him as well. It is worth noting that at the time of the two stoppages he was winning the fight. He proceeded to move up to 122, went on a nice winning streak beating Mauricio Pastrana and Edel Ruiz. Then got stopped yet again against Toshiaki Nishioka, and yet again, he was up at the time of the stoppage. Moved up to 126 and is winning yet again. Tomas Villa is in the way, but I don't think he beats Gonzalez. While Villa is a solid fighter, he isn't in the class of the fighters mentioned above. In fact, in his last 5 fights he has lost to two familiar names. Rogers Mtagwa and Miguel "Mikey" Garcia. He was stopped in 10 against Mtagwa and in 1 round versus Garcia. I think that give you a good indicator on where Jhonny Gonzalez stops him. Gonzalez is better than Mtagwa, but I rate Garcia higher, at the moment, so with that said I think Jhonny Gonzalez stops Villa somewhere in the middle may'be even early in the 4-6 range.
Lucian Bute. Ugh. Some much talent, so little opposition. Bute is taking a homecoming fight, In Romania, against Jean Paul Mendy. Bute is doing a good job of staying active, it's just all the best fighters have been tied up. (for those that don't know, tied up in the Super 6 World Boxing Classic with all the top 168 pounders fighting each other) pretty much everybody in the boxing community have given Bute a lot of flack for not fighting better opposition, but again, the top fighters have been tied up and Bute has fought decent opposition. After he was lucky not to have lost to Andrade the first time he went on to KO Fulgencio Zuniga, Librado Andrade, Edison Miranda, Jesse Brinkley, and Brian Magee. That is a pretty decent resume. Not terrific, and 3 of those fights were pretty much guaranteed Bute wins, just due to the fact that Bute is that good, but still solid wins. (by the way the pretty much guaranteed wins I'm talking about are against Zuniga, Brinkley, and Magee) This fight though, against Mendy, is a major step down. And sticking with the theme, the win-loss record lies. Mendy is not as good as his record says he is. He has a very padded record, two names he does have on his record are against Anthony Hanshaw, who never went on to be anything good he had a very padded record as well before losing to the shot Roy Jones Jr. and Andre Dirrell. He fought Hanshaw to a draw, and the other name is Bika. He won that fight 60 seconds in flat on his face. Bika hit him while he was down and as a result Mendy wins and gets a shot at Bute, 1 year later. Massive gulf in class, this one will not be close. Bute knocks out Mendy whenever he wants to really.
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10129227&postcount=5982
Kermit Cintron vs. Carlos Molina- Kermit Cintron by UD
Urbano Antillon vs. Brandon Rios- Brandon Rios by KO
Paul Williams vs. Erislandy Lara- Paul Williams by SD
Akifumi Shimoda vs. Rico Ramos- Rico Ramos by SD
Alright, then we got to the 4 fights shown in the States. Both cards on HBO and Showtime are different from each other. Let's get to the one on Showtime first. This card should be very entertaining, on paper, you have a pretty good idea of who might win, but both fights should be very entertaining. While the HBO card might not be so entertaining, the fights are more 50/50 toss ups. Again, though let's start with the Showtime card. First up Kermit Cintron and Carlos Molina. Kermit Cintron is back making his first appearance since that disgraceful performance against Paul Williams. He pretty much jumped out of the ring and then proceed to lay on the table/floor acting like he had a punctured lung. When all he had, in reality, is a couple of bruises. Not the first time he has been a disgrace, but at any rate. He has decent skills, very good power in his right hand, and a pretty decent resume. He loses to all of the top level guys. He's lost to Margarito twice, Paul Williams, and Sergio Martinez. (the record will show a draw, but he lost. He got KO'd and lost a decision all in that fight, but ended up with a draw) Sticking with the theme of this article, we go over to Carlos Molina and you see an 18-4-2 record, and you might think he is just some journeyman type fighter, but again, the record lies. Molina is a very crafty, good fighter. All 4 of his losses came early in his career, and while he wasn't a teen, he still suffered those losses early and has definitely rebounded. And recently he has beaten a couple of good guys on his resume Ed Paredes, and Danny Perez. On ESPN2 in March, he fought Erislandy Lara to a draw. Molina, is definitely a scrapy fighter. Very cagey and he brings it. Cintron doesn't like dog fights and Molina will definitely try and get Cintron into a dogfight. Early on I see Cintron having success, but as the fight progresses Molina starts getting the better of him, but Cintron holds on to the victory. The key, I think is Molina's lack of firepower. Should be a great fight, and Cintron wins a very close UD.
The main event of the Showtime card is extremely explosive. Brandon Rios broke onto the scene early last year stopping Jorge Luis Teron, which got everybody's attention, so much attention, that it led him to getting a fight on HBO where he fought Anthony Peterson. After starting slow, he eventually brokedown Anthony Peterson and scored a DQ win after tons of low blows from Peterson. He came back two months later on the Pacquiao-Margarito card and disposed of Omri Lowther in 5. He then would fight on Showtime and get his shot at a world title belt against Miguel Acosta. After starting slow again, he turned it on and stopped Acosta in 10 rounds in a thrilling Fight of The Year candidate. Now he looks to defend his belt against the equally tough Urbano Antillon. Antillon fights the same way as Rios, he is basically, a Rios clone. The difference is that in Antillon's two biggest fights he has come up short, while Rios has yet to lose a fight. Antillon was KO'd in 9 rounds against Acosta, and lost by a razor thin decision to Humberto Soto, both thrilling fights. This fight definitely has Fight of The Year candidate written all over it. It will be interesting to see who takes a step back in this fight. As for my prediction, I've got Rios winning this fight. I think Rios has a bit more tools to work with. I've got Rios slowly breaking down Antillon and gets him out in the mid to late rounds.
Now we hope on over to HBO and we get two very interesting fights. Two fights where you can't really get a grasp on who really is going to win. Starting off, we have Rico Ramos and Akifumi Shimoda and these two have skills...you know what you might have to make it skillz. These are talented fighters. Both have a lot of tools in the tool box and both are smart. They look for counters and have superb timing. Both are young and pretty green, although, Shimoda has an edge in that department. He has been fighting quality fighters for awhile and has been the 12 round distance twice and 10 rounds several times. And a couple of decent scalps, including, his most recent win against Ryol Li Lee for a world title belt at 122. And who Lee beat to get that belt was Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym a terrific fighter. This is a close fight, I think I gotta go with Ramos via close decision. I think if the fight is close, Ramos will get the nod. In neutral territory, like say just somewhere in Europe, I probably lean towards Shimoda, but being in the States and Ramos fighting in the States and having a undefeated record I think a close fight gets him the nod. So, I'll roll with Rico Ramos winning via SD.
The main event of the evening, and many major questions will be answered. Both of these fighters, Paul Williams and Erislandy Lara, are coming of their worst performances' as pros. Paul Williams last stepped foot in a ring with the lights on back in November and he was the victim of 2010's knockout of the year. Erislandy Lara is coming off a draw against Carlos Molina. He was in a dog fight and he didn't want any part of it. He looked terrible in the ring, and barely escaped with a draw. Paul Williams has also stated that he wants to retire after a couple of more fights. Which is very bizarre, why would he mention that now with a very tough fight coming up? And does he have any fight in him left? Did he take this fight seriously in training camp? A very bizarre attitude coming from Paul Williams when it was just a year ago he wanted to fight everybody in boxing. Sergio Martinez may have ruined Paul Williams. We will have that answer come saturday night, but we are not done asking questions. Lara, seems to have a motivational problem. going out, parting instead of working. And it definitely showed against Molina. So, what I would like to know is has he put in the work against his toughest challenge to date? Has he put in the time and effort to beat Tall Paul Williams? Now, Lara didn't have his trainer, Ronnie Shields, in his training camp the last time because Shields had his hands full training various other fighters, including Guillermo Rigondeauex. So, this is a very tough fight to pick. Lara has a couple of nice scalps on his resume beating Grady Brewer and Danny Perez in back to back fights back in 2010, but then took on 4 straight cupcake opponents, took another steep test, but this time didn't pass. Which was against Carlos Molina, the fight where he got a draw. Paul Williams meanwhile is already battle tested, he has a top of the line resume, and has won a world title (at 147) and has been a force in 3 weight classes.(147, 154, and 160) And what's funny is that Paul Williams is only one year older than Lara, but they are world's apart in experience as a pro. It is pretty crazy, but let's get onto the prediction. Paul Williams as seen fighters like Lara before, a crafty, accurate, skilled southpaw and he is 2-2 against fighters like that. (1-1 to both Carlos Quintana and Sergio Martinez) Lara, meanwhile, hasn't seen anybody like Paul Williams. Paul Williams is a different animal, a big tall, southpaw, that throws 100 punches a round, has good pop, and superb heart and stamina, but with all that good he does, that bad is that Paul Williams leaves himself wide open and that leaves him open to counter opertunites and somebody like Erislandy Lara can take advantage of that. Just like Quintana and Martinez did. This is a real tough fight to call. Ugh, I guess I'll roll with Tall Paul winning by a very close SD. This is a tough call, I think Williams' volume wins him the majority of the rounds, while one other judge likes Lara's accurate, potshotting. Tough call....how many times have I said that now? but yea, I've Williams winning via SD.
July 1st/2nd, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10049453&postcount=5648
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam vs. Takuya Kogawa- Pongsaklek Wonjongkam by KO
Jonathan Victor Barros vs. Celestino Caballero- Jonathan Victor Barros by UD
Edgar Sosa vs. Julio Paz- Edgar Sosa by KO
Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye- Wladimir Klitschko by KO
Hernan Marquez vs. Edrin Dapudong- Hernan Marquez by SD
I’d be lying to you if I said this was another good/great week of boxing, and I’m not. This week is average. The matchups on paper, are complete mismatches, and unfortunately, a couple of them are for a world title strap. This week though does posses one of the biggest fights in boxing, and a couple of very good matchups. So, this week is alright on paper, let’s hope that may’be, just may’be it will exceed expectations and have a thrilling week. Last week was probably the worst week of boxing in at least the past 5 years. I sure hope we never have to experience another week like that. So, let’s quickly turn the page and look forward to this week.
First up, let’s start with all the mismatches. Mismatch numero uno: Edgar Sosa, what are you doing? Edgar Sosa is one of the better Light Flyweight/Flyweight fighters. For most of his career he fought at 108, Light Flyweight, he defended a world title strap for a long time before getting stopped in 2 to a high class opponent in Rodel Mayol. After that he moved up to 112 and has been fighting there ever since. He has also been given a world title strap with “International” on it. So he has been defending it and his opponents have not been class. He is facing another one of those not so high class opponents. He is fighting Julio Paz, who has not fought anybody, somehow finds himself fighting Edgar Sosa. Edgar Sosa should win. If he doesn’t this is one of the bigger upsets of the year. I’ve got Sosa stopping Paz.
ミスマッチ番号2 or 2 จำนวนไม่ตรงกัน or in English mismatch number 2: What are you doing Pongsaklek Wonjongkam? Like Sosa, Wonjongkam is one of the better fighters at 112 and not only that is one of the better fighters P4P. Wonjongkam is very legit, but is making a world title defense against a very green, no resume, Takuya Kogawa. Kogawa who hasn’t fought anybody and hasn’t deserved to fight Wonjongkam, somehow, finds himself fighting Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Instead of Wonjongkam and Sosa fighting each other making a big matchup at 112, they instead take fights against fighters that have about a 1 percent of winning. Wonjongkam doesn’t really stop fighters, but against somebody like Kogawa, I would expect him to win this fight via stoppage. So, I’ve got Pongsaklek Wonjongkam by KO.
Now, we’ve got a good fight with a 112 world title strap on the line. Hernan Marquez of Mexico, is defending is belt that he most certainly earned going up against Luis Concepcion in Panama, and stopped him in the 11th round. A fight where both fighters were dropped in the first, and Concepcion was dropped in the 3rd and 10th. That fight was a classic. If you haven’t seen that fight, you must right now….after you’ve finished reading this article. Marquez is taking on Edrin Dapudong of the Philippines. Mexico and the Philippines is starting to become a bit of a little rivalry and this will be a worthy chapter to put in this young rivalry. Marquez is a good fighter, but does run hot and cold. You just aren’t exactly sure which Marquez will show up. He didn’t look good against Richie Mepranum, his first career loss, but he looked terrific against Concepcion. In some of his other wins as well, he didn’t look quite as good, but still got the win. Marquez is a bit tough to predict, because you just don’t know. He has a lot of potential though, when he’s on he is a very good fighter. On the other side we got Edrin Dapudong. Like most win-loss records, his record is deceptive. You see his record (22-3-0 13 KO’s) and you may think, oh well, he’s not all that good. That is definitely false. If you’ve never seen him fight, he is a very technical fighter that thinks. He goes forward, drops a jab, followed by a right hand. Nice tight D, he doesn’t go in bum rushing you or anything like that. Resume wide, not too much to talk, he’s got a couple of scalps, and a notable loss on his record (which was to Muhammad Rachman, a great 105 champion) still though Dapudong is a good fighter, and his aggression and Marquez' counterpunching should be a great contrast of styles and that should lead to having fireworks in this fight. If this was in neutral territory, I would tip Dapudong winning this fight. As it is, it's in Mexico, and I've gotta side with Marquez winning by SD.
A great fight in Argentina this week that, hopefully, will go through. Jonathan Victor Barros-Celestino Caballero. I say "hopefully" because this fight a couple of weeks ago was PPD to volcanic ash. So, let's hope this fight does happen this week. Anyway, let's assume it does and let's breakdown this fight shall we? Starting off with the 126 pound champion...now, let's see. Barros is a world title holder, aye? See, this is why I don't put stock in world title belts. Barros fought Gamboa in early 2010, and lost. He put up a good account of himself though. He lost, but wasn't blown out of the water and he won a couple of rounds. Anyway, back to my original point, Barros somehow got himself the same world title belt he was fighting for against Gamboa....also, the same organization has Chris John as a champion as well. It's a cluster. Anyway, Barros has himself a world title belt, but he is a very good fighter belt or no belt. Barros has very good boxing ability, nice and slick, and has good movement. Caballero, meanwhile, is trying to come off an embarrassing upset loss to Jason Litzau this past, up until that point though, Caballero was very high on most everybody's P4P list and he was already dubbed as one of the better fighters in the 126 division and people thought he would beat Gamboa and or JuanMa Lopez. That went all out the window when he was upended by Litzau. Now, he is looking to rebound, and this is a heck of a rebound fight. He is fighting a top notch opponent in his backyard. A very tall order for the tall, rangy, Caballero. I think Caballero's awkwardness, slick D, and his output do win him quite a few rounds, but I think overall, Barros is the better fighter, and In neutral territory I would take him, and since this is in Argentina, it is a no brainer for me to pick JV Barros by decision. Neither fighter hits all that hard, Barros has good power, Caballero has no power, he clubs and slaps a lot. I don't expected either fighter to stop each other. So, I've got Barros by a close, but clear, legit, decision in the 116-112 range.
And noooo***ww, the main event of the evening! 12 rounds of Heavyweight boxing for your entertainment. Dr. Steelhammer Klitschko and the Hayemaker David Haye are finally going at it, a bit overdue, but I think this fight got the perfect amount of seasoning and marinade. Haye a couple of years ago wasn't as big as he is now, and Klitschko, well, is still Klitschko. Ruler of the Heavyweight division along with his brother, Vitali. Speaking of Vitali, it's a bit of a shame that Haye isn't going after Vitali first, because I think Haye dominates Vitali Klitschko. I think Vitali is tailor made for somebody like Haye. I think Haye's speed absolutely befuddles and makes Vitali look baaad....but that doesn't matter, at the moment, because Haye isn't fighting Vitali. He is fighting Wlad, and Wlad has good boxing ability, that nice long stiff jab, and big power with that jab, sneaky left hook, and of course the Steelhammer right hand. Now, Haye has the style to dominate the Klitschko's. If history has told us anything the speed style dominates the European standup 1-2. Some recent example of this is Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler, Andre Ward-Mikkel Kessler, Gavin Rees-Andy Murray, Sergio Martinez-Sergiy Dzinziruk, etc. Haye definitely has the style to beat Wladimir, but I question his chin and his desire to really win. If Haye had heart, chin, swagger, desire of a Carl Froch I would pick in David Haye in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, he doesn't. Him wanting to retire in October are red flags and a major question of desire, and heart I'm talking about. Haye has the tools I just don't know if he can apply them. So, I've gotta go with Wlad by KO. Wladimir is just a top notch boxer, great power, he has a shaky chin, but he gets up when knocked down and Haye hasn't possed brutal one punch KYTFO at Heavyweight. Also, Klitschko has underrated footwork. Most people are surprised by how quick he is, especially, for a big man. So, all in all I've got Klitschko stopping Haye. Just a quick note I like all the hype this fight is getting, it's good for boxing, but, at the same time I just have this feeling that it will stink out the joint and all this momentum quickly grinds to a screeching stop. Hopefully, I'm wrong and this fight has good action throughout, high drama, and a great conclusion in somebody knocking somebody out.
June 4th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9813986&postcount=4793
Mikkel Kessler vs. Mehdi Bouadla- Mikkel Kessler by KO
Andy Murray vs. Gavin Rees- Gavin Rees by KO
Sebastian Zbik vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.- Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by UD
Miguel Beltran Jr. (replaced by Rafael Guzman) vs Miguel Angel Garcia- Miguel Angel Garcia by KO
Carl Froch vs. Glen Johnson- Carl Froch by UD
Saul Roman vs. Vanes Martirosyan- Vanes Martirosyan by UD
Byron Mitchell vs. Zsolt Erdei- Zsolt Erdei by KO
Yet another terrific weekend of boxing. A loaded weekend and let's get right to it.
Let's start off with the longtime former 175 WBO champion, Zsolt Erdei, he is making his 2nd straight fight in the States. He is taking on the former 168 WBA champion. That right there would say, hey this is a can't miss fight. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Byron Mitchell's career went south after two highly controversial decisions against Bruno Girard and Sven Ottke. He then fought Joe Calzaghe and was stopped in 2 back in 2003 and then retired. He came out of retirement back in 2007 and hasn't been the same. He isn't a top notch fighter anymore. He's in the journeyman level now, and with all that said Zsolt Erdei shouldn't have any problems with Mitchell and should stop in the mid rounds.
Let's all give a warm welcome back to Mikkel Kessler. It's already been over a year since he fought Carl Froch in Denmark back in April. In a thrilling Fight of The Year candidate. He is having a homecoming fight, a tune up against Mehdi Bouadla. This is a good fight for Mikkel Kessler, a very easy fight, and we'll see how he looks. Bouadla is slow, doesn't move much stands in the pocket, and doesn't have much pop. Kessler should have a field day and it shouldn't take long for Kessler to get rid of Bouadla. I would say mid round stoppage for The Viking Warrior.
Jumping back over into the States we got Top Rank's hot prospect, Mikey Garcia, fighting again for the 2nd straight time on HBO. Unfortunately, his opponent, Miguel Beltran Jr., was supposed to be a great stepup fight for Garcia, but he broke his hand and can't fight Garcia. So, Rafael Guzman has stepped in. He has a glossy record, but this is a step down from Beltran. Guzman has no quality wins, but with him being a late replacement that could screw up Garcia a bit, but Garcia should still win with ease. Garcia by mid round stoppage.
Now, we get to the meat and potatoes of the weekend. Let's star off with Vanes Martirosyan-Saul Roman. Aside the tuneup fight earlier in the year, Martirosyan has gotten a real good steady diet of very good opponents since 2008. Also, resume wise Martirosyan has one of the better resumes, underrated resumes, in all of boxing. Of all his 29 fighters only 3 have had a losing record. And then only 2 fighters have a record of .500, that means the other 25 fighters have been winning fighters. That is very very impressive right there. And going back to what I said, he has recently fought Harrison Cuello, Andrey Tsurkan, Willie Lee, Kassim Ouma, and Joe Greene just to name a few. He has a very impressive resume and skills to back it up. On the otherside of the ring we got Saul Roman. Very powerful fighter, big punch. Those 29 KO's are not a fluke. He just hasn't won the big fight yet, he's got Ouma and I guess you can throw in Yori Boy Campas as well, but other than that he hasn't won that big fight yet. He has experience though, he has been in the ring with Sergio Martinez, Yuri Foreman, Michael Medina, and Thomas Oosthuizen at 168 pounds. So, being in the ring with Martirosyan won't intimidate him in the slightest. With all that being said, Martirosyan while he has decent skills and a very strong resume, he has a very leaky defense. I think Roman has a big chance to upend the very confident Armenian. First few rounds I see Martirosyan banking rounds, halfway through the fight though I think he gets tagged, gets hurt, but survives to win a very close and controversial decision.
Alright, how about the Gavin Rees-Andy Murray fight? Should, be a good one, really interesting fight. Gavin Rees is a high motored fighter that throws punches in bunches. He was trained by Enzo Calzaghe (now is trained by Gary Lockett), father of Joe Calzaghe, and when you look at him fight he is a mini Joe Calzaghe. Throws a lot of punches, awkward at times, starts showboating. He has all those traits that Calzaghe possessed. While Andy Murray is the opposite of that. He is a stand up fighter that likes to use precision to be effective. He is a solid all around boxer, he doesn't do anything really bad, nor does he do anything great. Just a solid stand up boxer that throws out the 1-2 and looks to control distance. The key for this fight, though, I believe, is experience. This is a massive step up in class up in class for Murray. He hasn't fought any quality opponents, he has a very very thin resume. Rees meanwhile has been tested, winning Prizefighter, beating John Watson, and losing to Andriy Kotelnik. I think that's the key, how well will Murray swim in the deep end? I'm going to bank on Murray not being able to swim and he gets stopped in the championship rounds by the battle tested Gavin Rees.
I think this is a first. It is too bad this fight isn't in Germany, because it would be much much easier to predict. Instead, the tables have turned and the German is coming to the States to take on the golden child, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. After 43 fights, Chavez is fighting a top 10 fighter. Last year, he took a nice step in competition beating up on John Duddy and after beating Billy Lyell, he somehow, warrants fighting Zbik for a strap at 160. Zbik's last 5 fights have been top notch, including beating Domencio Spada twice. Going back to what I said at the top, if only this fight were in Germany, It would be much easier to predict. Unfortunately, this fight is a toss up in the States. Zbik, at the moment, I rate him much higher than Chavez, but with this fight being in the States and Chavez being a cash cow, I think he wins this fight by UD. Zbik doesn't have KO power, and that will be a big problem, because I don't think he is getting a decision. We all saw Kotelnik beat up Devon Alexander from pillar to post, but he didn't get the decision...and that could happen in this fight. So, I'm taking the "safe" pick in taking Chavez Jr. winning by a highly controversial decision. I think it's a pretty close fight, a close fight in which the majority would think Zbik wins, but Chavez gets the nod as he has $$$ written all over him.
Last, but not least, the Semi-Final of the Super 6. Carl Froch will be taking on Glencoffe Johnson in Atlantic City. I think we all know who Carl Froch and Glen Johnson have fought so there is no need to talk about their resumes. They both have great resumes. Both are battle tested and don't duck anybody. Stylewise, this definitely has the potential to be a great fight. Froch brings it, Johnson brings it. This is a must watch. Froch will be fighting off the back foot will be jabbing and throwing hooks and uppercuts from all angles while Johnson always fights the way he always fights. Gloves up, head bobbing and weaving and throwing 70-90 punches a round. I know, Johnson has great value, but I can't see him beating Froch. I think it will be a great fight and it will be close, but I think Froch has that extra gear that will get him the nod. Allan Green was able to outbox and give Johnson problems, so Froch should be able to do the same and for those that think Johnson will knockout Froch in the 6-8 rounds. It ain't gonna happen. Green got knocked out in 8....that means Froch won't get knocked out in less than 8 rounds. Froch has much more determination and heart than Allan Green. If Froch gets knocked out, and I seriously doubt that he does, it'll be in the last couple of rounds. Anyway, Johnson has his moments and wins his fair share of rounds, but I see Carl Froch winning by a close UD. In the 115-113, 116-112 range. I think early and in the mid rounds it's a pretty even fight, but from rounds 8-12 Froch wins pretty clearly and wins the fight close, but clear. And of course, Glen Johnson will be crying about how he was robbed. I love Glen Johnson, but he's a crybaby. Even if he loses a fight clearly he still cries. I think this is a guarantee since I do think this will be a close fight.
May 20th/21st, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9700005&postcount=4528
Joel Julio vs. Anges Adjaho- Joel Julio by UD
Jean Pascal vs. Bernard Hopkins II- Bernard Hopkins by SD
Chad Dawson vs. Adrian Diaconu- Chad Dawson by UD
Juan Palacios vs. Sammy Gutierrez- Sammy Gutierrez by SD
Denis Lebedev vs. Roy Jones Jr.- Denis Lebedev by KO
James DeGale vs. George Groves- James DeGale by UD
Alright big big weekend of boxing. On Friday we got great fights and on saturday great fights from morning to evening. Lots of fun fun fun this weekend.
Getting it started is the Friday Night Fights main event, Joel Julio vs Anges Adjaho. Julio was a once hot prospect, he suffered his first loss back in 2006 at 147 when Carlos Quintana dominated him in a 12 rounds UD. Joel then fought one more time at 147, barely beating Cosme Rivera, then he moved up and has since fought at 154, where he had minimal success. He proceeded to beat K9 Bundrage and Ishe Smith, but was unable to win against the top shel fighters of Sergiy Dzinziruk, James Kirkland and Alfrado Angulo. Now, he's back down to 147 fighting Anges Adjaho. Adjaho like Julio hasn't been able to get over that hump as well. He suffered his first loss back in 2007 at 130 to Miguel Acosta, moved up to 135 lost to Antonio DeMarco, where he was stopped in a close fight. Moved up to 147 and has lost to Mark Jason Melligen, Brad Solomon, and Shawn Porter. He is looking to finally snap that 4 fight losing streak, but again fighting a notable fighter I don't think that will happen. I've got Julio winning comfortably in the 7-3, 8-2 range of this 10 round bout.
Then we got the early morning saturday fight...or erm, early morning for me at least. Anyway, this fight for Roy Jones Jr. spells trouble. I've been trying to figure out a way RJJ can win, but I just don't see it. RJJ has shot legs, no confidence, and a chin that is very fragile....especially to someone like Denis Lebedev. A top 3 Cruiserweight, who is a young lion, and has deadly power. I can't see how RJJ wins this fight. I've got Lebedev winning by early KO....heck, who doesn't?
Let's jump ahead a bit and talk about the return of Chad Dawson, he is fighting Adrian Diaconu, who quite frankly, has really fallen off since losing to Jean Pascal. He looked really bad in his last fight against Omar Shieka and doesn't have the same luster he once had just a couple of years ago. A couple of years ago this would have been a great fight, now it's an ok fight. A solid fight, but nothing big like it would have been if these two would have met earlier. Anyway, I've got Dawson big in this fight. I believe that Dawson will look to impress and I've got him winning almost every round, due to the fact that Dawson is still a very good fighter, and Diaconu seems to be slipping a bit. If this is a 10 round fight I say Dawson by shutout or 9-1...with fair judging, but if it is a 12 round fight Dawson may even get the stoppage, but I'll stick with wide UD in the 10-2 range...with fair judging.
Sammy Gutierrez-Juan Palacios is a 50/50 fight and on paper a really FUN fight. I really can't wait for this one. Gutierrez and Palacios both bring the power, and they got nice skills. Sammy Gutierrez is an old 25 year old fighter. He's been in a lot of wars already and he's got a lot of tread. As usual, he turned pro at 18 got an early loss and early draw in his career. He has since avenged that early loss to Oscar Martinez. He also has gone 36 with Raul Garcia losding 2 of the fights by MD and SD, and has fought to a draw against Garcia. He then got stopped in 7 in South Africa to Nkosinathi Joyi, and lost a 10 round decision to Omar Nino Romero. So, he basically hasn't been able to beat the elites in his division so far in his career. Is Juan Palacios an elite fighter? You can definitely make a case. He also lost very very early in his career, in his 5th fight he was scheduled for 12 rounds and got stopped in 9. He has since beaten everybody else except for two fights, both on the road. A SD loss to Jose Antonio Aguirre, and a MD loss to Oleydong Sithsamerchai in Japan. Two fights where anywhere else he may have gotten the nod. So, essentially, he pretty much is an undefeated fighter. This fight is in Mexico, the home country for Sammy Gutierrez, but fighting on the road is nothing new for Palacios either, other than the already mentioned Oleydong and Aguirre fights he has fought Omar Soto: Puerto Rico, Erik Ramirez: Mexico, and Teruo Misawa: China. So, this will be nothing new for him, so how do I see this fight? Well, as I said it's a 50/50 fight where you can flip a coin. Both are very skillful and both have dynamite. I think, Gutierrez might have enough in the tank to win a real close fight. A really war where both fighters will be going toe to toe and will probably drop each other at least once. I've got Gutierrez winning by a close SD.
On the otherside of the pond over in Europe we got a great domestic fight between two fighters that really hate each other. Two young, talented, undefeated prospects going at it. On paper that sounds great and it is...but I just don't think this fight will live up to the hype and be a competitive fight. Before I get into that let's take a look at both fighters. Starting off with George Groves, he is talented, good speed, good head movement, ok power, and a big heart from the looks of things. Groves only has 12 fights, but he has a great resume for somebody with such limited experience. Last year he fought all kinds of solid fighters such as Charles Adamu, Alfrado Contreras, and Kenny Anderson. He had success against all of them except Kenny Anderson. That fight showed his weaknesses. He trys to be slik with his left hand low and have lots of head movement. Which is nice if you know what to do with your hands. Groves I don't think really knows why he has his left hand low. Fighters that have their hands low usually have an idead of what they want to do. For example, Carl Froch keeps that left hand low, but keeps a good distance, when you comes close enough boom, here comes a stiff left jab and Froch procedes to take a step back or to the side. Groves doesn't do that. He has his left hand low and when somebody comes in on him he goes straight back and moves his head. This is a flaw, he has leaky D and he goes straight back into the ropes. That is a big no-no.
Good fighter, but a lot of flaws that need to be worked out and I think for him this fight is way too soon, because he is too green. As opposed to his rival, James DeGale. DeGale is very very good fighter as well, and a great resume for somebody with only 10 fights. Last year he fought Sam Horton, Carl Dilks, and Paul Smith. All he showed, especially against Paul Smith, is that he is a very talented fighter with all the tools to go a long way. Good offense, good D. All around good fighter. We have yet to really see him get tested, but that just shows how talented a fighter he is. We will see if Groves can really push DeGale, but I don't think he will. DeGale reminds me a bit of like Dirrell and Ward. Dirrell with his speed, and Ward by just the way his style is....minus the clinching and headbutting. Anyhow, as I've said I think DeGale beats up Groves by wide UD...may'be even gets a late KO in the championship rounds. I think Groves may have some success early within the first 4 rounds, but Groves will get tired with all that feints, and all that head movement and DeGale will pick him apart and dominate the second half of the fight. DeGale by wide UD 117-111. As I've said I won't be surprised if he does KO Groves though late.
The rematch, Pascal and Hopkins are doing it again. As I said back in December Hopkins knows what he is doing. His mind knows that he can easily beat Pascal, I just questioned whether or not his body could execute it. And it was able to, just came up a bit short with the two KDs he suffered early in the fight. I really don't know if Pascal can do anything different. If he trys to fight for all 36 minutes he'll get knocked out late and if he does what he did the last time he'll just lose almost every round in a lopsided decision...but then again the question must be asked, can Hopkins' body do what the mind is telling it to do? If his body can execute the plan this is a whitewash, Pascal doesn't stand a chance. If it can't were in for another close fight, a fight where Pascal might and probably will win. I'm banking that this will be like the first fight minus the two knockdowns. Hopkins wins the fight in the 116-112 range, but I say Hopkins wins by SD, due to the fact that the fight still is taking place in Quebec, and who knows....Hopkins could definitely get robbed, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but anyway, I'll take B-Hop to make history at age 46 and win another strap at 175 by SD.
April 15th/16th/17th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9395360&postcount=3518
Kiko Martinez vs. Jason Booth- Kiko Martinez by UD
Ruslan Provodnikov vs. Ivan Popoca- Ruslan Provodnikov by KO
Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Orlando Salido- Juan Manuel Lopez by UD
Amir Khan vs. Paul McCloskey- Amir Khan by KO
Alright, great weekend of boxing (even with the canceled fight of Macklin-Gevor and the Roman Martinez getting injured in his preparation for his fight against Luis Cruz. Rumor is though Cruz is going to fight Martin Honorio which is a great fight as well) ok enough talking lots of great fights still and without further adou...
Ok, the only real lopsided mismatch, Khan-McCloskey. Before I start McCloskey is a real nice fighter. He's undefeated for a reason, he can beat fighters of the lower level and while it is unknown if he can beat somebody like Amir Khan, I'm banking that he can't. I feel the gulf in class is far too great. He's there there to make Khan look good. It's a nice tune up fight in which Khan wins and I'll take a guess that King Khan stops McCloskey.
Ok, now for the almost 50/50 matchups. First up is the FNF main event, Ruslan Provodnikov is back and he is taking on the undefeated, Ivan Popoca. I think everybody reading this already knows about Provodnikov (and if you don't know, you can read my breakdown of the fight he had against Mauricio Herrera shameless plug, I know, ) Ok, and we got Popoca who has a glossy record, but he hasn't fought anybody yet. He has 15 wins, but no real step up fights as I like to say and no he is taking on somebody like Provodnikov who is aBIG step up. He hasn't fought somebody like Ruslan who is as battle tested and hasn't fought anybody that will be on him for 3 minutes throwing 100 punches a round. And speaking of rounds this will be his first 10 round fight in his career. This fight will really show how good Popoca is, a lot of question marks surrounding him and I'm banking that Ruslan stops him mid to late rounds.
Now, we got our first 50/50 fight of the week. Kiko Martinez-Jason Booth. Both of these fighters are good, good solid fighters. Starting with the hometown fighter, Kiko Martinez, Martinez has very good power in the early rounds, but as the fight wears on his power starts to fade and he has to rely on his boxing skills. 122, the weight it is taking place at, is his natural weight. He has fought at 122 his whole career. And he has solid scalps on his resume. With the likes of Bernard Dunne, FDAL, and Arsen Martirosyan. He has also fought Rendall Monroe twice and Takalani Ndlovu...who just beat Steve Molitor, who beat Jason Booth about 6 months ago. Then now Booth, he is the much much smaller man. He started his career at 112 and has plently of quality wins and losses as well. Michael Hunter, Mark Moran, Dale Robinson, and of course Steve Molitor, just to name a few. So, where does that leave us? Well, I gotta think if Kiko his Booth with anything really clean, Booth is gone, but Booth is nice and smooth...just like his nickname. He's got nice D and can box really well. I think though the key for Booth is to put rounds in the bank early, because if he doesn't things could get very ugly. What Booth has shown over the past few fights at 122 is that he doesn't have the strength or size to keep up with natural 122 fighters. In the later rounds Kiko will start getting to him and who knows may'be even drops him and stops him late. That wouldn't be a surprise, but I think Booth goes the distance loses by a close UD in Spain, Kiko Martinez' hometown.
Then we got the for sure barnburner of a fight Juan Manuel Lopez vs Orlando Salido. Now, before I start the only thing you need to know is that this is P.R. vs Mexico. P.R. vs Mexico. It's worth saying twice. That's the only motivation you need to watch this fight. Now, let's go inside the numbers. Now, before you scoff and say "Well, this Salido has 11 losses, and 5 of which have come by KO....why should I watch this fight? The other guy is undefeated!" While that may'be true, it lies at the sametime. You gotta realize Salido turned Pro early and that's where most of his losses, and losses by KO were when he was in his teens and early twenties. And back in 2001 when he fought Alejandro Gonzalez, you can see the potential he had. Only 21 years old and he fought to a MD loss to a very very quality fighter. He then eventually, racked up some wins before he lost to JMM. Racked up some more wins, then lost pretty recently to Cristobal Cruz and then his latest fight last year he took on Gamboa and fought really close. So, what does all that mean? Well, it means that Salido's real career he has only lost four times and none by KO, and none of them were really beatings...except ofr the JMM fight. He lost that fight by a pretty wide margin....and I guess Gamboa too, but he made it to the final bell which nobody really thought he would. So, with all that said he is a quality opponent and it will be interesting looking at who did the better job. JuanMa, or Gamboa? And I don't really need to go over JuanMa. He's got a superb resume, superb skills. All arounds great fighter, great power. Should be a great night, in which I think JuanMa wins by somewhat wide UD, he is fighting in P.R. Should be a great fight though.
Alright, I've wrote a lot and will be writing some more on another page. That way it doesn't look so long and what not.
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9395606&postcount=3520
Omar Andres Narvaez vs. Cesar Seda- Omar Andres Narvaez by UD
Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz- Victor Ortiz by KO
Chris John vs. Daud Cino Yordan- Daud Yordan by KO
Alright, let's start off with the main event on HBO. Andre Berto vs Victor Ortiz, and let me start off by saying. Berto is NOT fighting "another" 140 fighter. Ortiz was a massive 140 fighter who had lots of trouble making weight and now at 147 he is probably his most comfortable he has been probably since Maidana. Meaning, Ortiz is probably naturally the bigger guy and I think that has been shown during the press conferences, will be shown in the weigh in and in the ring. So, stop with that "Berto is cherrypicking and fighting another small JWW." That could not be farther from the truth. Ok, now with all that said, let's get to the fight itself. This, in my eyes, is a high risk high reward fight for both fighters and I feel this fight could be a major stinker. Just looking at the styles and how both of them act I just feel that this fight will be a stinker, not to me, but in terms of what others view as a bad fight. Personally, it would take a lot for me to say a fight is bad.
Anyway, I think there will be a lot of standing around, lots of feeling out throughout the fight. Both fighters don't want to make the first wrong move because that could be it. Both are mirror images of each other. Both are very fast, strong, powerful, below average D, and shaky chins. You got all that which is usually a recipe for a great fight, but I don't see it. I think it has the potential to be a good fight, but not a war or a FOTY canidate which seems to be the buzz around this fight. Anyway, yea, I view this fight as a 25/25/25/25 type fight. Meaning, Ortiz has a 25/25 chance of a KO or decision and same goes for Berto. It really is that close of a fight. And this is a really hard fight to call. Both have a lot to gain and a lot to lose. Ortiz, well, red flags for me started popping up when he didn't get the decision win over Peterson, a fight in which, looked like he should have gotten, and now he's fighting Berto. Meaning, GBP isn't holding Ortiz' hand anymore. There throwing him in the lions den and are saying "Hey, go prove yourself" and Berto is continuing doing the same fighting yet another quality fighter in Victor Ortiz. And you know, I start leaning towards Ortiz, but then my mind starts replaying the last few rounds of the Peterson fight and then I tell myself "What would happen if that was Berto" because you know Berto is just as quick as Peterson, but much much more powerful. So, I start leaning towards Berto, but then I start thinking about the Collazo and Quintana fights. Damn, a realy really tough fight to call. You know, I think I'll go with Ortiz by KO. I may end up changing my pick tommorrow when i see the weigh in, but Ima go with Ortiz by KO as of right now. I'm really looking forward to this fight, I'm not expecting a barnburner or a war or anything like that I'm very interested in the chess match that goes on in the ring saturday night.
This fight though, might be my favorite fight of the weekend. Omar Narvaez-Cesar Seda. Where do I start with Narvaez? He's a lot like Calzaghe or fellow Argentine Maravilla.. Very talented, very slick, the only difference is he hasn't had his chance to shine in the States and he is in a much much lower weight class at 115 currently, which is probably why he hasn't been showed at the States. Either way, that doesn't take away the fact that Narvaez is the longest reigning champ, ATM, and that he is very very talented. Then we got the prospect from P.R. Cesar Seda who has been moved very quick, and now has his shot at another world title (if you call the IBO a world title) Good boxer lots of 1, 2's from him. Solid D, and the comparison for him is that he's like his fellow countryman as well, JuanMa. Sprinkle in some D, less vulnerability, chin isn't as shaky (but then again it has never really been tested because he doesn't leave himself open too much) less power, and you got yourself a Cesar Seda. Really tight, good one two's, backs up and throws a left uppercut with a right hook that follows. Very consistant, good solid all around boxer. Now, in this fight I've got Narvaez winning the decision. I think this fight will be very close and may'be even debatable as to who wins the fight. A big factor is that Narvaez will be fighting at home. A lot of close rounds, and I'm sure there will be at least 4-6 close rounds in the fight and I gotta think Narvaez will get most of those rounds. Close fight, but I've got Omar winning because of his stamina, and a big factor his volume. He throws very fast 10 punch combos in 1 second. Very fast and I think that will be the difference. Narvaez winning in the 116-112 range.
Uh oh, I've got Yordan pulling off the upset against John. John is quickly fading and hasn't looked like him in his prime in the last 3 or 4 fights. I think age is catching up to him and I think his team realizes that. I think that is why this fight is getting made against very popular Daud Yordan. Yordan, is just as popular as John, over there in Indonesia. It might be time for a new reign, and Yordan is damn good. He is crude at times, but shows excellent skill at times. He is a big of a hot n cold fighter, but I think he'll be up for this fight and John sill get caught early and often by a Yordan counter that will shake up and eventually stop John. John has a very very shaky jaw and Yordan has good power and again I'm expecting that inbetween a John combo, Yordan will throw a sneaky counter punch that will catch John and hurt him badly. Yordan is a relentless fighter that will never stop and John doesn't have anything in his bag of tricks that can or will stop Yordan.
March 18th/19th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9147102&postcount=2334
Demetrius Hopkins vs. Brad Solomon- Brad Solomon by UD
Lucian Bute vs. Brian Magee- Lucian Bute by KO
Vitali Klitschko vs. Odlanier Solis- Vitali Klitschko by KO
Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Willie Casey- Guillermo Rigondeaux by KO
Ok, on paper this isn't a reasonably hard week to predict. Bute, is winning. No doubt about that. Bute is much better in skillwise, he's at home, Showtime has a contract with him, and again he is much much better than Magee. Magee is in the Brinkley class, a good solid fighter, by no means a bum, but not an elite, champion class either. So, Bute is winning however much money you got in your bank account put it on Bute. (Just imagine if somebody actually did that, and Bute lost )
Then you know Klitschko is pretty much a lock pick as well, same with Rigo. Klitschko is fighting a small little fat man that thinks he's good, but he's not. He's a small little fat man that can punch, and that's about it. Horrible footwork, horrible speed, horrible work ethic, horrible attitude, horrible everything, except power. He's got good power that folds lesser fighters, but not somebody like Vitali. Vitali will pummel this little small fat man for, I'm hoping for 12 rounds, and brutally knocks him out. I hate Solis, and for the most part I don't hate any fighter nor do I wish them bad luck in the ring, but Solis has a shitty attitude, and itsn't a boxing fan, and anybody that boxes and doesn't like. Well, **** them. Odlanier Solis, or anybody from Team Solis that for some reason is on ESB and happens to stumble on this post. Here's a big FU.
Rigo as I said is pretty much a lock for a win due to the fact that he is much more skilled than Casey, and Casey is way too wide and opens up too much, and I think against somebody like Rigo he will be caught with that deadly left uppercut. So, I've got Rigo by stoppage arounds 5, 6 somewhere in there. I don't recommend betting your bank account on Rigo though. Casey does have a punchers chance and he will have all of Ireland supporting him. Never underestimate the power of the hometown.
Now, for the toughest pick of the week Brad Soloman-Demetrius Hopkins. Let's start with the name fighter in this fight and that is Hopkins, Demetrius. Demetrius has well, basically, been babied throughout his career. For the majority of his career, he has been up against not really tough opposition and made them look tougher than they should be. Also, when he was very marketable, and had his "0" I believe he got some decisions he shouldn't have gotten or the judges' scorecards were too wide and that it was pretty obvious the oppoent didn't have much of a shot. He got beat by Kendall Holt in his only "world title" shot and he got beat pretty easily and lost by SD. Fought twice last year and has moved up to 147. He's looked "eh" in those two fights. Definitely, not exciting and definitely not impressive. Then we got Brad Soloman. The handful of times I've seen him, I've been pretty impressed, for the most part. He has been fast tracked and for his last 8 fights or so he has had to work his way up the hard way, and he's only had 16 fights so that tells you about his caracter. (wink wink get ) Anyway, he's got nice skills, he is the bigger fighte, and stylewise I don't think either fighter will look impressive, but I got him winning a UD in the 97-93 region.
February 19th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8937650&postcount=1397
Luis Ramon Campas vs. Matt Vanda- Luis Ramon Campas by UD
Humberto Toledo vs. Likar Ramos- Likar Ramos by KO
Felix Sturm vs Ronald Hearns- Felix Sturm by UD
Fernando Montiel vs. Nonito Donaire- Nonuto Donaire by UD
Mike Jones vs. Jesus Soto Karass II- Mike Jones by UD
Alright I'm on my PS3 so Im going to try and keep this short and sweet. I've got Likar Ramos by KO over Humberto Toledo. Both have horrible padded records. Every fighter they have stepped up against they have lost, usually by KO, Toledo is more chinny so I'm going with Ramos by KO.
I've got Yuri Boy Campas to win by UD, and continuing his quest for 100 wins. Vanda is durable so he probably won't get stopped and he's fighting in Mexico so there is no way he wins a decision and Campas wants 100 wins. Campas will get it and he will be 4 away after saturday night.
Felix Sturm and Germany will beat Hearns. Hearns has a very padded record and he will get beat by Sturm. It probably won't be close and with German judges it's a sure thing that Sturm will win. I don't think Sturm will get the stoppage due to him not having much pop, but a for sure win.
Mike Jones won a controversial decision the last time, this time should be no controversy. If he doesn't blow his load in the 2nd round, this fight doesn't happen. Jones has all the skills, Karass has determination and better stamina which will win him a few rounds, but not enough to win, and Jones will win close but very clear this go around.
Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel. This has epic fight written all over it and with a win someone will skyrocket into P4P glory. (or if you follow the ring ratings both are about as high as you can get) Donaire has all the looks of a superstar fighter, all the skills, all the talent in the world. All he needs is a resume (to me, not the ridiculous ring ratings) he has the KO win over Darchinyan and lesser, but solid, wins against the likes of Raul Martinez and Volodymyr Sydorenko. A Fernando Montiel win would be huge and really boost his resume. Then we got Fernando Montiel, the unsung hero of Mexico. Montiel has gotten the popularity of a Morales, MAB, and even a JMM to a lesser extent and Montiel should be on that level. With a win though that should catapult him into that category. So, with all that said which will prevail speed or power? I've got Donaire by decision and I believe his skills and speed will be enough to overcome Montiel's power. Donaire does almost everything better than Montiel, except in the power department which means one connect and the tide of the whole fight is changed. So, I've got Donaire pretty wide UD. Wouldn't be shocked to see Donaire eventually stope Montiel late. Only decision that would surpise me is if Montiel outpoints and wins more rounds than Donaire. That would be a shocker, but anyway I've got speed, size, skills > power in this contest, but hey this has been an upset kind of year and Montiel winning wouldn't be world shattering stuff. Looking forward to the weekend as we have two good fights...two fights where I don't have to stay up until 5 in the morning to watch.
January 29th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8758192&postcount=657
Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley- Timothy Bradley by UD
Argenis Mendez vs. Cassius Baloyi- Cassius Baloyi by SD
Nkosinathi Joyi vs. Katsunari Takayama- Nkosinathi Joyi by UD
Alright, I'm a liar I'm just going to do the writeups for the other fights right now because I am fired up for this weekend coming up.
[IMG]****://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh141/SwordSaint892/Gif/MajinVegetaresize.gif[/IMG]
Alright, we'll start off with the Joyi-Takayama fight. Joyi is a good fighter with a couple of world title belts at 105 already. He's beaten a couple of good fighters in Sammy Gutierrez and in his most recent fight he beat Raul Garcia by a wide UD. From what very little I have seen of Takayama he seems to be a pretty decent opponent. He fought Roman Gonzalez and was beaten by a very wide UD, and he also lost to Yutaka Niida in a very close fight and an entertaining fight as well. Based off that I gotta go with the hometown fighter in Joyi for being the better fighter overall and being in his hometown I dont see how Joyi can lose, especially, with Takayama not having the ability to bring out a 1 punch KO. So, with that I gotta go with Joyi winning by UD.
Then we got on the same card Cassius Baloyi vs Argenis Mendez. Mendez really broke onto the scene last year with his upset win over Martin Honorio, which was on the undercard of Williams-Cintron. So, unfortunatly, I haven't been able to see it because HBO didn't show the fight, but when I heard that Honorio got upset it was very shocking. Considering Honorio was on a roll and Mendez was very much unknown, and still is unknown. I've never been able to see him fight and I still would love to watch that fight against Honorio, but anyway, this fight on paper looks damn good and very very interesting. Mendez looking at his resume his only notable fighter was against Honorio and that's it. Also, that was his only time he was scheduled and fought 12 rounds. It's unbelieveable what he was able to do. So, he brings a big danger just basing this fight off that. Then we got the old vet fom South Africa, Cassius Baloyi. He's got a lot of tread and a lot of names on his resume Fana, Klassen, Arrieta, and Medina just to name a few. This looks to be an interesting fight on paper and I would really love to see it, but anyway, I'll take Baloyi by SD. I think him being at home is a huge advantage and may'be he can take away whatever Mendez did to Honorio.
Then we got the main event of the night. One of the biggest fights that can be made in boxing Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander are squaring off. After breaking things down and really looking at it I see Bradley dominating this fight from almost start to finish. Bradley is a bulldog and his skills are vastly underrated. He's got great quickness, great skills, decent enough power, good footwork, basically he does everything better than Alexander except in the power department, Alexander has the edge there. Other than that I don't see much of an advantage for Alexander. The only way I see Alexander winning is if he times up Bradley and knocks him out with one punch. He cannot outbox Bradley and I don't think he can out point Bradley for 12 rounds. Alexander is pretty much basic. Jab, jab, cross, jab, jab, cross. And every once in awhile he will throw his money punch, the lead uppercut. He threw it against Urango and we all saw what happen, he didn't throw it against Kotelnik and we all saw what happen. Alexander needs that uppercut if he wants to win and he needs that uppercut to land ala against Urango if he wants to win, and even then Bradley has amazing conditioning and amazing heart. Like I say I think Bradley dominates from almost start to finish, I think Alexander may get a couple of early rounds, but other than that Bradley dominates and wins this one rather easily and then we may see threads flooding with people jumping back on the Bradley bandwagon "Bradley KO's Khan" "Alexander sucks, Bradley's great" etc. you know how it works in the General after a fight. Still though I am pumped for this fight because anything can happen and this is two of the top 3 fighters in the division.
January 28th, 2011:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8756795&postcount=642
Chris Arreola vs. Joey Abell- Chris Arreola by KO
Friday Night Fights is back and looking on paper this looks to be a great match....but when you dig deep and really examine these fighters this fight is a total mismatch. Let's start off with Arreola since everybody knows Arreola. Big guy, big power, comes forward, and has fought solid competition. His record of 29 wins, 2 losses and 25 wins by KO is no nonsense. Arreola is very good and has fought the likes of solid contenders such as Chazz Witherspoon, Travis Walker, Manuel Quezada, an old Jameel McCline, and then losses to Tomasz Adamek, and Vitali Klitschko. A very solid resume indeed. Then we got Joey Abell, going back to what I said earlier on paper a very good record of 27-4 with 26 wins coming by way of KO and you might think he is a very worthy contender and might be on the cusp of fighting the top fighters such as the Klitschko bros., Adamek, Haye, Povetkin, etc. but he isn't. His resume is full of cans, and I don't use tomato cans too often, but that's what his resume is. No notable names, no top 20 contenders, no nothing just tomato cans. So, I gotta think his power is very overrated and I gotta think he he is very chinny and will be hurt badly by Arreola considering half his losses have come by way of knockout. So, realistically, this fight should end in 1 or 2 rounds. If this goes more than say 3 rounds then it's a very disappointing fight for Arreola.
The Saturday fights I'll have a writeup on Wednesday.
November 13th, 2010:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8173349&postcount=4438
Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito- Manny Pacquiao by UD
Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Ricardo Cordoba- Guillermo Rigondeaux by KO
Mike Jones vs. Jesus Soto- Mike Jones by KO
David Haye vs. Audley Harrison- David Haye by KO
Alright then here we go a nice little weekend this week. Got a couple of decent fights here and there.
Anyway, let's start off with Mike Jones and Jesus Soto Karass. This is a nice little showcase fight for probably the most popular prospect in the U.S., Mike Jones. He draws big crowds and sell out crowds in Atlantic City and he has had a big long article about him in USA Today. So, back to the fight at hand. It should be a good one, Soto Karass is a come forward slug it out type fighter and Mike Jones will have to use a little boxing ability and a little big of slugging to get Karass to respect his power. I think he will be able to do all of that, and will eventually stop him late in the fight in a pretty entertaining fight.
Then we got Guillermo Rigondeaux vs Ricardo Cordoba this is interesting because this is a big step up for Rigo, and Rigo has been fighting decent competition since he turned pro so that is saying something, but Rigo is very talented and a two time gold medal winner and he is 30 years old so time isn't on his side which is why such a big jump for such little pro experience. Then we got Ricardo Cordoba why is he a dangerous oppoenent? Well, back in 2004 he got his first big name quality win over Celestino Caballero then in 2005 he lost by SD to Poonsawat Kratingdaengymm who is a very good fighter and a little tank. Then after a couple of controversial draws in Germany against Volodymyr Sydorenko in 2009 he got another shot at a world title and lost to Bernard Dunne by 11th round TKO in a FOTY canidate. So, now he is back and looking to get back on track vs Rigo. Will he be successful? I don't think so I see him getting knocked out by Rigo may'be in the middle rounds. Cordoba throws a lot of punches which I believe will be his downfall, which is why I think he will be stopped. Rigo is a smart, accurate fighter who places his punches perfectly. So, I got Rigo by stoppage.
Then we got the big fight in the U.K. David Haye-Audley Harrison. David Haye I think will score a pretty quick KO in this fight. Haye has big power, great speed, and is just too much for Audley Harrson. If anybody still doubted Haye's power at heavyweight before the Ruiz fight, then nobody doubts it now. Haye destroyed Ruiz and shot or not, that's still mpressive. Then we got Audley Harrison who really doesn't deserve a shot at the WBA world title that Haye is holding. Harrison won prizefighter and had to KO Michael Sprott, his last fight, by a last minute KO to pull that one off. Even before that he lost to Martin Rogan, got a couple of wins, got KO'd by Sprott, got a couple of wins (one of which was a rematch of a loss he suffered), and got beat a couple of times. So, he doesn't deserve a world title fight, but whatever he's got it. All in all, I don't see this one being all that competitive. Harrision needs to use his size and he needs to bring a an Evander Holyfield, Arturo Gatti type heart if he wants to win this fight. I see Haye by a blowout early to mid rounds around 4-6 I would say.
Then we got the main event in the U.S. Pacquiao-Margarito, everybody knows the backstory between these two guys so, let's cut right to the chase. Margarito is a big, slow, walk forward type fighter, so in that regard he is like Joshua Clottey, but he is a defensive mastermind at blocking punches with his chin and he throws a lot of punches so in that regard he is a lot like David Diaz. Then we got Manny Pacquiao who is super quick, good power, never tires and with all this in mind I think Pacquiao wins. The x-factor is Margarito's power, if Margarito's power is like say the power he has against Cotto or Cintron, then I may think twice about taking Pacquiao. So, this is really bugging me about this fight. We really don't know how hard Margarito hits. Basically, It all comes down to just a guess at how hard Margarito hits. He never was a one punch KO artist he was more of a wear you down type of power, not to say he didn't show one punch type power he was just mostly a wear you down type fighter. Anyway, with all that said I think Pacquiao uses his speed moves in and out and eventually beats Margarito by a hard fought UD, and I say hard fought because Pacquiao doesn't clinch and he will be moving all around the ring for 3 minutes every single round as Margarito smiles at him like a bloodthirsty animal. Should be a pretty entertaining fight and it definitely won't be that stinker that Clottey put up back in March.
November 6th, 2010:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8121308&postcount=4338
Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Rafael Marquez- Juan Manuel Lopez by KO
Glen Johnson vs. Allan Green- Glen Johnson by UD
Zab Judah vs. Lucas Matthysse- Zab Judah by SD
Omar Niño vs. Gilberto Keb Baas II- Omar Nino Romero by UD
Robert Guerrero vs. Vicente Escobedo- Robert Guerrero by UD
Kiko Martinez (Paul Hyland is replacing Kiko Martinez) vs. Willie Casey- Willie Casey by KO
Alright, let's start with the Willie Casey-Paul Hyland fight. Two Irishman and bad blood between them should lead to being a great fight. Willie Casey is an in-your-face type fighter that throws a lot of punches, while Paul Hyland is a slick boxer that will look to keep Casey on the outside and outbox him. The question is which fighter will execute their gameplan the best? Personally, I think Willie Casey will and stop Paul Hyland in the late rounds. I don't think Hyland has enough pop in his punches to keep Casey and bay and for Casey to respect his power. I believe Casey will be able to go on the inside and wear down Hyland.
I can't really blame Omar Nino Romero for fighting Gilberto Keb Bass. Sure, Keb Bass doesn't deserve a shot at Romero's 108 WBC belt, but I can see why Romero wants to fight him because Keb Bass gave Romero his first loss. He stopped him in 5 back in 1998, but this time around I think Omar Nino Romero dominates this fight and wins by wide UD.
Now, let's start off with the TV fights, and let's start with the HBO undercard Robert Guerrero and Vicente Escobedo. This fight will be at 135 which is good because Guerrero's last fight against Casamayor at 140 was not only pretty boring (and I don't normally use the term boring too often) but Guerrero just didn't look good as well. Anyway, is an interesting fight. Guerrero and Escobedo know each other from back in the day of fighting as amateurs. This is an interesting fight, both fighters really don't do anything great, everything they do is good, but basic as well. From an entertainment standpoint it might not be all that great, but I do think this will be a close fight that goes to the cards with The Ghost getting the nod by UD.
The main event of the HBO card is Zab Judah vs Lucas Matthysse and this is a very interesting fight that I'm looking forward to. Judah is on his comeback trail and Matthysse is going to try and hit the jackpot and crash into the scene ala Marcos Maidana like. And it is funny Matthysse does remind me of Maidana. He's a one trick pony that comes forward and knocks you out. Then we got Judah, and I've never been all that gaga over Judah, even back in is prime and his first fight with Santa Cruz he looked like the same old Judah, and judah has always had problems with pressure fighters and he's fighting a pressure fighter. What I expect is Judah will come out strong and score at will for the first 4 or 5 rounds. After that Matthysse may start picking up steam and with Judah's stamina problems he may'be in trouble as the late rounds go by, but with the help of his home crowd (and may'be some generous judges) Judah finds a way to win by SD on the scorecards. I've been having trouble deciding if Judah by decision or Matthysse by late KO, I'm picking Judah by decision, so we'll see what happens.
Now, we move over to Showtime where we have two steller fights happening. The first is the Super 6 fight of Glen Johnson vs Allan Green. I've been going back and forth with this fight as well. It all really depends on how fit and ready Glen Johnson looks at the weigh in, but as of right now I think I will pick Glen Johnson by UD. Johnson has great D and comes forward all recipes that frustrate Allan Green. If Allan Green can't land his money punch left hook, then pretty much all hope is lost for Green. While Glen Johnson will come forward and pressure Green to the ropes. Just like Johnson was able to do in one of his more recent fights against Yusaf Mack, and Andre Ward was able to do that against Allan Green, in Green's recent fight. So, I'm leaning towards Glen Johnson by UD.
And now the main event of the day, the guaranteed thriller Mexico vs Puerto Rico, Rafael Marquez vs Juan Manuel Lopez. This fight is at 126 for Lopez' WBO title and really I think Lopez is too big and strong for Rafa Marquez. Marquez started his career at 118 that started in 1995 and he fought at 118 until 2007. Lopez is obviously the bigger man, and in Rafael Marquez' 5 losses 4 of them have been by KO, and then you tack on the 3 grueling wars he had with Izzy Vazquez and I think that has taken a lot out of Rafa leading to a KO victory for Lopez, but that by no means that Rafa will lay down for Lopez, Rafa will get his share of punches and may even drop Lopez a couple of times in this fight which will lead to a FOTY canidate for 2010. I just think that Lopez' youth, strength, and size will stop Rafa late.