With the boxing world's attention shared between Canada, where Adonis Stevenson schooled Tavoris Cloud, and the US, where Julio Cesar Chavez Jr took a controversial victory over Brian Vera it's fair to say that not many looked towards Peru where Alberto Rossel (31-8, 13) successfully defended his WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title for the third time.
Battling little known Mexican Jose Alfredo Zuniga (11-5-1, 5), Rossel was viewed, at least on paper, as a sure fire winner. Unfortunately for him however, boxing is done in the ring and not on paper and with Zuniga on a confidence high after a victory over Luis Ceja last time out.
The confidence of Zuniga was obvious from the off and it showed as Rossel took several rounds to get to grips wit the reach and height of the taller and longer Zuniga who clearly took round 3 before Rossel found a new gear in round 4, a clear Rossel round.
Rossel, grew and grew from his fourth success with Zuniga failing to really cope with the frustrating Peruvian veteran who, in all honesty, can be a night mare to watch as well as a nightmare to fight.
Interestingly, despite the bout looking like a competitive but clear Rossel victory one judge, Panamanian David Singh, somehow scored the bout 117-117, giving 6 even rounds. Whilst it may seem odd some of the action was some what messy and could be the reason for such an odd card. Thankfully the other two judges did manage to see "the right winner" scoring it 117-114 and 116-113, also both noting a 10-10 round in their cards, to give Rossel his 7th straight victory
Monday, 30 September 2013
Adonis Stevenson v Tavoris Cloud
If not often that a fighter claims a "Lineal" title by opening round KO and leaves us with a lot of questions. That, however, is what Adonis Stevenson (22-1, 19) did earlier this year when he landed a single money maker on to the then defending world champion Chad Dawson.
All we really learned from the Stevenson/Dawson fight was that Stevenson's power was legitimate and that it carried up from Super Middleweight, where he had been seen as a promising contender, to Light Heavyweight.
Thankfully Stevenson did answer a number of questions this past Saturday as he defeated former IBF Light Heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-2, 19) in what can only be described as an impressive performance.
Against Dawson all it took was a single shot to shock the boxing public. This time around Stevenson knew he was fighting a tougher man, both mentally and physically and that one shot, even with his power, was never going to do the job. Instead Stevenson took control with unexpectedly sharp boxing, using his reach and speed to pepper the apprehensive looking Cloud from range with stiff, hurtful shots and beautiful counters.
Cloud, for his part, played the role of a tough but over-matched fighter. The energy and work rate that he once made his name on had vanished, the confidence he had had just a few fights back had dissipated and it seemed that as long as he wasn't getting to hurt by any single shot he was happy to let Stevenson do as he wished.
Unfortunately when you're fighting a guy like Stevenson punches will do damage. Not every shot needs to be concussive to do damage and due to the weight of the shots and the accumulation of them Cloud's face slowly turned from unmarked to cut showing the effects of the shots. It was the cuts, and the sheer fact that Stevenson turned out to be a talented boxer as well as a big banger, that saw Cloud retiring on his stool at the end of the 7th round.
For Cloud this really could be the end. He has now been out boxed by Gabriel Campillo, Bernard Hopkins and Adonis Stevenson and looks like another fighter who has been effectively "found out". On the other hand Stevenson has now proven himself to be a genuinely talented boxer with serious bang.
I now expect that Stevenson will face mandatory Tony Bellew, in what will likely be a painful nights work for Bellew, then their will be serious talk about a WBC/WBO unification bout with Sergey Kovalev who has also proven to have dynamite fists and under-rated boxing ability.
All we really learned from the Stevenson/Dawson fight was that Stevenson's power was legitimate and that it carried up from Super Middleweight, where he had been seen as a promising contender, to Light Heavyweight.
Thankfully Stevenson did answer a number of questions this past Saturday as he defeated former IBF Light Heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-2, 19) in what can only be described as an impressive performance.
Against Dawson all it took was a single shot to shock the boxing public. This time around Stevenson knew he was fighting a tougher man, both mentally and physically and that one shot, even with his power, was never going to do the job. Instead Stevenson took control with unexpectedly sharp boxing, using his reach and speed to pepper the apprehensive looking Cloud from range with stiff, hurtful shots and beautiful counters.
Cloud, for his part, played the role of a tough but over-matched fighter. The energy and work rate that he once made his name on had vanished, the confidence he had had just a few fights back had dissipated and it seemed that as long as he wasn't getting to hurt by any single shot he was happy to let Stevenson do as he wished.
Unfortunately when you're fighting a guy like Stevenson punches will do damage. Not every shot needs to be concussive to do damage and due to the weight of the shots and the accumulation of them Cloud's face slowly turned from unmarked to cut showing the effects of the shots. It was the cuts, and the sheer fact that Stevenson turned out to be a talented boxer as well as a big banger, that saw Cloud retiring on his stool at the end of the 7th round.
For Cloud this really could be the end. He has now been out boxed by Gabriel Campillo, Bernard Hopkins and Adonis Stevenson and looks like another fighter who has been effectively "found out". On the other hand Stevenson has now proven himself to be a genuinely talented boxer with serious bang.
I now expect that Stevenson will face mandatory Tony Bellew, in what will likely be a painful nights work for Bellew, then their will be serious talk about a WBC/WBO unification bout with Sergey Kovalev who has also proven to have dynamite fists and under-rated boxing ability.
Saturday, 14 September 2013
Floyd Mayweather Jr v Saul Alvarez
The unbeaten Floyd Maywather (45-0, 26) came out as "The One" as well as the WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine Light Middleweight champion courtesy of a majority decision (more about that later) over Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (42-1-1, 30).
The opening round was rather weird. Alvarez, the pressure fighter, oddly decided to try and box one of the best pure boxers in recent memory, this was simply a retarded game plan and one that was made to fail, as it did in the first 3 rounds. It was simply shocking that Alvarez would even try to outbox and out jab Mayweather who has one of the smoothest and fastest jabs in the sport today.
Thankfully, for the sake of entertainment if nothing else, the pace of the fight did pick up with Mayweather showing off his class as he landed some breath taking shots including a right hand that immediately bruised Canelo's face, a left hook late in the round and a second eye catching right hand. Whilst Canelo had some success, there was little more than a single right hand that seemed to land clean.
With Canelo in a hole he seemed to realise he had to change something and in round 5 he finally began to let his hands go. Unfortunately he found the Mayweather defense to be as impregnable as every other opponent and instead of landing shots he was being forced to eat more, especially the jab from Mayweather which was being thrown in combinations at times.
By now the Mexican fans were silent, they had cheered their man to the ring but realied he was out of his depth and as a "U-S-A" chant took over the arena.
If the first 5 rounds had been all Mayweather then the sixth was just a continuation of the same dominence. Again Canelo came forward and let his hands go, with little success whilst Mayweather landed at will, especially targeting the already bruised left eye of the Mexican. It was clear that Mayweather was targeting it and landing at will, in fact it was a shock that the eye wasn't beginning to swell from the clean right hands that pierced that Alvarez guard.
Whilst the right hand that had initially bruised Canelo's face had been excellent we had to wait until round 7 for the punch of the fight, a mind blowing uppercut by Mayweather that snapped the head of Canelo back. This was followed by a spiteful Mayweather flurry that saw him force feeding Canelo with right hands. At this point it seemed that Mayweather could, if he wished, finish off the Mexican.
Unfortunately after the amazing attack in round 7 Mayweather then seemed to take round 8 off as Canelo arguably claimed his first round of the fight. Although the Mexican didn't land too much he certainly out worked Mayweather and for the first time really threw in clusters making sure Mayweather was going to have to taste one of his shots every so often. Despite the heightened work of Alvarez the round seemed to hinge more on the fact Mayweather took it off rather than Alvarez winning it on merit.
Canelo seemed to build on his success in the ninth round as he again threw a lot, though unfortunately for him, and his legions of misguided fans, Mayweather did enough to just take the round landing the most notable shot, a huge right hand whilst Canelo himself missed with a vast majority of his shots.
The closeness of the ninth round was repeated in a similar round 10, though again Mayweather seemed to do enough to make Alvarez look silly whilst landing just enough to steal the round, despite an eye catching, though ineffective, flurry late by Canelo.
Unfortunately for Canelo his run of 2 or 3 competitive rounds was ended in a clear Mayweather round during the eleventh. Canelo, again through a fair bit but Mayweather did as he pleased. He landed a huge right right early, show boated with some eye catching pot shots in the middle of the round then taunted Canelo late in the round. It was the sort of round that whilst not technically dominant in terms of what was thrown it was dominant in terms of who controlled it and who was the boss.
With the decision seemingly in the bag Mayweather did very little in the final round, a round that actually saw the fans booing due to a lack of activity by both men. There was little reason for Mayweather to force the action and Canelo was too slow to force anything of note.
To me there was only 3 rounds, if you were being generous, that Canelo could have won. The score of 117-111 that I feasibly had was reflected on the card of Craig Metcalfe, the card of Dave Moretti had some how found 1 more round to give to Alvarez (presumably the 12th as a "pity round") though then we get the simply staggering card of controversial CJ Ross. Ross some how had the bout 114-114.
How Ross came to that is a mystery, though I dare say it should be her last. This woman needs barring from judging, given some glasses and told to find a new job because she's awful at judging a boxing contest.
The opening round was rather weird. Alvarez, the pressure fighter, oddly decided to try and box one of the best pure boxers in recent memory, this was simply a retarded game plan and one that was made to fail, as it did in the first 3 rounds. It was simply shocking that Alvarez would even try to outbox and out jab Mayweather who has one of the smoothest and fastest jabs in the sport today.
Thankfully, for the sake of entertainment if nothing else, the pace of the fight did pick up with Mayweather showing off his class as he landed some breath taking shots including a right hand that immediately bruised Canelo's face, a left hook late in the round and a second eye catching right hand. Whilst Canelo had some success, there was little more than a single right hand that seemed to land clean.
With Canelo in a hole he seemed to realise he had to change something and in round 5 he finally began to let his hands go. Unfortunately he found the Mayweather defense to be as impregnable as every other opponent and instead of landing shots he was being forced to eat more, especially the jab from Mayweather which was being thrown in combinations at times.
By now the Mexican fans were silent, they had cheered their man to the ring but realied he was out of his depth and as a "U-S-A" chant took over the arena.
If the first 5 rounds had been all Mayweather then the sixth was just a continuation of the same dominence. Again Canelo came forward and let his hands go, with little success whilst Mayweather landed at will, especially targeting the already bruised left eye of the Mexican. It was clear that Mayweather was targeting it and landing at will, in fact it was a shock that the eye wasn't beginning to swell from the clean right hands that pierced that Alvarez guard.
Whilst the right hand that had initially bruised Canelo's face had been excellent we had to wait until round 7 for the punch of the fight, a mind blowing uppercut by Mayweather that snapped the head of Canelo back. This was followed by a spiteful Mayweather flurry that saw him force feeding Canelo with right hands. At this point it seemed that Mayweather could, if he wished, finish off the Mexican.
Unfortunately after the amazing attack in round 7 Mayweather then seemed to take round 8 off as Canelo arguably claimed his first round of the fight. Although the Mexican didn't land too much he certainly out worked Mayweather and for the first time really threw in clusters making sure Mayweather was going to have to taste one of his shots every so often. Despite the heightened work of Alvarez the round seemed to hinge more on the fact Mayweather took it off rather than Alvarez winning it on merit.
Canelo seemed to build on his success in the ninth round as he again threw a lot, though unfortunately for him, and his legions of misguided fans, Mayweather did enough to just take the round landing the most notable shot, a huge right hand whilst Canelo himself missed with a vast majority of his shots.
The closeness of the ninth round was repeated in a similar round 10, though again Mayweather seemed to do enough to make Alvarez look silly whilst landing just enough to steal the round, despite an eye catching, though ineffective, flurry late by Canelo.
Unfortunately for Canelo his run of 2 or 3 competitive rounds was ended in a clear Mayweather round during the eleventh. Canelo, again through a fair bit but Mayweather did as he pleased. He landed a huge right right early, show boated with some eye catching pot shots in the middle of the round then taunted Canelo late in the round. It was the sort of round that whilst not technically dominant in terms of what was thrown it was dominant in terms of who controlled it and who was the boss.
With the decision seemingly in the bag Mayweather did very little in the final round, a round that actually saw the fans booing due to a lack of activity by both men. There was little reason for Mayweather to force the action and Canelo was too slow to force anything of note.
To me there was only 3 rounds, if you were being generous, that Canelo could have won. The score of 117-111 that I feasibly had was reflected on the card of Craig Metcalfe, the card of Dave Moretti had some how found 1 more round to give to Alvarez (presumably the 12th as a "pity round") though then we get the simply staggering card of controversial CJ Ross. Ross some how had the bout 114-114.
How Ross came to that is a mystery, though I dare say it should be her last. This woman needs barring from judging, given some glasses and told to find a new job because she's awful at judging a boxing contest.
Danny Garcia v Lucas Martin Matthysse
In a bout seen as the most "explosive" encounter on "The One" card Danny Garcia (17-0, 16) defeated Lucas Matthysse (34-3, 32) by a decision to successfully retain the combined WBC and WBA Light Welterweight titles.
Prior to the fight their was a clear "Buzz" from the crowd, a shock considering the fact they had all fallen to sleep during the previous bout, a sleep inducing contest between Ishe Smith and Carlos Molina.
The opening round was a careful and slow one with Garcia boxing well with his movement and jab. It wasn't what we expected and wasn't a shoot out but it was a very intelligent round from Garcia. Despite the unexpected start things did heat up in the second round as Matthysse fought back and tagged Garcia several times. Unfortunately the round saw the first, of many, low blows by Garcia in what become a bit of a sub story to the fight.
Round 3 was another where Garcia's boxing made Matthysse look slow and clumsy though again Garcia seemed to get away with shots south of the border. Although Matthysse didn't seem to make much of a fuss they were becoming a common place in the arsenal of Garcia and, at least for me, they were beginning to leave questions as to what he was going to be able to get away with from Tony Weeks.
The "borderline" shots were continuing through round 4 as Garcia, who was genuinely boxing well and moving excellently seemed to have found a nice way to slow down Matthysse's assaults. It wasn't until round 5 that Tony Weeks actually told Garcia to keep them up, and that was after the second or third one in that round alone. It had by now become obvious that Matthysse's balls had become a "legal" area. Despite the low blows Matthysse seemed to take rounds 5 and 6 as he went up a gear and by the mid way point it could well have been scored even.
Despite two good rounds for Matthysse he had a nightmare round 7 in which his right eye was almost swollen shut. This nasty injury seemed to immediately effect the Argentinian who struggled through the following 2 rounds with the doctor taking a serious look at it in between rounds 8 and 9. Those rounds were all Garcia with Matthysse trying to protect the eye rather than really fight back, this saw Garcia landing his much vaunted left hook several times.
With Matthysse now looking like a man who was on the verge of being stopped he some how put on an amazing effort in round 10 as he showed their was still plenty left in "The Machine". The big effort of Matthysse in round 10 gave him his best round since the 6th and was a round he clearly won as Garcia appeared to suddenly tire.
The controversy of the low blows wasn't the only mark on the fight with a huge blown call by the referee in round 11. Matthysse started the round fast again, as he had in the previous round and actually punched Garcia's gum shield out of his mouth at the start of it. Unfortunately Matthysse's good work was undone with a knockdown call against him which appeared to come not only following a punch to the back of the head but whilst Matthysse was stuck between the ropes. The referee, who had in all honesty allowed Garcia away with ball bashing blew the call here and probably swung the round from a 10-9 Matthysse round to a 10-8 Garcia round. Those 3 points would prove to be a major issue just a few minutes later.
Going into the final round it seemed almost certain Matthysse needed a stoppage to win, and he went for it. Unfortunately low blows again came to the fray, though this time Matthysse was dropped by one and the referee, finally, deducted a point from Garcia, something he could have done 3 or 4 rounds earlier. The point however wasn't enough and Matthysse knew it, though he was forced to take another low.
Almost angered by the final low blow Matthysse let it all hang out as the two men traded to the bell, with it seeming almost certain that Garcia has retained his titles. What perhaps became important however was the margin of the victory, with the decision going to Garcia by scores of 114-112 (twice) and 115-111.
That knock down and the swing of it, effectively cost Matthysse, and that's with out mentioning the numerous, unpunished low blows.
Mr Weeks, I'm usually a fan but don't let your new Audi advert go to your head, you had a real stinker here.
Prior to the fight their was a clear "Buzz" from the crowd, a shock considering the fact they had all fallen to sleep during the previous bout, a sleep inducing contest between Ishe Smith and Carlos Molina.
The opening round was a careful and slow one with Garcia boxing well with his movement and jab. It wasn't what we expected and wasn't a shoot out but it was a very intelligent round from Garcia. Despite the unexpected start things did heat up in the second round as Matthysse fought back and tagged Garcia several times. Unfortunately the round saw the first, of many, low blows by Garcia in what become a bit of a sub story to the fight.
Round 3 was another where Garcia's boxing made Matthysse look slow and clumsy though again Garcia seemed to get away with shots south of the border. Although Matthysse didn't seem to make much of a fuss they were becoming a common place in the arsenal of Garcia and, at least for me, they were beginning to leave questions as to what he was going to be able to get away with from Tony Weeks.
The "borderline" shots were continuing through round 4 as Garcia, who was genuinely boxing well and moving excellently seemed to have found a nice way to slow down Matthysse's assaults. It wasn't until round 5 that Tony Weeks actually told Garcia to keep them up, and that was after the second or third one in that round alone. It had by now become obvious that Matthysse's balls had become a "legal" area. Despite the low blows Matthysse seemed to take rounds 5 and 6 as he went up a gear and by the mid way point it could well have been scored even.
Despite two good rounds for Matthysse he had a nightmare round 7 in which his right eye was almost swollen shut. This nasty injury seemed to immediately effect the Argentinian who struggled through the following 2 rounds with the doctor taking a serious look at it in between rounds 8 and 9. Those rounds were all Garcia with Matthysse trying to protect the eye rather than really fight back, this saw Garcia landing his much vaunted left hook several times.
With Matthysse now looking like a man who was on the verge of being stopped he some how put on an amazing effort in round 10 as he showed their was still plenty left in "The Machine". The big effort of Matthysse in round 10 gave him his best round since the 6th and was a round he clearly won as Garcia appeared to suddenly tire.
The controversy of the low blows wasn't the only mark on the fight with a huge blown call by the referee in round 11. Matthysse started the round fast again, as he had in the previous round and actually punched Garcia's gum shield out of his mouth at the start of it. Unfortunately Matthysse's good work was undone with a knockdown call against him which appeared to come not only following a punch to the back of the head but whilst Matthysse was stuck between the ropes. The referee, who had in all honesty allowed Garcia away with ball bashing blew the call here and probably swung the round from a 10-9 Matthysse round to a 10-8 Garcia round. Those 3 points would prove to be a major issue just a few minutes later.
Going into the final round it seemed almost certain Matthysse needed a stoppage to win, and he went for it. Unfortunately low blows again came to the fray, though this time Matthysse was dropped by one and the referee, finally, deducted a point from Garcia, something he could have done 3 or 4 rounds earlier. The point however wasn't enough and Matthysse knew it, though he was forced to take another low.
Almost angered by the final low blow Matthysse let it all hang out as the two men traded to the bell, with it seeming almost certain that Garcia has retained his titles. What perhaps became important however was the margin of the victory, with the decision going to Garcia by scores of 114-112 (twice) and 115-111.
That knock down and the swing of it, effectively cost Matthysse, and that's with out mentioning the numerous, unpunished low blows.
Mr Weeks, I'm usually a fan but don't let your new Audi advert go to your head, you had a real stinker here.
Ishe Smith v Carlos Molina
In a turgid and unexciting battle highlighted by the vocal chords of Jay Nady, Carlos Molina (22-5-2, 6) claimed the IBF Light Middleweight title defeating Ishe Smith (25-6, 11)
The first of 3 title fights on "The One" was marked out as "the one to send fans to sleep" and unfortunately it lived up to that idea.
Surprisingly the fight started brightly with Molina being an aggressive front foot fighter throwing lots of shots with Smith trying to counter things with his left hook. Unfortunately Smith's shots were rarely landing in the early portion and Molina, for all his good work, was unable too land too much clean past the intelligent defense of Smith.
After clearly taking the first 4 rounds Molina's work become scrappier and in fact he started to recieve persistent warnings from the referee who was warning him for leading with the head on a regular basis. The warnings seemed to kill off Molina's work somewhat whilst Smith continued to make the bout ugly. The ugly rounds, which started in rounds 5 or 6, become a consistent which lacked any sort of clean work. Interestingly the ugliness of these rounds seemed to suit Smith who was able to land the few eye catching shots whilst Molina threw a lot but landed little.
By the time we'd reached the championship rounds it was fair to say fan interested in the contest had died. The rounds through the middle had been close but uninteresting. They'd been close due to how awful and messy they'd been and unfortunately they'd completely killed any entertainment value any fans had. In fact it was probably fair to say that fans were using the bout as a toilet break by this point.
With the bout in the balance the two men finally came alive with some clean work in the championship rounds.
The 11th round saw Smith having by far his best round before Molina came back in the final round, clearly winning that one.
With the middle rounds so difficult to score it was no shock to see a split decision rendered with 2 of the judges feeling Molina's work deserved to take the decision in what was a fair decision given the work he put in compared to Smith's lazy and lethargic effort.
If you missed this one, don't bother trying to catch it!
The first of 3 title fights on "The One" was marked out as "the one to send fans to sleep" and unfortunately it lived up to that idea.
Surprisingly the fight started brightly with Molina being an aggressive front foot fighter throwing lots of shots with Smith trying to counter things with his left hook. Unfortunately Smith's shots were rarely landing in the early portion and Molina, for all his good work, was unable too land too much clean past the intelligent defense of Smith.
After clearly taking the first 4 rounds Molina's work become scrappier and in fact he started to recieve persistent warnings from the referee who was warning him for leading with the head on a regular basis. The warnings seemed to kill off Molina's work somewhat whilst Smith continued to make the bout ugly. The ugly rounds, which started in rounds 5 or 6, become a consistent which lacked any sort of clean work. Interestingly the ugliness of these rounds seemed to suit Smith who was able to land the few eye catching shots whilst Molina threw a lot but landed little.
By the time we'd reached the championship rounds it was fair to say fan interested in the contest had died. The rounds through the middle had been close but uninteresting. They'd been close due to how awful and messy they'd been and unfortunately they'd completely killed any entertainment value any fans had. In fact it was probably fair to say that fans were using the bout as a toilet break by this point.
With the bout in the balance the two men finally came alive with some clean work in the championship rounds.
The 11th round saw Smith having by far his best round before Molina came back in the final round, clearly winning that one.
With the middle rounds so difficult to score it was no shock to see a split decision rendered with 2 of the judges feeling Molina's work deserved to take the decision in what was a fair decision given the work he put in compared to Smith's lazy and lethargic effort.
If you missed this one, don't bother trying to catch it!
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Kazuto Ioka v Kwanthai Sithmorseng
Japanese boxing youngster Kazuto Ioka (13-0, 9) successfully retained his WBA Light Flyweight title earlier today as he overcame Thailand's Kwanthai Sithmorseng (43-2-1, 22) in an impressive and one-sided affair.
Ioka, a former WBA/WBC Minimumweight champion started the bout carefully trying to box his way into the bout behind his jab. It was a worrying sign for the Thai that he couldn't actually get around the jab of the champion in first stanza, and from then on Ioka merely moved up through the gears.
Although Kwanthai was brave and took a bit of a beating, especially in round 5 he looked to have the toughness to see out a few more rounds against Ioka, who appeared to be using the bout as a sparring session at times. It was impressive that Ioka was fighting in first gear and making a former world champion look out classed, out skilled and generally second rate.
In the seventh round Ioka moved up a gear and this time he forced Kwanthai to the canvas where the Thai took the 10 count as Ioka recorded his second successful defense of his title.
Ioka, a former WBA/WBC Minimumweight champion started the bout carefully trying to box his way into the bout behind his jab. It was a worrying sign for the Thai that he couldn't actually get around the jab of the champion in first stanza, and from then on Ioka merely moved up through the gears.
Although Kwanthai was brave and took a bit of a beating, especially in round 5 he looked to have the toughness to see out a few more rounds against Ioka, who appeared to be using the bout as a sparring session at times. It was impressive that Ioka was fighting in first gear and making a former world champion look out classed, out skilled and generally second rate.
In the seventh round Ioka moved up a gear and this time he forced Kwanthai to the canvas where the Thai took the 10 count as Ioka recorded his second successful defense of his title.
Ryo Miyazaki v Jesus Silvestre
Japanese fighter Ryo Miyazaki (20-0-3, 11) successfully defended his WBA Minimumweight title for the second time earlier today as he unified the "regular title" and the "interim title" via a very hard fought decision victory over Mexican Jesus Silvestre (27-4, 20).
The bout started with the over-looked and talented Mexican fighting on the front foot, using a determined pressure style to for Miyazaki backwards. Miyazaki seemed to realise early on that he was up against a talented and strong fighter and instead of fighting toe-to-toe the Japanese fighter tried fighting off the back foot.
A clash of heads in round 2 saw the doctor called for to look over Miyazaki though the Japanese fighter seemed to be fine and immediately turned back to trying to out box his Mexican opponent.. Although it was Miyazaki who looked to be the more technically skilled of the two men, it was the pressure of Silvestre that was really controlling the ring and forcing a fight to happen.
Although neither man was too bothered from the head clash in the second clash of heads another, much more serious one occurred in the fifth round with both men feeling the effects. This headclash seemed to spring real life into the bout as the two men traded up on the inside and and give us the sort of action fans would have been expecting from the off.
It was obvious by the mid way point that Miyazaki was really struggling with Silvetsre, he was unable to force the Mexican to respect him and likewise he was unable to force Silvestre backwards, essentially forcing him to to use his legs as much as his hands.
Whilst the headclashes may have caused the cuts on Miyazaki's face the sixth round merely saw them worsen as both men picked up the pace in a genuinely excellent round, the first first stand out round of the bout.
Following Miyazaki's success in round 6 he went up a level and began to box to actually box, picking his shots and get in and out. This made him look a class ahead of Silvestre for the first time. The Mexican however proved not to be discouraged as he continued to apply pressure though for the first time he was beginning to be forced backwards.
Miyazaki's success seemed to breathe a new confidence in him and in round 10 we again saw trading, and a headclash. This time the clash lead to Miyazaki's right eye bleeding leaving him with cuts on both of his eyes, giving Silvestre two big targets to aim for.
With blood sticking to his face Miyazaki got on his bike in round 11 and tried to avoid any sort of a confrontation, that was until the warrior instinct kicked in late in the round and Miyazaki engaged in a turf ware with Silvestre. It wasn't pretty but it was thoroughly exciting with both men being forced to take bombs as the round ended in some of the best action I've seen all year.
With the fight still on the line going in to the final round both men gave it their all in an attempt to take home the decision. Unfortunately for the Mexican he was unable to do enough, in Japan, to defeat the home fighter, losing by a majorly thin majority decisions with scores of 115-114, 115-113 and 114-114 being rendered.
Had the fight been fought outside of Japan we'd have not been shocked to have seen the decision go the other way, though the fight wasn't a robbery, it was certainly a fight with no clear winner as both men each had a clean to many of the early rounds. In fact if anything it was Miyazaki's small run of of rounds in the middle of the bout that actually saw him claiming the victory here, despite Silvestre arguably taking the final 2 or 3 rounds.
After the bout Miyazaki said he would vacate and move up a division, looking at this bout it was seem 108 or 112 would be best for him, and in fact at 112 he could face Akira Yaegashi in what would be a nail on FOTY contender.
The bout started with the over-looked and talented Mexican fighting on the front foot, using a determined pressure style to for Miyazaki backwards. Miyazaki seemed to realise early on that he was up against a talented and strong fighter and instead of fighting toe-to-toe the Japanese fighter tried fighting off the back foot.
A clash of heads in round 2 saw the doctor called for to look over Miyazaki though the Japanese fighter seemed to be fine and immediately turned back to trying to out box his Mexican opponent.. Although it was Miyazaki who looked to be the more technically skilled of the two men, it was the pressure of Silvestre that was really controlling the ring and forcing a fight to happen.
Although neither man was too bothered from the head clash in the second clash of heads another, much more serious one occurred in the fifth round with both men feeling the effects. This headclash seemed to spring real life into the bout as the two men traded up on the inside and and give us the sort of action fans would have been expecting from the off.
It was obvious by the mid way point that Miyazaki was really struggling with Silvetsre, he was unable to force the Mexican to respect him and likewise he was unable to force Silvestre backwards, essentially forcing him to to use his legs as much as his hands.
Whilst the headclashes may have caused the cuts on Miyazaki's face the sixth round merely saw them worsen as both men picked up the pace in a genuinely excellent round, the first first stand out round of the bout.
Following Miyazaki's success in round 6 he went up a level and began to box to actually box, picking his shots and get in and out. This made him look a class ahead of Silvestre for the first time. The Mexican however proved not to be discouraged as he continued to apply pressure though for the first time he was beginning to be forced backwards.
Miyazaki's success seemed to breathe a new confidence in him and in round 10 we again saw trading, and a headclash. This time the clash lead to Miyazaki's right eye bleeding leaving him with cuts on both of his eyes, giving Silvestre two big targets to aim for.
With blood sticking to his face Miyazaki got on his bike in round 11 and tried to avoid any sort of a confrontation, that was until the warrior instinct kicked in late in the round and Miyazaki engaged in a turf ware with Silvestre. It wasn't pretty but it was thoroughly exciting with both men being forced to take bombs as the round ended in some of the best action I've seen all year.
With the fight still on the line going in to the final round both men gave it their all in an attempt to take home the decision. Unfortunately for the Mexican he was unable to do enough, in Japan, to defeat the home fighter, losing by a majorly thin majority decisions with scores of 115-114, 115-113 and 114-114 being rendered.
Had the fight been fought outside of Japan we'd have not been shocked to have seen the decision go the other way, though the fight wasn't a robbery, it was certainly a fight with no clear winner as both men each had a clean to many of the early rounds. In fact if anything it was Miyazaki's small run of of rounds in the middle of the bout that actually saw him claiming the victory here, despite Silvestre arguably taking the final 2 or 3 rounds.
After the bout Miyazaki said he would vacate and move up a division, looking at this bout it was seem 108 or 112 would be best for him, and in fact at 112 he could face Akira Yaegashi in what would be a nail on FOTY contender.
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