In arguably the fight of the weekend Thai Pungluang Sor Singyu (43-2, 28) was dethroned by unbeaten Namibian Paulus Ambunda (20-0, 10) in a fantastic 12 round bout that again showed the problem with the boxing media as a whole. Not only was the fight only shown to a few hundred people but the wider boxing public through out Europe and America were unable to see the fight live.
The fight, a war almost from the opening bell saw both men trying to prove themselves against a genuinely formidable adversary. It seemed like any time either fighter landed their own bomb they were only seconds away from taking one in return as both fighters fought 12 very competitive rounds that neither fighter really gained the upper hand in for long.
The bout, cheered on by all those in the attendance was genuinely something special and with both the teak tough Thai Sor Singyu and the unbeaten Namibian. Whilst Ambunda seemed to clearly claim the 2nd, he seemed to be clearly the loser in the 5th as both men seemed to take it in terms to win rounds clearly with competitive rounds to each man inter-spacing the clearer rounds.
Sadly for the champion, fighting on foreign for just the third time, he was to lose a close and narrow decision, the second time he has done so, aw Ambunda just got the nod on the cards in front of his rapturous fans who had bee cheering every time he had landed. Hopefully a rematch is contested as Sor Singyu is never in a poor fight, though I tend to think that Ambunda will be lured out of Namibia by the highest bidder for the WBO title. He's decent but was lucky he was at home here as he'd had lost the decision outside of his home land and he'll likely know he needs to cash in.
For Sor Singyu he has a real problem, he's a nightmare for anyone at 118 and, I don't know if he'll get another title chance. He's tough as old boots and not going to give anyone an easy night. A shame that such a talented fighter will end up all but forgotten by the boxing world.
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Donnie Nietes v Moises Fuentes
Filipino Donnie Nietes (31-1-4, 17) successfully defended his WBO Light Flyweight title against Mexican Moises Fuentes (16-1-1, 8) thanks to a majority draw earlier today in what may well have been his toughest fight in years.
Nietes, one of the forgotten men in the lower weights claimed the title almost 18 months ago when he defeated Mexican Ramon Garcia Hirales by a decision and despite the lengthy reign he had only previously defended the belt once. Against Fuentes, Nietes was facing a genuinely difficult to beat fighter who had retired Ivan Calderon less than a year ago and had defeated the highly regarded Raul "Rayito" Gacria to gain the WBO Minimumweight title (not at stake here).
The fight was action packed as both men gave their all. The action saw Nietes suffering several cuts around his face as both men were tagged hard in a very competitive and difficult to score that neither man really managed to get an upper hard in. Neites started the better winning the opening round, though Fuentes fought back wonderfully with a determined body attack that really made Nietes pay for standing in the pocket. Sadly for Nietes in round 6 he suffered 2 notable cuts, one from a clash of heads and the other from a punch as he then had to battle through the blood as well as the body attack.
By round 10 it was genuinely anybodies fight as the early lead of Fuentes was worn away and sadly neither fighter could do enough in the final rounds to force a clear result as the judges score cards showed the close nature of the bout with 2 judges viewing the bout as a 114-114 draw whilst the dissenting judge gave it to Nietes by a score of 115-113.
With the action of the bout it's fair to say that not only did both fighters keep face, but that a rematch would be equally as interesting and with the result both fighters know they can compete at world level. Saying that however no one would be disappointed in a rematch.
Nietes, one of the forgotten men in the lower weights claimed the title almost 18 months ago when he defeated Mexican Ramon Garcia Hirales by a decision and despite the lengthy reign he had only previously defended the belt once. Against Fuentes, Nietes was facing a genuinely difficult to beat fighter who had retired Ivan Calderon less than a year ago and had defeated the highly regarded Raul "Rayito" Gacria to gain the WBO Minimumweight title (not at stake here).
The fight was action packed as both men gave their all. The action saw Nietes suffering several cuts around his face as both men were tagged hard in a very competitive and difficult to score that neither man really managed to get an upper hard in. Neites started the better winning the opening round, though Fuentes fought back wonderfully with a determined body attack that really made Nietes pay for standing in the pocket. Sadly for Nietes in round 6 he suffered 2 notable cuts, one from a clash of heads and the other from a punch as he then had to battle through the blood as well as the body attack.
By round 10 it was genuinely anybodies fight as the early lead of Fuentes was worn away and sadly neither fighter could do enough in the final rounds to force a clear result as the judges score cards showed the close nature of the bout with 2 judges viewing the bout as a 114-114 draw whilst the dissenting judge gave it to Nietes by a score of 115-113.
With the action of the bout it's fair to say that not only did both fighters keep face, but that a rematch would be equally as interesting and with the result both fighters know they can compete at world level. Saying that however no one would be disappointed in a rematch.
Friday, 1 March 2013
Billy Dib v Evgeny Gradovich
In a minor upset American based Russian Evgeny Gradovich (16-0, 8) claimed the IBF Featherweight title decisioning the more experienced Australian Billy Dib (35-2-0-1, 21 ) in a messy yet engaging battle that really saw the "Mexican Russian" showing what he's about.
The opening round saw the champion start well as he moved well and landed a number of solid shots whilst making the challenger look silly, reckless and a bit out of his depth and he continued that in the second round as Gradovich applied rather ineffective pressure on to the champion.
Although the first two rounds were easy to score in favour of Dib the fight started to change in the third round as Gradovich's pressure started to have noticeable effect on the flashier champion. Dib better boxing skills were being negated by the bloody mindedness of Gradovich who just refused to back off and appeared to have started to get his engine going. Although the third was close and could have conceivably gone either way it was the turning point in the fight and Gradovich started to get real traction in the 4th as he repeatedly forced Dib on to the ropes and grew in confidence.
As Gradovich's confidence started to bloom so did his success with more and more of his shots landing cleanly on Dib who was almost dropped early in the 5th round, as the momentum swung completely in favour of Gradovich. Not only was Gradovich now coming into his own but Dib appeared to be both mentally welting and physically breaking down as his ear and nose started to bleed.
Although the challenger was really coming in to the bout the champion did manage to have some success through out the 6th round although Gradovich seemed to do enough at the end to just claim it. The following round again saw Dib having some moments of success but simply not enough of them to claim the round with Gradovich relentlessly marching towards him and trying to unload against a fighter who was spending more time trying to establish a safe distance than actually fighting.
Although the first 7 rounds were messy with copious amounts of clinching things got silly afterwards with both men being deducted a point for holding in round 8 as the fight went from a bit messy to a full on grapplefest that wrestling fans would have been proud of. Dib continually held on to Gradovich when the men were close effectively stopping the Russian from hitting him though doing little work himself as the bout really broke down with several awful rounds. Whilst Gradovich wasn't able to land much of note the fact he was simply trying to force the fight was enough for me to award him the rounds against Dib who was intent on spoiling.
Although the holding and hugging continued on a round by round basis until the final bell both rounds 11 and 12 were eye catching with 11 seeing both men rocked whilst 12 saw Dibs face becoming a claret mask as a cut around his eye worsened and dripped across his face. It was obvious from the facial damage of the two men that Dib had been hit numerous times and whilst Gradovich was marked up himself he didn't have the war scars of Dib at the final bell.
To many onlookers it seemed as if Gradovich, who had forced the bout through out was a clear winner. In fact when the bell went to end the bout Gradovich climbed the corner to celebrate whilst Dib had a very muted and short celebration before looking sorry for himself. It was clear that Dib didn't believe he had won whilst Gradovich had obviously though he'd done enough to claim the belt. Thankfully 2 of the judges agreed as Gradovich took a split decision and the world title.
Dib, sung in by American rap-star 50 Cent was fighting in America for the first time since losing in a WBO Super Bantamweight title bout to Steve Luevano back in 2008. The show was supposed to re-introduce him to America yet what it actually did was introduce the wider boxing world to the potentially exciting to watch Gradovich. Rather wonderfully it relieves the dirty and awful to Dib of the world title and likely any more undeserved limelight.
The opening round saw the champion start well as he moved well and landed a number of solid shots whilst making the challenger look silly, reckless and a bit out of his depth and he continued that in the second round as Gradovich applied rather ineffective pressure on to the champion.
Although the first two rounds were easy to score in favour of Dib the fight started to change in the third round as Gradovich's pressure started to have noticeable effect on the flashier champion. Dib better boxing skills were being negated by the bloody mindedness of Gradovich who just refused to back off and appeared to have started to get his engine going. Although the third was close and could have conceivably gone either way it was the turning point in the fight and Gradovich started to get real traction in the 4th as he repeatedly forced Dib on to the ropes and grew in confidence.
As Gradovich's confidence started to bloom so did his success with more and more of his shots landing cleanly on Dib who was almost dropped early in the 5th round, as the momentum swung completely in favour of Gradovich. Not only was Gradovich now coming into his own but Dib appeared to be both mentally welting and physically breaking down as his ear and nose started to bleed.
Although the challenger was really coming in to the bout the champion did manage to have some success through out the 6th round although Gradovich seemed to do enough at the end to just claim it. The following round again saw Dib having some moments of success but simply not enough of them to claim the round with Gradovich relentlessly marching towards him and trying to unload against a fighter who was spending more time trying to establish a safe distance than actually fighting.
Although the first 7 rounds were messy with copious amounts of clinching things got silly afterwards with both men being deducted a point for holding in round 8 as the fight went from a bit messy to a full on grapplefest that wrestling fans would have been proud of. Dib continually held on to Gradovich when the men were close effectively stopping the Russian from hitting him though doing little work himself as the bout really broke down with several awful rounds. Whilst Gradovich wasn't able to land much of note the fact he was simply trying to force the fight was enough for me to award him the rounds against Dib who was intent on spoiling.
Although the holding and hugging continued on a round by round basis until the final bell both rounds 11 and 12 were eye catching with 11 seeing both men rocked whilst 12 saw Dibs face becoming a claret mask as a cut around his eye worsened and dripped across his face. It was obvious from the facial damage of the two men that Dib had been hit numerous times and whilst Gradovich was marked up himself he didn't have the war scars of Dib at the final bell.
To many onlookers it seemed as if Gradovich, who had forced the bout through out was a clear winner. In fact when the bell went to end the bout Gradovich climbed the corner to celebrate whilst Dib had a very muted and short celebration before looking sorry for himself. It was clear that Dib didn't believe he had won whilst Gradovich had obviously though he'd done enough to claim the belt. Thankfully 2 of the judges agreed as Gradovich took a split decision and the world title.
Dib, sung in by American rap-star 50 Cent was fighting in America for the first time since losing in a WBO Super Bantamweight title bout to Steve Luevano back in 2008. The show was supposed to re-introduce him to America yet what it actually did was introduce the wider boxing world to the potentially exciting to watch Gradovich. Rather wonderfully it relieves the dirty and awful to Dib of the world title and likely any more undeserved limelight.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Juan Carlos Reveco v Masayuki Kuroda
Argentinian Juan Carlos Revecco (30-1, 16) scored the first defense of his WBA Flyweight title since being upgraded from interim status as he traveled over to Japan and beat former Japanese Light Flyweight champion Maayuki Kuroda (21-4-2, 13) in a thoroughly engaging 12 round battle.
The fight started somewhat slowly though started to pick up from round 3 and by the end of round 4 both men were starting to land clean blows on the other. Revecco, the more skilled man of the two was easily landing the cleaner looking blows and the better combinations though Kuroda wasn't to be out down and landed a number of rangy looking body hooks to the torso of the champion.
Despite the copious amount of action, and punches landed by both men, neither man really seemed to have the other in any difficulty at all as shots simply appeared to have no effect on either man which did take some of the gloss out of what was a genuinely watchable encounter.
Sadly for the challenger his inexperience at the world stage and over the 12 round title distance showed as he often looked just a little too limited and a little bit too easy to hit as he lost numerous close and competitive rounds. He was brave though sadly lacked the spark needed, on the day to try and claim the title from the visiting champion.
For Revecco, who said he had a 2-fight plan to face Brian Viloria (with this being fight 1) all I can say is that I hope fight 2 is a big improvement, or Viloria will simply eat him up for breakfast with his power, speed and technique. In fact from the evidence on show here, Revecco should be hoping that that Viloria never faces him, or the Argentinian will be in for a very painful night.
The fight started somewhat slowly though started to pick up from round 3 and by the end of round 4 both men were starting to land clean blows on the other. Revecco, the more skilled man of the two was easily landing the cleaner looking blows and the better combinations though Kuroda wasn't to be out down and landed a number of rangy looking body hooks to the torso of the champion.
Despite the copious amount of action, and punches landed by both men, neither man really seemed to have the other in any difficulty at all as shots simply appeared to have no effect on either man which did take some of the gloss out of what was a genuinely watchable encounter.
Sadly for the challenger his inexperience at the world stage and over the 12 round title distance showed as he often looked just a little too limited and a little bit too easy to hit as he lost numerous close and competitive rounds. He was brave though sadly lacked the spark needed, on the day to try and claim the title from the visiting champion.
For Revecco, who said he had a 2-fight plan to face Brian Viloria (with this being fight 1) all I can say is that I hope fight 2 is a big improvement, or Viloria will simply eat him up for breakfast with his power, speed and technique. In fact from the evidence on show here, Revecco should be hoping that that Viloria never faces him, or the Argentinian will be in for a very painful night.
Monday, 25 February 2013
Cornelius Bundrage v Ishe Smith
In the biggest win of his career so far, the talented but yet under-rated Ishe Smith (25-5, 11) claimed the IBF Light Middleweight title as he claimed a split decision over former champion Cornelius "K9" Bundrage (32-5-0-1, 19).
The fight, which started slowly as the styles really clashed, wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination though it was often engaging, even if it was in hope of seeing a clean, solid punch land from either man. Despite the slow pace of much of the fight, the better, classier work came from Smith when the challenger decided to open up against the defending champion.
Despite the slow start the fight finally came alive late on as a tired Bundrage started to come under real pressure from Smith, who wasn't going to be denied in his big chance. Although Smith couldn't put away the champion he appeared to clearly dominate vast swathes of the fight, notably the final 6 rounds after the 6 messy opening rounds.
Whilst many viewers felt that Smith was the clear winner, one judge, Dave Hess, seemed to feel that Bundrage had done just enough to retain his title, an opinion not even shared by Bundrage who admitted that he lost fair and square. Whilst Bundrage admitted he made a tactical mistake not following the game plan, an emotional Smith cried in relief at his crowning glory to a 13 year career.
For Bundrage, who had been champion since dethroning Cory Spinks back in 2010, this is likely the end of the line. Aged 39 (and turning 40 in just a few weeks) there is little to really achieve, in fact in all honesty Bundrage was an over-achiever scoring wins over Walter Wright, Michael Clark, Kassim Ouma, Zaurbek Baysangurov and Cory Spinks (twice) and can hold his head up high after having had an excellent career.
Smith on the other hand may well look to cash in on his title and try to look for fights with either the winner of the upcoming Saul "Canelo" Alvarez v Austin Trout bout or even try to lure Miguel Cotto into a bout. Though it's unlikely Smith would do enough to defend against any of those men.
The fight, which started slowly as the styles really clashed, wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination though it was often engaging, even if it was in hope of seeing a clean, solid punch land from either man. Despite the slow pace of much of the fight, the better, classier work came from Smith when the challenger decided to open up against the defending champion.
Despite the slow start the fight finally came alive late on as a tired Bundrage started to come under real pressure from Smith, who wasn't going to be denied in his big chance. Although Smith couldn't put away the champion he appeared to clearly dominate vast swathes of the fight, notably the final 6 rounds after the 6 messy opening rounds.
Whilst many viewers felt that Smith was the clear winner, one judge, Dave Hess, seemed to feel that Bundrage had done just enough to retain his title, an opinion not even shared by Bundrage who admitted that he lost fair and square. Whilst Bundrage admitted he made a tactical mistake not following the game plan, an emotional Smith cried in relief at his crowning glory to a 13 year career.
For Bundrage, who had been champion since dethroning Cory Spinks back in 2010, this is likely the end of the line. Aged 39 (and turning 40 in just a few weeks) there is little to really achieve, in fact in all honesty Bundrage was an over-achiever scoring wins over Walter Wright, Michael Clark, Kassim Ouma, Zaurbek Baysangurov and Cory Spinks (twice) and can hold his head up high after having had an excellent career.
Smith on the other hand may well look to cash in on his title and try to look for fights with either the winner of the upcoming Saul "Canelo" Alvarez v Austin Trout bout or even try to lure Miguel Cotto into a bout. Though it's unlikely Smith would do enough to defend against any of those men.
Friday, 22 February 2013
Lamont Peterson v Kendall Holt
The controversial Lamont Peterson (?-?) made the first defense of his IBF Light Welterweight title as he stopped former WBO champion Kendall Holt (?-?) in 8 rounds and a thoroughly impressive victory.
The fight started quietly with a slow opening round which was dominated by Peterson's rangy jab that kept Holt out of range. After a good opening round for Peterson Holt then rallied well and appeared to easily claim rounds 2 and 3 with his own work rate and his ability to neutralise Peterson by tying him up when things got close.
Round 4 saw the fight turning around completely as the pace heated up significantly and became a real firefight. The tough Peterson took whatever Holt was throwing then seemed to really hurt the challenger before landing a massive right hand that sent Holts legs wobbly and the follow up attack sent him down. Although Holt was obviously hurt he managed to keep his sense and recovered to his feet at the count of 8 and managed to just see out the round almost being saved by the bell.
Holt's confidence had been shattered and in round 5 Peterson continued to dominate as he started to walk through everything coming at him. It was obvious that Holt was starting to mentally crumble and he tried to do everything to survive, including holding the ropes to wrap up Peterson, an indiscretion that he was admonished for by Tony Weeks. It was obvious from the on that it was only a matter of time before Holt was going to be stopped.
Peterson continued to dominate in round 6 and started to beat the snot out of Holt late in the round as the challenger got pinned to the ropes and sent down again. The referee seemed to be looking closely at stopping the bout but Holt did just enough to survive the round. After the huge sixth round for Peterson he then came out very quietly for round 7 and just forced Holt to work to maintain distance. Although Peterson threw almost nothing in the seventh he had effective broken Holt mentally who had realised that Peterson wasn't going to get out of his face.
After the quiet seventh round from Peterson's perspective he came out with renewed energy in round 8 and soon afterwards pinned Holt on to the ropes, where he then unleashed shot after shot after shot forcing Tony Weeks to step in and wave off the bout.
After the fight Holt seemed to hint at retirement whilst Peterson called out Danny Garcia and said he wants the WBA belt back (a belt that was stripped from Peterson following his positive test for banned substances back in 2012). A fight between Peterson and any of the top guys in the division, including Garcia, Lucas Matthysse, Brandon Rios or even Khabib Allakhverdiev would be thoroughly entertaining and a great sight for boxing fans who want to see the best fighting the best.
The fight started quietly with a slow opening round which was dominated by Peterson's rangy jab that kept Holt out of range. After a good opening round for Peterson Holt then rallied well and appeared to easily claim rounds 2 and 3 with his own work rate and his ability to neutralise Peterson by tying him up when things got close.
Round 4 saw the fight turning around completely as the pace heated up significantly and became a real firefight. The tough Peterson took whatever Holt was throwing then seemed to really hurt the challenger before landing a massive right hand that sent Holts legs wobbly and the follow up attack sent him down. Although Holt was obviously hurt he managed to keep his sense and recovered to his feet at the count of 8 and managed to just see out the round almost being saved by the bell.
Holt's confidence had been shattered and in round 5 Peterson continued to dominate as he started to walk through everything coming at him. It was obvious that Holt was starting to mentally crumble and he tried to do everything to survive, including holding the ropes to wrap up Peterson, an indiscretion that he was admonished for by Tony Weeks. It was obvious from the on that it was only a matter of time before Holt was going to be stopped.
Peterson continued to dominate in round 6 and started to beat the snot out of Holt late in the round as the challenger got pinned to the ropes and sent down again. The referee seemed to be looking closely at stopping the bout but Holt did just enough to survive the round. After the huge sixth round for Peterson he then came out very quietly for round 7 and just forced Holt to work to maintain distance. Although Peterson threw almost nothing in the seventh he had effective broken Holt mentally who had realised that Peterson wasn't going to get out of his face.
After the quiet seventh round from Peterson's perspective he came out with renewed energy in round 8 and soon afterwards pinned Holt on to the ropes, where he then unleashed shot after shot after shot forcing Tony Weeks to step in and wave off the bout.
After the fight Holt seemed to hint at retirement whilst Peterson called out Danny Garcia and said he wants the WBA belt back (a belt that was stripped from Peterson following his positive test for banned substances back in 2012). A fight between Peterson and any of the top guys in the division, including Garcia, Lucas Matthysse, Brandon Rios or even Khabib Allakhverdiev would be thoroughly entertaining and a great sight for boxing fans who want to see the best fighting the best.
Monday, 18 February 2013
Jonathan Romero v Alejandro Lopez
In one of the most bizarrely scored fights of the year, Colombian Jonathan Romero (23-0, 12) claimed a split decision victory over Mexican Alejandro Lopez (24-3, 7) to claim the previously vacant IBF Super Bantamweight title.
From the opening bell the quicker, more talented Romero set the tone of the fight landing at will on his slower, clumsier Mexican rival. Although Lopez was game he was simply unable to neutralise the clear advantages that the visiting Colombian had over him. Lopez, fighting in front of his home crowd was valiant round after round as he struggled to connect anything of note.
Although Romero was clearly dominating the bout, he rarely, if ever had Lopez in any real trouble as his lack of world class power was shown up by the fact that Lopez repeatedly took his shots. Sadly for Lopez however he lacked any sort of an equaliser himself to ever try and turn the fight in his direction.
Despite having a point deducted in round 12, it was hard to see the bout as anything but a shut out by Romero, though oddly when the cards came back, the scores of 115-112 (each way) and 111-116 (Romero) were genuinely a shock. Lopez hadn't clearly won a round yet one judge saw him, some how, winning 7. Thankfully, despite the atrocious cards the right man won and claimed the title. Despite the victory, on foreign soil, for Romero it's hard to imagine him giving any of the top Super Bantamweights any real trouble. His speed is solid but his lack of power really will limit him at the higher levels, where fighters like Nonito Donaire will walk through his shots with ease.
From the opening bell the quicker, more talented Romero set the tone of the fight landing at will on his slower, clumsier Mexican rival. Although Lopez was game he was simply unable to neutralise the clear advantages that the visiting Colombian had over him. Lopez, fighting in front of his home crowd was valiant round after round as he struggled to connect anything of note.
Although Romero was clearly dominating the bout, he rarely, if ever had Lopez in any real trouble as his lack of world class power was shown up by the fact that Lopez repeatedly took his shots. Sadly for Lopez however he lacked any sort of an equaliser himself to ever try and turn the fight in his direction.
Despite having a point deducted in round 12, it was hard to see the bout as anything but a shut out by Romero, though oddly when the cards came back, the scores of 115-112 (each way) and 111-116 (Romero) were genuinely a shock. Lopez hadn't clearly won a round yet one judge saw him, some how, winning 7. Thankfully, despite the atrocious cards the right man won and claimed the title. Despite the victory, on foreign soil, for Romero it's hard to imagine him giving any of the top Super Bantamweights any real trouble. His speed is solid but his lack of power really will limit him at the higher levels, where fighters like Nonito Donaire will walk through his shots with ease.
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