Unheralded Filipino Merlito Sabillo (21-0, 10) made a statement this past weekend to the Minimumweight division as he traveled to Colombia and defeated Colombian Luis De La Rosa (21-2-1, 12) in eye catching fashion to claim the WBO interim Minimumweight title.
The fight started fast as both men came out with bad intentions and it was Sabillo who got an early upper hand inflicting a cut on to De La Rosa in the opening round. Although many fighters go in to their shell when cut it seemed to merely spur on De La Rosa who fought like a wounded animal intent on taking out his attacker.
With De La Rosa cut and Sabillo going toe-to-toe with his opponent the fight quickly erupted in to a war as both men took turns in firing bombs at the other. Neither man willing to back down though neither man quite able to get an upper hand against an opponent who was wanting to claim a portion of the world title. The action was relentless as both men tried their hardest to rock the other and take them out of their game plan though neither man could manage it in the opening half of the bout.
After the back and forth action of the first 7 rounds Sabillo finally got a clear upper hand as he felled De La Rosa in round 8. Although De La Rosa rose to his feet he was back down soon afterwards as Sabillo took advantage of his woozy opponent and forced the stoppage just seconds later.
Although the Colombian fighter had lost the crowd gave both men a show of hands as the local mayor also welcomed Sabillo to return to the area to fight another Colombian fighter later this year. Looking at this it would appear that Sabillo has made a new set of fans as boxing for once treat the away fighter with the dignity and respect they deserved.
Although the full version of the WBO Minimumweight title is held by Mexican Moises Fuentes, rumours are rife that Sabillo will be upgraded to the full champion in the coming months as Fuentes, who was a huge guy at Minimumweight, simply cannot make the 105lb limit. Fuentes, who drew recently with Donnie Nietes (who like Sabillo is a Filipino fighter and part of the ALA Gym) is expected to chase a rematch with Nietes if he can even manage to make 108lbs again, if not he could well move to 112lbs later this year.
Monday, 11 March 2013
Juan Carlos Salgado v Argenis Mendez II
Dominican fighter Argenis Mendez (21-2, 11) claimed not only the biggest victory of his career so far but also the IBF Super Featherweight title this past weekend as he stunning stopped Mexican Juan Carlos Salgado (26-2-1-1, 16).
Mendez, who had lost controversially to Salgado when the fighters first met back in September 2011 had promised a knock out and delivered as he made his point from the opening bell. Although Salgado is generally seen as durable and Mendez isn't seen as a huge puncher the Dominican was firing with bad intentions and dropped Salgado in the opening round before finishing him off in the fourth.
Salgado had managed to pull himself from the canvas after the first knock down and managed to fight back valiantly in rounds 2 and 3 though with Mendez knowing just how much he could hurt Salgado the Mexican had little real chance other than to avoid the big shots coming his way. Sadly for Salgado he couldn't avoid them all and a vicious shot left him flat on the canvas as Mendez claimed his first world title.
Although Salgado's technical limitations were shown up thanks to the numerous counter shots of the talented Mendez it's likely he'll be back in the title mix soon enough with the Super Featherweight division not being that packed with talent. Sadly the depth at the the division os likely to decrease with Mendez hinting he may move to 135lbs next time out and seemed to be chasing a bout with Yuriorkis Gamboa at Lightweight (despite the face Gamboa himself has never fought at Lightweight).
Mendez, who had lost controversially to Salgado when the fighters first met back in September 2011 had promised a knock out and delivered as he made his point from the opening bell. Although Salgado is generally seen as durable and Mendez isn't seen as a huge puncher the Dominican was firing with bad intentions and dropped Salgado in the opening round before finishing him off in the fourth.
Salgado had managed to pull himself from the canvas after the first knock down and managed to fight back valiantly in rounds 2 and 3 though with Mendez knowing just how much he could hurt Salgado the Mexican had little real chance other than to avoid the big shots coming his way. Sadly for Salgado he couldn't avoid them all and a vicious shot left him flat on the canvas as Mendez claimed his first world title.
Although Salgado's technical limitations were shown up thanks to the numerous counter shots of the talented Mendez it's likely he'll be back in the title mix soon enough with the Super Featherweight division not being that packed with talent. Sadly the depth at the the division os likely to decrease with Mendez hinting he may move to 135lbs next time out and seemed to be chasing a bout with Yuriorkis Gamboa at Lightweight (despite the face Gamboa himself has never fought at Lightweight).
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Tavoris Cloud v Bernard Hopkins
The legendary Bernard Hopkins (53-6-2-1, 32) made history once again as he claimed the IBF Light Heavyweight title thanks to a clear decision win over the much younger Tavoris Cloud (24-1, 19) who suffered his first professional loss.
The 48 year old Hopkins did what he has made a career out of and controlled the pace and distance of the fight excellently by using his movement to stop Cloud from setting his feet and throwing flurries. Although Hopkins was some 17 years older than the defending champion he looked the more energetic as well as the more technically solid.
Whilst Hopkins often made Cloud look silly and took advantage of the champions lack of finesse, Cloud was dangerous himself and did appear on at least 1 occasion to hurt Hopkins to the body. Sadly for Cloud however his work was so limited due to Hopkin's excellent movement that he really failed to force the action as he should of done. In fact what little success Cloud did have came after he suffered a nasty cut on his eye that threatened to see Hopkins scoring his first stoppage in the better part of a decade.
It's been a whilst since Hopkins "executed" an opponent mentally, like he did to Kelly Pavlik though this was pretty close and I honestly think that Cloud will be a forgotten fighter, a lot like Pavlik is now a days. Cloud was made to question himself, he was made to look clueless at times and he was bullied up close by the veteran who showed his ability to control fighters once again.
After the fight Hopkins and Andre Ward shared a few words though it's highly known that the two share huge respect for each other so it's likely they were doing little more than giving each other props. Whilst many consider Ward to be "this generations" Hopkins it's fair to say that the original Hopkins still refuses to go away and the way he's been fighting in recent years there is every chance he could still be a champion come his 50th birthday.
The 48 year old Hopkins did what he has made a career out of and controlled the pace and distance of the fight excellently by using his movement to stop Cloud from setting his feet and throwing flurries. Although Hopkins was some 17 years older than the defending champion he looked the more energetic as well as the more technically solid.
Whilst Hopkins often made Cloud look silly and took advantage of the champions lack of finesse, Cloud was dangerous himself and did appear on at least 1 occasion to hurt Hopkins to the body. Sadly for Cloud however his work was so limited due to Hopkin's excellent movement that he really failed to force the action as he should of done. In fact what little success Cloud did have came after he suffered a nasty cut on his eye that threatened to see Hopkins scoring his first stoppage in the better part of a decade.
It's been a whilst since Hopkins "executed" an opponent mentally, like he did to Kelly Pavlik though this was pretty close and I honestly think that Cloud will be a forgotten fighter, a lot like Pavlik is now a days. Cloud was made to question himself, he was made to look clueless at times and he was bullied up close by the veteran who showed his ability to control fighters once again.
After the fight Hopkins and Andre Ward shared a few words though it's highly known that the two share huge respect for each other so it's likely they were doing little more than giving each other props. Whilst many consider Ward to be "this generations" Hopkins it's fair to say that the original Hopkins still refuses to go away and the way he's been fighting in recent years there is every chance he could still be a champion come his 50th birthday.
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Richar Abril v Sharif Bogere
Cuban Richar Abril (18-3-1, 8), who had previously been the WBA Lightweight champion made the first defense of the full version of the title as he out pointed the previous unbeaten Ugandan born Sharif Bogere (23-1, 15) in a messy yet entertaining bout that was marred by the awful officiating of Russell Mora who again raised more eye brows than anything else.
the bout started well for Bogere who started fast and launched himself at Abril in the early rounds. It wasn't pretty but Bogere's reckless style and aggression was certainly causing the defending champion real issues. Not only were Bogere's punches reckless and wild but he was also leading with his head and giving Abril 3 targets to avoid.
It was with the head that Bogere, who was dirty through out the fight, scored his most notable success as an accidental clash of heads opened up a cut over Abril's eye. Somehow the referee, Russell Mora seemed to avoid the leading with the head and instead repeatedly warned Abril for effectively protecting himself from Bogere's head.
Whilst Abril started to fight back well in the middle rounds and started to bag himself rounds he was always at risk of the head from Bogere. Sadly it was whilst looking after himself that Abril was deducted a point by Russell Mora who had taken it uAbril had been waned the deduction was genuinely unwarranted due to the style of Bogere who was charging forward almost like a rhino.
Thankfully Abril took the point deduction as a hint to get fighting and from then on he looked a class above Bogere as he landed counters on an onrushing and tiring opponent. The Ugandan showed heart and grit yet lacked the finesse in his attacks to really trouble Abril who had started landing combinations on to his challenger.
Unfortunately for the challenger his hopes were further dashed as he not only started to be tagged but was starting to get warned by Mora who was starting to realise that Bogere was the man causing the dirty action with his head. Eventually those infractions of Bogere got a well deserved point deduction in the final round as Abril managed to hold on, despite being bloodied to take a wide and comfortable decision.
Although Abril certainly wasn't at his best here, he showed some of the skills that would make Adrien Broner genuinely struggle with him. Bogere however showed that a size difference could play a big part in a fight as he struggled to get close to the champion and when he did he was smothered excellently.
the bout started well for Bogere who started fast and launched himself at Abril in the early rounds. It wasn't pretty but Bogere's reckless style and aggression was certainly causing the defending champion real issues. Not only were Bogere's punches reckless and wild but he was also leading with his head and giving Abril 3 targets to avoid.
It was with the head that Bogere, who was dirty through out the fight, scored his most notable success as an accidental clash of heads opened up a cut over Abril's eye. Somehow the referee, Russell Mora seemed to avoid the leading with the head and instead repeatedly warned Abril for effectively protecting himself from Bogere's head.
Whilst Abril started to fight back well in the middle rounds and started to bag himself rounds he was always at risk of the head from Bogere. Sadly it was whilst looking after himself that Abril was deducted a point by Russell Mora who had taken it uAbril had been waned the deduction was genuinely unwarranted due to the style of Bogere who was charging forward almost like a rhino.
Thankfully Abril took the point deduction as a hint to get fighting and from then on he looked a class above Bogere as he landed counters on an onrushing and tiring opponent. The Ugandan showed heart and grit yet lacked the finesse in his attacks to really trouble Abril who had started landing combinations on to his challenger.
Unfortunately for the challenger his hopes were further dashed as he not only started to be tagged but was starting to get warned by Mora who was starting to realise that Bogere was the man causing the dirty action with his head. Eventually those infractions of Bogere got a well deserved point deduction in the final round as Abril managed to hold on, despite being bloodied to take a wide and comfortable decision.
Although Abril certainly wasn't at his best here, he showed some of the skills that would make Adrien Broner genuinely struggle with him. Bogere however showed that a size difference could play a big part in a fight as he struggled to get close to the champion and when he did he was smothered excellently.
Pungluang Sor Singyu v Paulus Ambunda
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.
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.
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.
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