American Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero (30-1-1, 2, 18) successfully returned from over a year out of the ring by out pointing Turkish hardman Selcuk Aydin (23-1, 17) in a thoroughly entertaining bout for the WBC Interim Welterweight title.
In the early rounds Guerrero, who was making his Welterweight debut, used his speed and jab to out work his shorter and stockier opponent. The natural speed and the boxing ability of Guerrero combined with a high work rate allowed him to win the early rounds with out too much off a worry, though Aydin seemed like he was biding his time. Whilst inactive the Turk was accurate and his shorts had an air of truly raw power to them, especially the body shots.
By the middle rounds Guerrero had started to slow, the combination of his high work rate and the sapping body shots of Aydin and whilst Guerrero was still winning most of the rounds he was now being caught more, especially up close where Aydin was able to land his neck snapping upper cuts and more solid hurtful body blows. Guerrero may have bagged the rounds but he was starting to show signs of fatigue and continued to fade gradually as the bout went on with Aydin starting to out land him in the championship rounds.
Although comfortably up on the scorecards Guerrero was looking desperately tired going into the final round, Aydin, knowing the title was going to Guerrero if he didn't manage to score the stoppage went all out and seemed to hurt Guerrero a number of times. Although hurt Guerrero showed a lot of heart and courage to hold on and refuse to go down as he took a solid victory on the cards with scores of 117-111 and 116-112 (twice). Personally I felt the scores were a little wide but Guerrero, a former title holder at Featherweight, Super Featherweight and Lightweight did just enough to deserve a close victory.
Following the fight Aydin revealed that mentally he wasn't himself, years of boxing politics left him feeling drained going into this bout and as a result he lost. Guerrero on the other hand continued his pursuit for a mega payday with Floyd "Money" Mayweather (43-0, 26) calling out the unbeaten man who is generally regarded as the pound-for-pound top fighter in the world. Whilst Guerrero seems to want that fight I feel that Mayweather would put a real beating on the well liked Guerrero who is easily a level below Mayweather.
On the undercard unbeaten American Shawn Porter defeated Alfonso Gomez in an exciting 10 round affair (UD10) whilst British youngster George Groves defeated Francisco Sierra (TKO6) in anthother thoroughly entertaining bout.
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Monday, 23 July 2012
Diego Gabriel Chaves v Ismael El Massoudi
Back in April popular American Paulie Malignaggi went to the Ukraine and scored an upset win by stopping the previously unbeaten Vyacheslav Senchenko to claim the WBA Welterweight title. What many boxing fans (even the hardcore fans) may not have known was that the WBA also had an interim champion at Welterweight, the little known Ismael El Massoudi (36-4, 16). Massoudi had claimed his "title" back in July 2011 by beating French Souleymane M'baye via 12th round TKO when M'baye injured his knee with less than a minute of the bout remaining but hadn't fought since.
Over a year after winning the title El Massoudi went to Argentina and attempted to defend his title for the first time against the fearsome punching Argentinian Diego Gabriel Chaves (21-0, 17). Whilst Chaves hadn't mixed in world level company he was seen as one of Argentina's most promising young stars and had been dubbed "La Joya" (The Jewel).
The unbeaten Argentinian set off from the first bell with nasty intent and banged away at El Massoudi straight from the off intent to make a statement. Whilst the defending champion saw out the first round he had already felt the power of the young and hungry challenger who went straight back to work in the second round. Early in the second round El Massoudi was dropped for the first time and Chaves flirted with a point deduction, or even disqualification for landing a punch on his downed opponent. Although El Massoudi did manage to recover to his feet the damage was already done and it wasn't long until Chaves scored one of the outstanding KO's of the year with a beautiful straight right hand down the pipe.
At just 26 years old Chaves has just thrown his hat into the Welterweight division with a statement that perhaps should have others, such as Kell Brook at least a little bit worried.
Over a year after winning the title El Massoudi went to Argentina and attempted to defend his title for the first time against the fearsome punching Argentinian Diego Gabriel Chaves (21-0, 17). Whilst Chaves hadn't mixed in world level company he was seen as one of Argentina's most promising young stars and had been dubbed "La Joya" (The Jewel).
The unbeaten Argentinian set off from the first bell with nasty intent and banged away at El Massoudi straight from the off intent to make a statement. Whilst the defending champion saw out the first round he had already felt the power of the young and hungry challenger who went straight back to work in the second round. Early in the second round El Massoudi was dropped for the first time and Chaves flirted with a point deduction, or even disqualification for landing a punch on his downed opponent. Although El Massoudi did manage to recover to his feet the damage was already done and it wasn't long until Chaves scored one of the outstanding KO's of the year with a beautiful straight right hand down the pipe.
At just 26 years old Chaves has just thrown his hat into the Welterweight division with a statement that perhaps should have others, such as Kell Brook at least a little bit worried.
Adrien Broner v Vicente Escobedo
Despite unbeaten American Adrien Broner (24-0, 20) maintaining his unbeaten record by stopping Vincente Escobedo (26-4, 15) in the 5th round he didn't manage to keep his WBO Super Featherweight title following a farcical weekend for the man known as "The Problem" which brought into question his professionalism and attitude to the sport of boxing.
At the official weigh in for what was supposed to be a Super Featherweight title defence Broner weighed in at 133.5lbs, the following morning Broner was 143lbs (despite agreeing to be 140lb) and by the time of the fight he had gone all the way up to 148lbs. Whilst talented his inability to make the contracted weight (130lbs) or the agreed weight (140lbs) brings into a lot of questions for the man who was tweeting images of Twinkies, Sundae's and Twix Ice Cream bars in the lead up to the fight.
Escobedo, for his part in the pre-fight shenanigans used his position of being able to call the bout off incredibly well to get a very nice cash pay off (rumoured to be around an additional $50,000 on top of his original purse). Sadly however he was simply too small and too slow in the ring to give Broner too many issues with Broner winning the opening 4 rounds before closing the show in the 5th round.
Broner started the bout well by out boxing Escobedo and whilst Escobedo managed to land a number of jabs and straights of his own they simply had no effect at all on Broner. Although the first round was moderately close the second showed the power difference with Escobedo looking wobbly legged at one point. Broner would then bust Escobedo's nose in round 3. Whilst Escobedo fought the 4th round bravely he was imply out classed and Broner walked him down in round 5 detonating solid head shots time and time again before the referee finally waved the bout off.
The title, only on the line for Escobedo, is now vacant throwing yet more confusion on the Super Featherweight division. Despite losing the Super Featherweight title Broner is now in line to fight for the WBO Lightweight title against either Ricky Burns or Kevin Mitchell due to some simply bizarre ruling by the WBO.
Whilst I'm not one for cheap jibes, I'm considering calling Broner "The Weight Problem" in future if he ever misses weight again.
At the official weigh in for what was supposed to be a Super Featherweight title defence Broner weighed in at 133.5lbs, the following morning Broner was 143lbs (despite agreeing to be 140lb) and by the time of the fight he had gone all the way up to 148lbs. Whilst talented his inability to make the contracted weight (130lbs) or the agreed weight (140lbs) brings into a lot of questions for the man who was tweeting images of Twinkies, Sundae's and Twix Ice Cream bars in the lead up to the fight.
Escobedo, for his part in the pre-fight shenanigans used his position of being able to call the bout off incredibly well to get a very nice cash pay off (rumoured to be around an additional $50,000 on top of his original purse). Sadly however he was simply too small and too slow in the ring to give Broner too many issues with Broner winning the opening 4 rounds before closing the show in the 5th round.
Broner started the bout well by out boxing Escobedo and whilst Escobedo managed to land a number of jabs and straights of his own they simply had no effect at all on Broner. Although the first round was moderately close the second showed the power difference with Escobedo looking wobbly legged at one point. Broner would then bust Escobedo's nose in round 3. Whilst Escobedo fought the 4th round bravely he was imply out classed and Broner walked him down in round 5 detonating solid head shots time and time again before the referee finally waved the bout off.
The title, only on the line for Escobedo, is now vacant throwing yet more confusion on the Super Featherweight division. Despite losing the Super Featherweight title Broner is now in line to fight for the WBO Lightweight title against either Ricky Burns or Kevin Mitchell due to some simply bizarre ruling by the WBO.
Whilst I'm not one for cheap jibes, I'm considering calling Broner "The Weight Problem" in future if he ever misses weight again.
Pablo Cesar Cano v Johan Perez
A week ago Danny Garcia claimed the WBC, Ring and WBA "Super" titles at Light Welterweight by scoring a notable upset victory over Amir Khan. Just 7 days later the WBA "interim" Light Welterweight title was on the line as the defending champion Johan Perez (15-1-1, 12) faced the popular Mexican Pablo Cesar Cano (25-1-1, 19).
Going into the bout Perez was all but unknown by those outside of the genuinely hardcore who had followed his career (much of which has been spent in Panama). Despite this Perez had scored some notable results including a draw with unbeaten Panamanian Alberto Mosquera and a victory over hard punching Puerto Rican Kenny Galarza. Sadly however Perez was "just another" WBA interim champion and not one that seemed likely to get much attention unless he was able to make his name in the US.
Unlike Perez, Cano was moderately well known having first come to the attention of the wider boxing world back in September 2011 when he lost a hard fought bout with Mexican boxing legend Erik Morales for the WBC Light Welterweight title. Despite Cano losing to Morales he put on a brave performance despite his face swelling and cutting badly as Morales claimed a 4th divisional title.
The bout started well for Perez who arguably took 2 of the first 3 rounds before Cano managed to find his range and warm to the occasion landing solid jabs and causing a cut on Perez's face in the 4th round. The 4th was the momentum changer with Cano clearly taking the round and he followed up by taking the and 6th rounds. The bout ended in round 7 following a clash that resulted in Cano being cut and the score cards being turned to early with Cano taking a majority technical decision and the WBA "interim" Light Welterweight title.
Whilst I do like Cano, he's a brave kid who seems to be improving, I can't help but feel his defensive liabilities and his propensity for marking up (and cutting) will make his reign (and career) rather short lived. Whilst Perez may well end up calling for a rematch I doubt he'll manage to get it and instead he may well fade back into obscurity as part of the "who needs him?" club.
Going into the bout Perez was all but unknown by those outside of the genuinely hardcore who had followed his career (much of which has been spent in Panama). Despite this Perez had scored some notable results including a draw with unbeaten Panamanian Alberto Mosquera and a victory over hard punching Puerto Rican Kenny Galarza. Sadly however Perez was "just another" WBA interim champion and not one that seemed likely to get much attention unless he was able to make his name in the US.
Unlike Perez, Cano was moderately well known having first come to the attention of the wider boxing world back in September 2011 when he lost a hard fought bout with Mexican boxing legend Erik Morales for the WBC Light Welterweight title. Despite Cano losing to Morales he put on a brave performance despite his face swelling and cutting badly as Morales claimed a 4th divisional title.
The bout started well for Perez who arguably took 2 of the first 3 rounds before Cano managed to find his range and warm to the occasion landing solid jabs and causing a cut on Perez's face in the 4th round. The 4th was the momentum changer with Cano clearly taking the round and he followed up by taking the and 6th rounds. The bout ended in round 7 following a clash that resulted in Cano being cut and the score cards being turned to early with Cano taking a majority technical decision and the WBA "interim" Light Welterweight title.
Whilst I do like Cano, he's a brave kid who seems to be improving, I can't help but feel his defensive liabilities and his propensity for marking up (and cutting) will make his reign (and career) rather short lived. Whilst Perez may well end up calling for a rematch I doubt he'll manage to get it and instead he may well fade back into obscurity as part of the "who needs him?" club.
Bryan Vasquez v Jorge Lacierva
Personally I find the whole "world title" scene a bit of a joke and the "interim" WBA Super Featherweight title is a perfect example of what is wrong with the sport. Just days after WBA Super Featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama scored a 3 round technical draw with Filipino challenger Michael Farenas, the WBA "interim" Super Featherweight Champion Bryan Vazquez (29-0, 15) successfully defneded his title against Jorge Lacierva (41-9-6, 27).
The 24 year old Vazquez, of Costa Rica is one of the more under-rated fighters in world boxing and arguably the most deserving contender out there to currently be fighting for a world title. Sadly however Vazquez holds the "interim" title that he won last November by decisioning Nicaraguan Santos Benavide. Against Lacierva we saw Vazquez making his first defense, sadly however the bout told us little we didn't already know about either guy.
The challenger, Lacierva, a Mexican veteran has been around the block a few times and debuted way back in 1994 when Vazquez himself was only 7 years old. Lecierva's first title was won at Flyweight (112lbs) back in 1997 and since then he has lost at world level at Super Flyweight (technical decision loss to Marc Johnson back in 1999), Super Bantamweight (a 12 round decision loss to Celestino Caballero in 2007) and at Featherweight (a 12 round decision loss to Billy Dib in 2011). Quite what he did to deserve a "world title" fight up at Super Featherweight since losing to Dib is a real mystery to me.
Whilst I'm not a fan of the fight, or the title that was on the line I will admit I'm proud of the way Vazquez did the job at hand. Lacierva tried all the dirty veteran tricks in the book but Vazquez adapted to them and broke down the Mexican with solid counter shots. Lacierva was eventually stopped in round 9 following a body shot having been put down once earlier in the same round. It was only the second time in Lacierva's long career that he'd been stopped.
Now, if the WBA are reading this, can we please stop this nonsense of having interim titles and "regular" titles defended on the same week? If I can't have Uchiyama v Ao later this year how about Uchiyama v Vazquez, if only to get rid of this stupid interim title!
The 24 year old Vazquez, of Costa Rica is one of the more under-rated fighters in world boxing and arguably the most deserving contender out there to currently be fighting for a world title. Sadly however Vazquez holds the "interim" title that he won last November by decisioning Nicaraguan Santos Benavide. Against Lacierva we saw Vazquez making his first defense, sadly however the bout told us little we didn't already know about either guy.
The challenger, Lacierva, a Mexican veteran has been around the block a few times and debuted way back in 1994 when Vazquez himself was only 7 years old. Lecierva's first title was won at Flyweight (112lbs) back in 1997 and since then he has lost at world level at Super Flyweight (technical decision loss to Marc Johnson back in 1999), Super Bantamweight (a 12 round decision loss to Celestino Caballero in 2007) and at Featherweight (a 12 round decision loss to Billy Dib in 2011). Quite what he did to deserve a "world title" fight up at Super Featherweight since losing to Dib is a real mystery to me.
Whilst I'm not a fan of the fight, or the title that was on the line I will admit I'm proud of the way Vazquez did the job at hand. Lacierva tried all the dirty veteran tricks in the book but Vazquez adapted to them and broke down the Mexican with solid counter shots. Lacierva was eventually stopped in round 9 following a body shot having been put down once earlier in the same round. It was only the second time in Lacierva's long career that he'd been stopped.
Now, if the WBA are reading this, can we please stop this nonsense of having interim titles and "regular" titles defended on the same week? If I can't have Uchiyama v Ao later this year how about Uchiyama v Vazquez, if only to get rid of this stupid interim title!
Sunday, 22 July 2012
Takashi Uchiyama v Michael Farenas
WBA Super Featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama (18-0-1, 15) suffered the first blotch on his record so far after a clash of heads saw his fight with Filipino challenger Michael Farenas (34-3-4-1, 26) ending in a 3rd round technical draw and a very nasty cut for the champion.
Uchiyama, seen by many as the #1 guy at 130lbs came into the bout riding an 8 fight T/KO streak which had seen him stopping top competition including the experienced Jorge Solis and the highly rated Juan Carlos Salgado. Despite his reputation however Uchiyama was unable to impose his will on the much more experienced Farenas who moved well and neutralised much of Uchiyama's thunderous power.
After 2 intriguing, but not hugely exciting rounds, Uchiyama seemed to turn up the heat early in the 3rd before a clash of heads forced referee, Raul Caiz Sr to take Uchiyama over to the ringside Dr. The Dr decided the cut, which was sizable, was too severe to allow the bout to continuing rendering an early and unsatisfactory ending to proceeding.
Although a rematch is a possibility we'd much rather see an all Japanese WBA/WBC "unification" bout between Uchiyama and Takahiro Ao as the division looks for clear direction. Sadly the Super Featherweight division lacks any real star power and the best it has seems to be the group of emerging prospects including Javier Fortuna and Jomthong Chuwatana neither of which are quite ready to fight for a world title.
Uchiyama, seen by many as the #1 guy at 130lbs came into the bout riding an 8 fight T/KO streak which had seen him stopping top competition including the experienced Jorge Solis and the highly rated Juan Carlos Salgado. Despite his reputation however Uchiyama was unable to impose his will on the much more experienced Farenas who moved well and neutralised much of Uchiyama's thunderous power.
After 2 intriguing, but not hugely exciting rounds, Uchiyama seemed to turn up the heat early in the 3rd before a clash of heads forced referee, Raul Caiz Sr to take Uchiyama over to the ringside Dr. The Dr decided the cut, which was sizable, was too severe to allow the bout to continuing rendering an early and unsatisfactory ending to proceeding.
Although a rematch is a possibility we'd much rather see an all Japanese WBA/WBC "unification" bout between Uchiyama and Takahiro Ao as the division looks for clear direction. Sadly the Super Featherweight division lacks any real star power and the best it has seems to be the group of emerging prospects including Javier Fortuna and Jomthong Chuwatana neither of which are quite ready to fight for a world title.
Friday, 20 July 2012
Toshiyuki Igarashi v Sonny Boy Jaro
Back in March the boxing world got it's first big upset of the year as one of the all time great Flyweights, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam was stopped in just 6 rounds by the unheralded Sonny Boy Jaro (34-11-5, 24). With the win over Wonjongkam, Jaro claimed the WBC and Ring Flyweight titles and was now making his first defence of the title as he took on the highly regarded Japanese fighter Toshiyuki Igarashi (16-1-1, 10), a former Japanese champion.
The fight started with Igarashi controlling the range well with his more controlled and accurate boxing but every so often Jaro would catch Igarashi with a solid shot as both men repeatedly tested the others' resolve. What started out as a high paced boxer v brawler contested would soon become an incredibly competitive war of wills as both men banged solid shots off the other head. It swiftly become Igarashi's crisper punching and superior handspeed against Jaro's teak tough chin and wild but thudding swipes as neither man took a step backwards. After 4 rounds the judges were split, with a score of 39-37 either way and a draw on the 3rd card.
During the middle rounds it seemed as if Igarashi started to pull ahead of the champion managing to show some glimpses of genuine class but then every time he looked like he was starting to control the bout Jaro would come charging back and try to steal the round. It seemed as if the world title meant everything to both men as neither man backed down. After 8 rounds it appeared as though we were set to crown a new champion then out of nowhere Jaro produced easily his best round and it suddenly appeared as if Igarashi, who had only gone 9 rounds 3 times in his career was starting to tire. Jaro seemed to be coming back into the bout and in a big way.
Going into the championship rounds it was anyone's game and whilst we had Igarashi in a slight lead we could see an argument for almost any score possible with only 3 or 4 clear rounds in the first 10. The 11th round however was, like round 9, a clear Jaro as he caused a nasty cut on Igarashi's eye and landed a number of heavy shots, it seemed as if Jaro was trying to close the show and whilst Igarashi wasn't badly hurt he struggled to get much off offensively.
Knowing the bout was close both men put it all on the line in round 12 with Igarashi taking the round and almost forcing down at one point as Igarashi turned up the heat and took the round with a blistering final 90 seconds.
The fight, one of the best of the year, was competitive through out with the score cards (116-112, 115-113, 112-116) all reflecting the competitive nature of the bout though it was Igarashi's work that was preferred by 2 of the judges with him taking the title back home. For Jaro it may well be his farewell, for Igarashi however it may be his coming out party. Whilst it's unlikely we would love a rematch between these two before Jaro hangs them up.
The fight started with Igarashi controlling the range well with his more controlled and accurate boxing but every so often Jaro would catch Igarashi with a solid shot as both men repeatedly tested the others' resolve. What started out as a high paced boxer v brawler contested would soon become an incredibly competitive war of wills as both men banged solid shots off the other head. It swiftly become Igarashi's crisper punching and superior handspeed against Jaro's teak tough chin and wild but thudding swipes as neither man took a step backwards. After 4 rounds the judges were split, with a score of 39-37 either way and a draw on the 3rd card.
During the middle rounds it seemed as if Igarashi started to pull ahead of the champion managing to show some glimpses of genuine class but then every time he looked like he was starting to control the bout Jaro would come charging back and try to steal the round. It seemed as if the world title meant everything to both men as neither man backed down. After 8 rounds it appeared as though we were set to crown a new champion then out of nowhere Jaro produced easily his best round and it suddenly appeared as if Igarashi, who had only gone 9 rounds 3 times in his career was starting to tire. Jaro seemed to be coming back into the bout and in a big way.
Going into the championship rounds it was anyone's game and whilst we had Igarashi in a slight lead we could see an argument for almost any score possible with only 3 or 4 clear rounds in the first 10. The 11th round however was, like round 9, a clear Jaro as he caused a nasty cut on Igarashi's eye and landed a number of heavy shots, it seemed as if Jaro was trying to close the show and whilst Igarashi wasn't badly hurt he struggled to get much off offensively.
Knowing the bout was close both men put it all on the line in round 12 with Igarashi taking the round and almost forcing down at one point as Igarashi turned up the heat and took the round with a blistering final 90 seconds.
The fight, one of the best of the year, was competitive through out with the score cards (116-112, 115-113, 112-116) all reflecting the competitive nature of the bout though it was Igarashi's work that was preferred by 2 of the judges with him taking the title back home. For Jaro it may well be his farewell, for Igarashi however it may be his coming out party. Whilst it's unlikely we would love a rematch between these two before Jaro hangs them up.
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