As we all know boxers start young in Mexico, and 17 year old Miguel Angel Gonzalez (7-0, 7) was no exception to that rule when he debuted in September 2011 as just a baby faced 16 year old. Since his debut however "Miguelito" has been spoken about in glowing terms by the likes of WBC head honcho Jose Sulaiman (who mentioned "Miguelito" on his Suljosblog).
Gonzalez debuted against Mexican tomato can Javier Castro (currently 1-12 (1), having won his last fight) and forced an opening round stoppage after just 152 seconds. Whilst the performance wasn't great Gonzalez did what he needed to to get the win under his belt and ease his nerves in the ring. Just weeks later Gonzalez returned to the ring and defeated the debuting Joaquin Morales (KO1) and managed to end the year with his 3rd successive opening round KO win, this time stopping Norberto Gamez.
After a busy 2011, Gonzalez kept up his busy schedule and fought for the first time this year way back in February stopping Antonio Gonzalez (KO2) in brutal fashion leaving his namesake on the canvas down and out. Shockingly, this has been "Miguelito's" only bout to progress beyond the opening round as he has since rolled off 3 more opening round victories including stopping debutant Santos Lozoya and the previously unbeaten Francisco Camargo in just 44 seconds!
Having had things his own way so far, Gonzalez is expected to be tested for the first time this weekend as he faces the 2-0 Emir Montano. Whilst Montano is yet to score a stoppage, he is also yet to decisively lose a round in his professional career. Whilst not much is known about Montano it's fair to assume he will not be wanting to roll over and give up his unbeaten record with out a fight which is why this is hopefully going to be a decent test for Gonzalez.
Whilst I'm not great at Spanish, it seems as if Miguelito is actually the brother of Robert "Tito" Manzanarez (20-0, 16) (however this maybe a case of brothers being "boxing brothers" rather than biological brothers) however from his record it's fair to say that bother men have a few things in common. Both are young, exciting, hard hitting Mexicans who are likely to go a very long way in this sport.
It may be a whilst before "Miguelito" is in a really notable bout, though I'd advise fight fans the world over to keep their eyes open for this kid.
Showing posts with label Mexican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexican. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Monday, 3 September 2012
Miguel Berchelt
Mexican Super Featherweight Miguel Berchelt (15-0, 12) may not currently be a big name but it's hard to imagine that the 20 year old will not, sometime soon, become a name on the lips of every hardcore boxing fan.
The unbeaten fighter based in Mérida, Yucatán made his professional debut less than 2 years ago having had a solid amateur career. On Debut he stopped Armin Chan in just 2 rounds before racking up 7 more consecutive T/KO victories to swiftly move to 8-0 (8). He wasn't stopping his early opponents but he was stopping them quickly with his bouts rarely going into a 3rd round.
Miguel's T/KO streak came to an end in his ninth bout, which coincidentally was his first bout to go beyond 3 rounds. Despite going beyond 3 rounds it failed to go to the final bell as Miguel Chi got himself disqualified in round 5 following a deliberate headbutt. following his win over Chi, Berchelt was again taken beyond 3 rounds, this time stopping the unbeaten Pablo Batres in the 5th round.
Amazingly it wasn't until his 11th bout that Berchelt was taken to the final bell as the tough journeyman Cristian Palafox managed to see out the 6 round distance, though lose a clear decision.
By the end of 2011 Berchelt had swiftly moved his record to an impressive 12-0 (10) and whilst he hadn't faced anyone of note he had still be very impressive for such a youngster. It was earlier this year however that Berchelt started to really make waves. Not only did he start the year by blasting out Alberto Chuc (who had amazingly taken the hard punching Carlos Cuadras to a split decision). Berchelt then beat the previously unbeaten Carlos Orozco, dropping Orozco in round 2 on-route to a 6 round decision. Most recently Berchelt took out Sergio Lopez in 99 seconds to move to 15-0 (12).
In just a few days time Berchelt will be looking for win #16 as he faces the much more experienced Nicaraguan Berman Sanchez (26-4-3, 18) who has made his name fighting in Costa Rica. Despite losing last time out, Sanchez has scored a very notable draw with current IBF Super Featherweight champion Juan Carlos Salgado though admittedly that was way back in 2005. This should be a very credibly test for Berchelt who, if he wins, will likely move on to better fights in the near future.
Video below is thanks to porrork93 and shows an early bout of Berchelt's in which after a poor opening round he shows impressive body shots in the second before forcing the stoppage.
The unbeaten fighter based in Mérida, Yucatán made his professional debut less than 2 years ago having had a solid amateur career. On Debut he stopped Armin Chan in just 2 rounds before racking up 7 more consecutive T/KO victories to swiftly move to 8-0 (8). He wasn't stopping his early opponents but he was stopping them quickly with his bouts rarely going into a 3rd round.
Miguel's T/KO streak came to an end in his ninth bout, which coincidentally was his first bout to go beyond 3 rounds. Despite going beyond 3 rounds it failed to go to the final bell as Miguel Chi got himself disqualified in round 5 following a deliberate headbutt. following his win over Chi, Berchelt was again taken beyond 3 rounds, this time stopping the unbeaten Pablo Batres in the 5th round.
Amazingly it wasn't until his 11th bout that Berchelt was taken to the final bell as the tough journeyman Cristian Palafox managed to see out the 6 round distance, though lose a clear decision.
By the end of 2011 Berchelt had swiftly moved his record to an impressive 12-0 (10) and whilst he hadn't faced anyone of note he had still be very impressive for such a youngster. It was earlier this year however that Berchelt started to really make waves. Not only did he start the year by blasting out Alberto Chuc (who had amazingly taken the hard punching Carlos Cuadras to a split decision). Berchelt then beat the previously unbeaten Carlos Orozco, dropping Orozco in round 2 on-route to a 6 round decision. Most recently Berchelt took out Sergio Lopez in 99 seconds to move to 15-0 (12).
In just a few days time Berchelt will be looking for win #16 as he faces the much more experienced Nicaraguan Berman Sanchez (26-4-3, 18) who has made his name fighting in Costa Rica. Despite losing last time out, Sanchez has scored a very notable draw with current IBF Super Featherweight champion Juan Carlos Salgado though admittedly that was way back in 2005. This should be a very credibly test for Berchelt who, if he wins, will likely move on to better fights in the near future.
Video below is thanks to porrork93 and shows an early bout of Berchelt's in which after a poor opening round he shows impressive body shots in the second before forcing the stoppage.
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Julio Ceja
When you get a 19 year old with more than a handful of fights you tend to get a little bit excited and with Mexicans it maybe a little expected but sometimes there is just something about the fighter that makes you more than a little bit interested and that's what we have in Julio Ceja who at 19 has a record of 17-0 (16).
Ceja made his debut in 2009 aged just 16 and stopped Floro Carranza in the opening round before being taken 4 rounds by Fernando Curiel in September 2009, the fight with Curiel has been the one and only time that Ceja has had to hear the final bell as he has ran through opponents with alarming ease. By the end of 2009 Ceja had moved to 5-0 (4) with 3 opening round wins. The following year Ceja would add 7 more wins, each of those coming by KO/TKO with another 2 coming in the opening round as he swiftly moved to 12-0 (11).
Now I won't pretend that Ceja's first 12 opponents were anything to right home about, most were unknown fighters with only a handful of rounds of experience though in 2011 Ceja proved that he could face a better quality of opponent and still impress. In his 15th fight Ceja fought Cesar Javier Gandara (who entered 14-1) in a bout for the vacant WBC FECARBOX Super Flyweight title, Gandara, like 13 men before him was stopped as Ceja continued his tear through the ranks. In his next fight Ceja stopped the then 12-0 Alejandro Morales in just 1 round.
Whilst it is fair to say that Grandara and Morales weren't that experienced themselves despite having solid looking paper records it's now time that Ceja did face his first real test and this coming weekend he faces Ronald Barrera (30-8-2, 19). Barrera of Barranquilla, Colombia is a talented southpaw who has repeatedly challenged for world titles over the past few years (and arguably beat the great Ivan Calderon back in 2007). Although he has yet to win a world title has has faced Yutaka Niida (WBA Minimumweight champion), Ivan Calderon (WBO Minimumweight champion), Raul Garcia (IBF Minimumweight champion), Omar Nino Romero (WBC Light Flyweigth champion) and Juan Carlos Reveco (WBA Interim Light Flyweight champion) with 6 of his 8 losses coming to these men.
Whilst Ceja may prove to be too big, strong and too good for Barrera the bout is a decent test for the Mexican Super Flyweight against a talented and proven fighter. Whilst I'd expect Ceja to add another stoppage victim to his record this is easily going to be the most impressive opponent he will have faced in his short and impressive career.
Note an updated piece on Ceja can be found at http://www.boxingprospects.info/1/post/2012/04/julio-ceja.html
Footage below thanks to marvinkbox
Ceja made his debut in 2009 aged just 16 and stopped Floro Carranza in the opening round before being taken 4 rounds by Fernando Curiel in September 2009, the fight with Curiel has been the one and only time that Ceja has had to hear the final bell as he has ran through opponents with alarming ease. By the end of 2009 Ceja had moved to 5-0 (4) with 3 opening round wins. The following year Ceja would add 7 more wins, each of those coming by KO/TKO with another 2 coming in the opening round as he swiftly moved to 12-0 (11).
Now I won't pretend that Ceja's first 12 opponents were anything to right home about, most were unknown fighters with only a handful of rounds of experience though in 2011 Ceja proved that he could face a better quality of opponent and still impress. In his 15th fight Ceja fought Cesar Javier Gandara (who entered 14-1) in a bout for the vacant WBC FECARBOX Super Flyweight title, Gandara, like 13 men before him was stopped as Ceja continued his tear through the ranks. In his next fight Ceja stopped the then 12-0 Alejandro Morales in just 1 round.
Whilst it is fair to say that Grandara and Morales weren't that experienced themselves despite having solid looking paper records it's now time that Ceja did face his first real test and this coming weekend he faces Ronald Barrera (30-8-2, 19). Barrera of Barranquilla, Colombia is a talented southpaw who has repeatedly challenged for world titles over the past few years (and arguably beat the great Ivan Calderon back in 2007). Although he has yet to win a world title has has faced Yutaka Niida (WBA Minimumweight champion), Ivan Calderon (WBO Minimumweight champion), Raul Garcia (IBF Minimumweight champion), Omar Nino Romero (WBC Light Flyweigth champion) and Juan Carlos Reveco (WBA Interim Light Flyweight champion) with 6 of his 8 losses coming to these men.
Whilst Ceja may prove to be too big, strong and too good for Barrera the bout is a decent test for the Mexican Super Flyweight against a talented and proven fighter. Whilst I'd expect Ceja to add another stoppage victim to his record this is easily going to be the most impressive opponent he will have faced in his short and impressive career.
Note an updated piece on Ceja can be found at http://www.boxingprospects.info/1/post/2012/04/julio-ceja.html
Footage below thanks to marvinkbox
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Boxing Prospects: Where are they now?
Since I started this blog back in March 2011 I have mentioned over 30 fighters so it seems only fitting, before the year ends, to see where the fighters have come since they were mentioned originally in this blog.
Carlos Ivan Velasquez-The biggest disappointment was our first prospect. Carlos hasn't fought in 17 months now after beating the tough Eduardo Arcos back in July 2010. Velasquez was a fighter I was genuinely very excited about though he appears to have just vanished off the face of the planet. The 27 year and his twin brother (Juan Carlos Velazquez, 10-1, 5) have both been MIA despite turning professional together in 2007.
Billy Joe Saunders-The British Olympian has moved on well since we looked at him back in April and has added 4 wins, 3 by KO to move his record to an excellent 11-0 (7). The stand out victory for Billy Joe came against the tough Gary Boulden in a fight for the Southern Area middleweight title, it was the first time Saunders was forced to fight for 10 rounds and he managed to pass the test with out too many struggles as he picked up his first professional title.
Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez-Sanchez was 16-0 (14) when we mentioned him back in April and since then the young Mexican has moved from strength to strength adding 4 more wins (all by KO) to move to 20-0 (18) and has started to get serious attention of boxing fans around the world. Sanchez now holds wins over former title challenger Oney Valdez and the teak tough Samuel Miller, in fact the win over Miller was the first time Miller had been stopped in 29 fights.
Rakhim Chakhkiev-The Cruiserweight division has got the real shot in the arm that it has needed for a while thanks to the real emergence of the Russian bruiser. Chakhkiev was another fighter we mentioned in April who went on to add some solid names to his record. Firstly he beat Harvey Jolly and then he become the first man to stop the veteran Michael Simms. Chakhkiev turns 29 early next year and hopefully his handlers realise it's time to let him off the leash and at the divisions champions.
Gary Russell Jr-What a year the young American has had, he was a promising youngster when we mentioned him in April though he has really built on his record since then. Russell has added 5 wins to his record since we mentioned him and moved to 19-0 (11) in impressive fashion. Most recently Russell viciously KO'd Heriberto Ruiz in a single destructive round. Although Boxnation's Steve Lillis seemed to feel that Russell's hype had been created by "youtube clips" even he seemed impressed after the victory over Ruiz.
Karl Place-Manchester's young Light Welterweight prospect is one of the very few fighters that we've mentioned that have lost this year. Place had a very busy year since we mentioned him in April and sadly suffered a huge upset loss at the hands of Steve Williams just over a week ago. Place's record currently stands at 15-1 (8) though the loss should really be a sign that the 23 year old needs to move up a division as making 140 must weaken the 5'11" fighter.
Tomas Dulorme-We mentioned just 8 days before he impressive blew out Harrison Cuello in 2 rounds on the undercard of Martinez v Dzinziruk. Since then Dulorme has had the development fights that we called for and looked very impressive in out pointing the tough and experienced DeMarcus Corley dropping "Chop chop" and dominating the fight to claim the NABA USA welterweight title. Dulorme has defended his title once when he widely outpointed former title challenger Charlie Jose Navarro. Dulorme is now 13-0 (10) and is one of the hottest Welterweight Prospects in the world today.
Carlos Negron-Negron was the only other fighter we mentioned that lost (along with Place). Negron's loss to former Light Middleweight Epifanio Mendoza was a huge shock and upset and saw Negron fall to 13-1 (9). Sadly it's left massive doubt over Negron's future and it could lead to a very long journey to rebuild the gigantic (6'6") 23 year old. Not only will Negron's confidence be shattered but long term questions about his durability will linger for years, if he returns to the ring.
Jamie Kavanagh-The Irish born prospect who is now trained by Freddie Roach started the year well and when we covered him in April he was 5-0 (2) and about to make his UK debut. Whilst Kavanagh won his UK debut (out pointing Sid Razak) he has recently suffered the first blemish on his record as he struggled to a draw with difficult Ramesis Gil on the undercard of Khan v Peterson. The draw with Gil was another case of Freddie Roach's fighter failing to live up to the expectations and may signal that Kavanagh needs to change something.
John Jackson-We looked at the exciting Jackson the eve before his bout with Welson Alves de Oliveira a bout that Jackson dominated en route to a 3rd round TKO. Jackson, the son of the fearsome Julian Jackson currently stands at 11-0 (10) and looks to add to his record when he fights for the WBC Youth Light Middleweight title against the unbeaten Keandre Leatherwood. The fight with Leatherwood takes place next Friday on a very interest card that is headlined by Marco Antonio Rubio v Matt Vanda.
Froilan Saludar-The Filipino puncher was recently featured in a piece looking at the top Pinoy Prospects and is quickly becoming one of the most talked about youngsters in the sport due to his combination of skills, speed and power. Since we mentioned Saludar he has fought twice to move his record to 13-0-1 (10) and was taken into the 10th round for the first time when he beat Gabriel Pumar in a fight for the WBO Asian Pacific Flyweight title. Saludar is expected to fight once more before the end of the year though his opponent is not yet known.
Joe Hanks-At the start of the year I picked Hanks out as the American Heavyweight to watch...it now seems that may not have been the best after all as Seth Mitchell has really made progress whilst Hanks hasn't really moved up. Despite scoring 3 victories since we wrote about him none of them were particularly note worthy, in fact the most noteworthy thing about them was that Hanks couldn't stop Alfredo Escalera Jr in 10 rounds of action. Hanks does look like he could go places but needs to desperately step up before Mitchell leaves him in his shadow.
Marco Antonio Periban-The Mexican Super Middleweight prospect is now 15-0 (10) and is amongst a number of quickly emerging fighters in one of boxing's most exciting divisions. Periban has added 3 wins since we covered him back in April and whilst they weren't amazing opponents he did deal with solid journeymen very well. Whilst Periban is inexperienced as a professional it is time he stepped up and perhaps looked for a fight with someone like Edison Miranda sometime next year, we know Miranda can bang but he can be hurt, it would test Periban's toughness, skill and his own power.
Kubrat Pulev-The former elite amateur seemed to be on the fast track to a world title fight after a number of notable wins but now the Bulgarian heavyweight is perhaps going to be put on a somewhat slower path. At 14-0 (6) he has a solid record and does hold some decent wins, though his recent fight with Travis Walker told us things. The first thing we learned about Pulev was that he didn't hit particularly hard as he landed a huge number of clean shots on Walker, the second was that he could be hurt as he was shaken by Walker a number of times, but maybe the most worrying is he doesn't have that extra gear that he needs if he wishes to make a dent on a Klitschko.
Sylvester Lopez-Lopez is one of the most under-rated Filipino's in the sport today and arguably the most forgotten due to the fact he currently has 3 losses on his record, but the 5 year pro is really coming good. When we mentioned him he was 15-3-1 and since then he has added 3 more wins, all by KO to move to a much more impressive 18-3-1 (14) including a notable victory over Oscar Ibarra for the WBC Silver Super Flyweight title. Although Lopez fought at Super Bantamweight last time out he could go back to Super Flyweight and have a very interesting fight with WBC champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai.
Sadam Ali-American Olympian Sadam Ali is still one of the most promising young Americans in the sport though since we wrote about him he has still be kept on a leash. We looked at him prior to his bout with John Revish which he would go on to win by decision though he was rocked big time late in the fight. Ali has only scored 1 other win since we covered him and it was a win over a low level opponent in a bout that really shouldn't be taken too seriously for Ali. We all want Ali to step up a level though it seems like his management want to hold him down for a bit longer which is starting to get really annoying as a fan of the 14-0 (8) Light Welterweight.
Daniel Rosas-Mexican "Bad boy" Rosas was very nearly "our" first world champion when he fought just a few months back against Jose Cabrera for the interim WBO Super Flyweight title, that bout ended in a split decision draw. With a record of 12-0-1 (9) the 22 year old Mexican is still a fighter we strongly tip for the top and he's not having easy fights. Hopefully the the WBO will order a rematch between Cabrera and Rosas as it was an interesting bout and it'd be good to see one of the two Mexican youngsters getting some wider recognition.
Robert Manzanarez-16 year old Manzanarez is slowly maturing into a bigger, stronger and better fighter than he was when he turned professional back March 2010 as a 15 year old. Although still incredibly young (he turns 17 on December 17th) he is running up a long record of wins against gradually improving opposition. We first looked at Manzanarez back when his record read 10-0 (7), he has since added 5 more wins and moved to 15-0 (8) with his best win to date coming in 38 seconds against the experienced can Alfredo Montano. Although he has 15 fights and 37 rounds under his belt I still think it'll be a very long time before we see him in with anyone of any note at all, hopefully he'll have matured somewhat by then as he's definitely growing and has gone from being a Flyweight 15 months ago to a Featherweight in his most recent bout just a few months ago.
Carlos Buitrago-The Nicaraguan prospect who turns 20 in just a few days has run up 3 wins since we first looked at him and has moved to 21-0-0-1 (14) with a notable decision win over former world title challenger Carlos Melo just a few days ago. Melo is a good step up from the fighters that Buitrago had been fighting and will hopefully signal the start of the youngster rise through credible fighters. I'd be shocked it Buitrago doesn't break into the WBC's top 40 next year and perhaps angles for a title fight during 2013.
Leroy Estrada-The young Panamanian has moved to 6-0 (2) since we first looked at him, though has certainly not had everything his own way. In his last fight Estrada was dropped by Mercedes Concepcion before struggling to get a majority decision. Whilst that should be a character building fight for the 17 year old, it should be noted that Concepcion was picked in part due to losing his previous 2 bouts. Estrada, a minimumweight, may end up being wrapped in cotton wool for the next year or two following this close shave.
Oscar Cortes-The 18 year old Mexican Lightweight/Super Featherweight prospect was looked at back in May when he was 14-0 (8) and since then he has moved to 18-0 (11) and won the WBC Youth Intercontinental Lightweight title. Cortes' most impressive victory to date is a 9th round TKO over Manuel Aguilar back in September. Hopefully Cortes will build on a good year and try to force himself into the WBC's rankings over the next 12 months at either Super Featherweight or at Lightweight.
Leo Santa Cruz-We looked at Santa Cruz just prior to his fight with Jose Lopez which Santa Cruz won impressively via a 5th round KO (becoming the first man to stop Lopez) and then Santa Cruz stopped the tough former title contender Everth Briceno in 11 rounds. Whilst not a concussive puncher Santa Cruz is slowly developing a really nasty streak and throws punches to hurt opponents. With a record of 18-0-1 (10) Santa Cruz is really emerging as a serious threat at Bantamweight. He is currently ranked #15 in the world by the WBC at Bantamweight and is already making a real mark on the division.
Oliver Flores-Flores has had an interesting time since we originally wrote about him. Firstly he scored a controversial majority draw (the dissenting judge had Flores as a clear winner) against Abraham Rodriguez and then he stopped a novice as he advanced his record to 22-0-2 (16). Flores seems to be settling into the Super Featherweight division but the draw with Rodriguez appears to have taken some momentum from his career. Despite having just turned 20 Flores has amassed 110 rounds already and has gone 10 rounds on 3 occasions now which, if nothing else, is interesting.
Andrzej Wawrzyk-Polish Heavyweight prospect Wawrzyk has been one of the more under-the-radar heavyweight prospects and hasn't had the hype of countryman Artur Szpilka despite growing his record pretty carefully. Wawrzyk has scored 3 straight T/KO wins since we looked at him with the most recent of those coming against Nelson Dario Dominguez in just 2 rounds. Wawrzyk currently holds 2 regional belts though he really should be stepping up and perhaps starting to mix with solid European level fighters during 2012.
Wale Omotoso-The exciting Welterweight prospect has really started to make his mark on boxing fans thanks to two very entertaining fights in the US in recent months. The heavily built and aggressively minded Omotoso marked his US debut with a round of the year contender against Calvin Odom and then he followed it up with a very entertaining bout with Lanardo Tyner in November. Although the 20-0 (17) prospect is wild and can be caught he does promise excitement every time he steps between the ropes and could be one of the most fun to watch fighters out there today.
Andrzej Fonfara-The second Polish fighter that we looked at was Light Heavyweight prospect Fonfara who is 19-2-0-1 (10). The 24 year old from Warsaw (though now based in Chicago) has only fought once since we looked at him where he stopped Jose Spearman in 2 rounds. There really isn't much to report on Fonfara other than his fan-base in Chicago is growing nicely.
Richard Towers-As with many of the recent additions to the blog Towers has fought only once, stopping Yuri Bihoutseu in the 3rd round. The most interesting thing to happen regarding towers since we wrote about him is the strong rumour that he may be facing Tyson Fury early in 2012 in a very interesting all English heavyweight bout for the Commonwealth and British titles. A meeting of the two behemoths would be immensely interesting and it would be a rare fight where neither man would be towering over his opponent.
Grzegorz Proksa-The 27 year old Proksa burst onto the scene back in October and caught us out when he completely destroyed former world champion Sebastian Sylvester in one of the real break out fights of the year. Rather embarrassingly Proksa's arrival actually caught us off guard and so we have little to actually report on the exciting Polish Middleweight, though rumours are circulating that he will be facing former world champion Sebastian Zbik some time in 2012 in a fight that should see Proksa further his standing in one of the hottest divisions in the sport.
Yoshihiro Kamegai-The exciting Japanese Welterweight was mentioned at the start of this month, just prior to his bout with Eusebio Baluarte. The talented and hard hitting 29 year old from Tokoyo has had an excellent year with a fantastic US debut where he stopped Hector Munoz and looked sensation. Although he will almost certainly have to travel to the US again for a major fight at the weight he has impressed and could very easily find himself on the under-card of a Top Rank or Golden Boy show to build his US profile. Sadly for Kamegai he probably only 1 or 2 years to make his move and even then the division does have a lot of emerging talent so he maybe too late.
Eleider Alvarez-The hard punching Colombian Light Heavyweight prospect is the most recent fight that we've mentioned that has fought since we wrote about him. The Canadian based 27 year fought in his biggest fight to date when he faced Emiliano Cayetano in a bout for the WBO NABO Light Heavyweight title on the under-card of David Lemieux v Joachim Alcine. Alvarez's win is likely to force him into the WBO's rankings (which amazingly don't include Ismayl Sillakh). Alvarez is being tracked by Groupe Yvon Michel and his stoppage of Cayetano in the opening round will only see them speed things up.
We have covered 3 other fights but sadly none of them have fought since we mentioned them in recent weeks. Hopefully be the end of 2012 we'll be looking at some of these fighters as world champions.
Carlos Ivan Velasquez-The biggest disappointment was our first prospect. Carlos hasn't fought in 17 months now after beating the tough Eduardo Arcos back in July 2010. Velasquez was a fighter I was genuinely very excited about though he appears to have just vanished off the face of the planet. The 27 year and his twin brother (Juan Carlos Velazquez, 10-1, 5) have both been MIA despite turning professional together in 2007.
Billy Joe Saunders-The British Olympian has moved on well since we looked at him back in April and has added 4 wins, 3 by KO to move his record to an excellent 11-0 (7). The stand out victory for Billy Joe came against the tough Gary Boulden in a fight for the Southern Area middleweight title, it was the first time Saunders was forced to fight for 10 rounds and he managed to pass the test with out too many struggles as he picked up his first professional title.
Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez-Sanchez was 16-0 (14) when we mentioned him back in April and since then the young Mexican has moved from strength to strength adding 4 more wins (all by KO) to move to 20-0 (18) and has started to get serious attention of boxing fans around the world. Sanchez now holds wins over former title challenger Oney Valdez and the teak tough Samuel Miller, in fact the win over Miller was the first time Miller had been stopped in 29 fights.
Rakhim Chakhkiev-The Cruiserweight division has got the real shot in the arm that it has needed for a while thanks to the real emergence of the Russian bruiser. Chakhkiev was another fighter we mentioned in April who went on to add some solid names to his record. Firstly he beat Harvey Jolly and then he become the first man to stop the veteran Michael Simms. Chakhkiev turns 29 early next year and hopefully his handlers realise it's time to let him off the leash and at the divisions champions.
Gary Russell Jr-What a year the young American has had, he was a promising youngster when we mentioned him in April though he has really built on his record since then. Russell has added 5 wins to his record since we mentioned him and moved to 19-0 (11) in impressive fashion. Most recently Russell viciously KO'd Heriberto Ruiz in a single destructive round. Although Boxnation's Steve Lillis seemed to feel that Russell's hype had been created by "youtube clips" even he seemed impressed after the victory over Ruiz.
Karl Place-Manchester's young Light Welterweight prospect is one of the very few fighters that we've mentioned that have lost this year. Place had a very busy year since we mentioned him in April and sadly suffered a huge upset loss at the hands of Steve Williams just over a week ago. Place's record currently stands at 15-1 (8) though the loss should really be a sign that the 23 year old needs to move up a division as making 140 must weaken the 5'11" fighter.
Tomas Dulorme-We mentioned just 8 days before he impressive blew out Harrison Cuello in 2 rounds on the undercard of Martinez v Dzinziruk. Since then Dulorme has had the development fights that we called for and looked very impressive in out pointing the tough and experienced DeMarcus Corley dropping "Chop chop" and dominating the fight to claim the NABA USA welterweight title. Dulorme has defended his title once when he widely outpointed former title challenger Charlie Jose Navarro. Dulorme is now 13-0 (10) and is one of the hottest Welterweight Prospects in the world today.
Carlos Negron-Negron was the only other fighter we mentioned that lost (along with Place). Negron's loss to former Light Middleweight Epifanio Mendoza was a huge shock and upset and saw Negron fall to 13-1 (9). Sadly it's left massive doubt over Negron's future and it could lead to a very long journey to rebuild the gigantic (6'6") 23 year old. Not only will Negron's confidence be shattered but long term questions about his durability will linger for years, if he returns to the ring.
Jamie Kavanagh-The Irish born prospect who is now trained by Freddie Roach started the year well and when we covered him in April he was 5-0 (2) and about to make his UK debut. Whilst Kavanagh won his UK debut (out pointing Sid Razak) he has recently suffered the first blemish on his record as he struggled to a draw with difficult Ramesis Gil on the undercard of Khan v Peterson. The draw with Gil was another case of Freddie Roach's fighter failing to live up to the expectations and may signal that Kavanagh needs to change something.
John Jackson-We looked at the exciting Jackson the eve before his bout with Welson Alves de Oliveira a bout that Jackson dominated en route to a 3rd round TKO. Jackson, the son of the fearsome Julian Jackson currently stands at 11-0 (10) and looks to add to his record when he fights for the WBC Youth Light Middleweight title against the unbeaten Keandre Leatherwood. The fight with Leatherwood takes place next Friday on a very interest card that is headlined by Marco Antonio Rubio v Matt Vanda.
Froilan Saludar-The Filipino puncher was recently featured in a piece looking at the top Pinoy Prospects and is quickly becoming one of the most talked about youngsters in the sport due to his combination of skills, speed and power. Since we mentioned Saludar he has fought twice to move his record to 13-0-1 (10) and was taken into the 10th round for the first time when he beat Gabriel Pumar in a fight for the WBO Asian Pacific Flyweight title. Saludar is expected to fight once more before the end of the year though his opponent is not yet known.
Joe Hanks-At the start of the year I picked Hanks out as the American Heavyweight to watch...it now seems that may not have been the best after all as Seth Mitchell has really made progress whilst Hanks hasn't really moved up. Despite scoring 3 victories since we wrote about him none of them were particularly note worthy, in fact the most noteworthy thing about them was that Hanks couldn't stop Alfredo Escalera Jr in 10 rounds of action. Hanks does look like he could go places but needs to desperately step up before Mitchell leaves him in his shadow.
Marco Antonio Periban-The Mexican Super Middleweight prospect is now 15-0 (10) and is amongst a number of quickly emerging fighters in one of boxing's most exciting divisions. Periban has added 3 wins since we covered him back in April and whilst they weren't amazing opponents he did deal with solid journeymen very well. Whilst Periban is inexperienced as a professional it is time he stepped up and perhaps looked for a fight with someone like Edison Miranda sometime next year, we know Miranda can bang but he can be hurt, it would test Periban's toughness, skill and his own power.
Kubrat Pulev-The former elite amateur seemed to be on the fast track to a world title fight after a number of notable wins but now the Bulgarian heavyweight is perhaps going to be put on a somewhat slower path. At 14-0 (6) he has a solid record and does hold some decent wins, though his recent fight with Travis Walker told us things. The first thing we learned about Pulev was that he didn't hit particularly hard as he landed a huge number of clean shots on Walker, the second was that he could be hurt as he was shaken by Walker a number of times, but maybe the most worrying is he doesn't have that extra gear that he needs if he wishes to make a dent on a Klitschko.
Sylvester Lopez-Lopez is one of the most under-rated Filipino's in the sport today and arguably the most forgotten due to the fact he currently has 3 losses on his record, but the 5 year pro is really coming good. When we mentioned him he was 15-3-1 and since then he has added 3 more wins, all by KO to move to a much more impressive 18-3-1 (14) including a notable victory over Oscar Ibarra for the WBC Silver Super Flyweight title. Although Lopez fought at Super Bantamweight last time out he could go back to Super Flyweight and have a very interesting fight with WBC champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai.
Sadam Ali-American Olympian Sadam Ali is still one of the most promising young Americans in the sport though since we wrote about him he has still be kept on a leash. We looked at him prior to his bout with John Revish which he would go on to win by decision though he was rocked big time late in the fight. Ali has only scored 1 other win since we covered him and it was a win over a low level opponent in a bout that really shouldn't be taken too seriously for Ali. We all want Ali to step up a level though it seems like his management want to hold him down for a bit longer which is starting to get really annoying as a fan of the 14-0 (8) Light Welterweight.
Daniel Rosas-Mexican "Bad boy" Rosas was very nearly "our" first world champion when he fought just a few months back against Jose Cabrera for the interim WBO Super Flyweight title, that bout ended in a split decision draw. With a record of 12-0-1 (9) the 22 year old Mexican is still a fighter we strongly tip for the top and he's not having easy fights. Hopefully the the WBO will order a rematch between Cabrera and Rosas as it was an interesting bout and it'd be good to see one of the two Mexican youngsters getting some wider recognition.
Robert Manzanarez-16 year old Manzanarez is slowly maturing into a bigger, stronger and better fighter than he was when he turned professional back March 2010 as a 15 year old. Although still incredibly young (he turns 17 on December 17th) he is running up a long record of wins against gradually improving opposition. We first looked at Manzanarez back when his record read 10-0 (7), he has since added 5 more wins and moved to 15-0 (8) with his best win to date coming in 38 seconds against the experienced can Alfredo Montano. Although he has 15 fights and 37 rounds under his belt I still think it'll be a very long time before we see him in with anyone of any note at all, hopefully he'll have matured somewhat by then as he's definitely growing and has gone from being a Flyweight 15 months ago to a Featherweight in his most recent bout just a few months ago.
Carlos Buitrago-The Nicaraguan prospect who turns 20 in just a few days has run up 3 wins since we first looked at him and has moved to 21-0-0-1 (14) with a notable decision win over former world title challenger Carlos Melo just a few days ago. Melo is a good step up from the fighters that Buitrago had been fighting and will hopefully signal the start of the youngster rise through credible fighters. I'd be shocked it Buitrago doesn't break into the WBC's top 40 next year and perhaps angles for a title fight during 2013.
Leroy Estrada-The young Panamanian has moved to 6-0 (2) since we first looked at him, though has certainly not had everything his own way. In his last fight Estrada was dropped by Mercedes Concepcion before struggling to get a majority decision. Whilst that should be a character building fight for the 17 year old, it should be noted that Concepcion was picked in part due to losing his previous 2 bouts. Estrada, a minimumweight, may end up being wrapped in cotton wool for the next year or two following this close shave.
Oscar Cortes-The 18 year old Mexican Lightweight/Super Featherweight prospect was looked at back in May when he was 14-0 (8) and since then he has moved to 18-0 (11) and won the WBC Youth Intercontinental Lightweight title. Cortes' most impressive victory to date is a 9th round TKO over Manuel Aguilar back in September. Hopefully Cortes will build on a good year and try to force himself into the WBC's rankings over the next 12 months at either Super Featherweight or at Lightweight.
Leo Santa Cruz-We looked at Santa Cruz just prior to his fight with Jose Lopez which Santa Cruz won impressively via a 5th round KO (becoming the first man to stop Lopez) and then Santa Cruz stopped the tough former title contender Everth Briceno in 11 rounds. Whilst not a concussive puncher Santa Cruz is slowly developing a really nasty streak and throws punches to hurt opponents. With a record of 18-0-1 (10) Santa Cruz is really emerging as a serious threat at Bantamweight. He is currently ranked #15 in the world by the WBC at Bantamweight and is already making a real mark on the division.
Oliver Flores-Flores has had an interesting time since we originally wrote about him. Firstly he scored a controversial majority draw (the dissenting judge had Flores as a clear winner) against Abraham Rodriguez and then he stopped a novice as he advanced his record to 22-0-2 (16). Flores seems to be settling into the Super Featherweight division but the draw with Rodriguez appears to have taken some momentum from his career. Despite having just turned 20 Flores has amassed 110 rounds already and has gone 10 rounds on 3 occasions now which, if nothing else, is interesting.
Andrzej Wawrzyk-Polish Heavyweight prospect Wawrzyk has been one of the more under-the-radar heavyweight prospects and hasn't had the hype of countryman Artur Szpilka despite growing his record pretty carefully. Wawrzyk has scored 3 straight T/KO wins since we looked at him with the most recent of those coming against Nelson Dario Dominguez in just 2 rounds. Wawrzyk currently holds 2 regional belts though he really should be stepping up and perhaps starting to mix with solid European level fighters during 2012.
Wale Omotoso-The exciting Welterweight prospect has really started to make his mark on boxing fans thanks to two very entertaining fights in the US in recent months. The heavily built and aggressively minded Omotoso marked his US debut with a round of the year contender against Calvin Odom and then he followed it up with a very entertaining bout with Lanardo Tyner in November. Although the 20-0 (17) prospect is wild and can be caught he does promise excitement every time he steps between the ropes and could be one of the most fun to watch fighters out there today.
Andrzej Fonfara-The second Polish fighter that we looked at was Light Heavyweight prospect Fonfara who is 19-2-0-1 (10). The 24 year old from Warsaw (though now based in Chicago) has only fought once since we looked at him where he stopped Jose Spearman in 2 rounds. There really isn't much to report on Fonfara other than his fan-base in Chicago is growing nicely.
Richard Towers-As with many of the recent additions to the blog Towers has fought only once, stopping Yuri Bihoutseu in the 3rd round. The most interesting thing to happen regarding towers since we wrote about him is the strong rumour that he may be facing Tyson Fury early in 2012 in a very interesting all English heavyweight bout for the Commonwealth and British titles. A meeting of the two behemoths would be immensely interesting and it would be a rare fight where neither man would be towering over his opponent.
Grzegorz Proksa-The 27 year old Proksa burst onto the scene back in October and caught us out when he completely destroyed former world champion Sebastian Sylvester in one of the real break out fights of the year. Rather embarrassingly Proksa's arrival actually caught us off guard and so we have little to actually report on the exciting Polish Middleweight, though rumours are circulating that he will be facing former world champion Sebastian Zbik some time in 2012 in a fight that should see Proksa further his standing in one of the hottest divisions in the sport.
Yoshihiro Kamegai-The exciting Japanese Welterweight was mentioned at the start of this month, just prior to his bout with Eusebio Baluarte. The talented and hard hitting 29 year old from Tokoyo has had an excellent year with a fantastic US debut where he stopped Hector Munoz and looked sensation. Although he will almost certainly have to travel to the US again for a major fight at the weight he has impressed and could very easily find himself on the under-card of a Top Rank or Golden Boy show to build his US profile. Sadly for Kamegai he probably only 1 or 2 years to make his move and even then the division does have a lot of emerging talent so he maybe too late.
Eleider Alvarez-The hard punching Colombian Light Heavyweight prospect is the most recent fight that we've mentioned that has fought since we wrote about him. The Canadian based 27 year fought in his biggest fight to date when he faced Emiliano Cayetano in a bout for the WBO NABO Light Heavyweight title on the under-card of David Lemieux v Joachim Alcine. Alvarez's win is likely to force him into the WBO's rankings (which amazingly don't include Ismayl Sillakh). Alvarez is being tracked by Groupe Yvon Michel and his stoppage of Cayetano in the opening round will only see them speed things up.
We have covered 3 other fights but sadly none of them have fought since we mentioned them in recent weeks. Hopefully be the end of 2012 we'll be looking at some of these fighters as world champions.
Friday, 25 November 2011
Zurdo to be tested tough on Canelo undercard
In the past I've looked at Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez Sanchez, the young and emerging Mexican Middleweight who currently holds a perfect record of 19-0 (17). Sanchez has so far faced relatively limited opposition with Rogelio Medina and Oney Valdez standing out as the only credible wins, though on Saturday (on the undercard of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez v Kermit Cintron) he faces a very tough test against the experienced Samuel Miller (24-4, 21).
The 32 year old Miller is currently based out of La Habra, California (though was born in Arboletes, Colombia) and is one of the most testing fighters out there. Not only does Miller have a solid punch on him, he's also tough having never been stopped. Whilst Miller has lost to world title contenders such as David Lopez and Marco Antonio Rubio he's probably best known for his wild war with Darrell Woods in what was one of 2007's fight of the year contenders.
For Sanchez this is a genuinely tough test against a power punching tough man who is likely to shake Zurdo at least once. If the Mexican 20 year old can get past the tough test of Miller then he'll have further cemented his growing reputation as one of the brightest prospects in Mexico.
The 32 year old Miller is currently based out of La Habra, California (though was born in Arboletes, Colombia) and is one of the most testing fighters out there. Not only does Miller have a solid punch on him, he's also tough having never been stopped. Whilst Miller has lost to world title contenders such as David Lopez and Marco Antonio Rubio he's probably best known for his wild war with Darrell Woods in what was one of 2007's fight of the year contenders.
For Sanchez this is a genuinely tough test against a power punching tough man who is likely to shake Zurdo at least once. If the Mexican 20 year old can get past the tough test of Miller then he'll have further cemented his growing reputation as one of the brightest prospects in Mexico.
Monday, 10 October 2011
Daniel "Bad Boy" Rosas, part 2-The title fight
Back in May I wrote about a young Mexican prospect called Daniel Rosas,who at the time was 10-0 (7) and was emerging as a contender in either the Bantamweight or Super Bantamweight divisions. It's always exciting when one of us writers spots a special talent and this coming Friday Rosas, (now 12-0, 9) attempts to prove he is a real deal whilst fighting down at Super Flyweight.
Since the first piece was written on Rosas back in May the young Mexican has dropped down to Super Flyweight where he picked up WBO Youth Title and defended it once though it's the way this sport has developed which now sees him fighting for an "interim" world title. We are less than a week away from Rosas "title fight" in which he will be facing Jose Cabrera (20-2-1, 8) in Los Mochis.
Whilst this is easily the biggest fight of Rosas' career it's a fight he really should be able to win and if he does he may well join the top of one of boxing's more changing division. The current WBO champions is Omar Andres Narvaez, who in 2 weeks makes his Bantamweight debut to face Nonito Donaire whilst the other champions include Rodrigo Guerrero (who recently won the IBF title), Tomonobu Shimizu (who won the WBA title just a few weeks ago), Tepparith Singwancha (interim WBA champion who upset the highly rated Drian Francisco) and Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (who scored a huge upset a few weeks back by defeating Tomas Rojas and defends his title in November against Nobuo Nashiro).
Rosas could join the ever growing list of Mexican world champions, but could he also actually be the best of them? We'll have to find out but one thing is for sure, he's an exciting and skilled fighter who will be near the top win or lose.
Since the first piece was written on Rosas back in May the young Mexican has dropped down to Super Flyweight where he picked up WBO Youth Title and defended it once though it's the way this sport has developed which now sees him fighting for an "interim" world title. We are less than a week away from Rosas "title fight" in which he will be facing Jose Cabrera (20-2-1, 8) in Los Mochis.
Whilst this is easily the biggest fight of Rosas' career it's a fight he really should be able to win and if he does he may well join the top of one of boxing's more changing division. The current WBO champions is Omar Andres Narvaez, who in 2 weeks makes his Bantamweight debut to face Nonito Donaire whilst the other champions include Rodrigo Guerrero (who recently won the IBF title), Tomonobu Shimizu (who won the WBA title just a few weeks ago), Tepparith Singwancha (interim WBA champion who upset the highly rated Drian Francisco) and Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (who scored a huge upset a few weeks back by defeating Tomas Rojas and defends his title in November against Nobuo Nashiro).
Rosas could join the ever growing list of Mexican world champions, but could he also actually be the best of them? We'll have to find out but one thing is for sure, he's an exciting and skilled fighter who will be near the top win or lose.
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Prospect Review Pt 2
Whilst doing this blog it can be easy to forget about the guys I've already spoken about, so lets take a look back at everyone who has been mentioned on this blog since the first review back in April.
In the first review Billy Joe Saunders had just beaten Turgay Uzun in 2 rounds, more recently we've seen Saunders adding to his record by stopping the tough British fighter Kevin Hammond, also in 2 rounds. Saunders is now 9-0 (6) and may well be the most promising young fighter in the UK at the moment. He's exciting, growing and puts his punches together better every time he's out. Hopefully Frank Warren will get him into some sort of a title fight by the end of 2011 and move up through the levels swiftly rather than waste time at domestic level.
Although Gary Russell Jr hasn't fought since defeating Adolfo Landeros back in April he is pencilled in to fight at the end of this week on a card in Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California. The same card also features recent addition Leo Santa Cruz against Jose Lopez and the promising youngster Luis Ramos Jr facing Francisco Lorenzo.
17 year old Oscar Cortes moved to 15-0 (8) last week with a majority decision victory over Armando Mariscal. Cortes is currently pencilled in to fight on the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez v Ryan Rhodes in what should be an interesting bout. Hopefully Cortes will see his chance on the card as a stepping stone to bigger things as will Marco Antonio Periban who will also be fighting on the undercard. Periban is current 13-0 (10) having stopped the under-whelming Jose Alberto Clavero in 2 rounds back in April. Staying with Mexican fighters we also saw Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez move to 17-0 (15) by stopping Francisco Villanueva in 7 rounds.
Leroy Estrada, the 16 year old Panamanian prospect that I'm excited about moved to 5-0 (2) last weekend when he stopped Pedro Reyes in 3 rounds though it's a result that needn't be taken too seriously as Reyes wasn't expected to be even a slight test. One fighter who was in a tougher than expected test was Sadam Ali who defeated John Revish a few weeks back in a clear decision, though he was rocked late in the fight and had to show his maturity to survive and buy himself some time.
On May 14th we saw Sylvester Lopez scoring a sensational victory over Everardo Morales inside a round. Whilst Morales has now been stopped 10 times, he took fighters like Hugo Fidel Cazares, Tomas Rojas and Pongsaklek Wonjongkam a number of rounds to stop. Talking about stoppages Kubrat Pulev would stop Derrick Rossy in 5 rounds a week earlier in a result that looks iffy to say the least. A video of the Rossy v Pulev stoppage can be watched here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnlfUG2vCYw at around the 8:40 mark into the video.
Joe Hanks, one of the more promising American heavyweights managed to climb to 16-0 (11) after forcing Terrell Nelson to retire from a bout in late April.
Froilan Saludar has moved to 12-0-1 (9) after stopping Jack Amisa in just 48 seconds as the Pinoy puncher impressed again and the more we see of him the more impressive he seems to be.
As well as those fighters already mentioned as having bouts scheduled we also expect to see Jamie Kavanagh out in late June (23rd) and Thomas Dulorme in early June (10th). Kavangh's opponent has not yet been named though Dulorme is set to face the excellent test of Demarcus “Chop Chop” Corley in what should be an excellent learning fight for Dulorme.
All the fighters not mentioned in this blog have either not fought since the first review or haven't got a fight scheduled yet. Hopefully I'll update things at the start of July and we'll hopefully see the the likes of Carlos Ivan Velasquez returning to the ring.
In the first review Billy Joe Saunders had just beaten Turgay Uzun in 2 rounds, more recently we've seen Saunders adding to his record by stopping the tough British fighter Kevin Hammond, also in 2 rounds. Saunders is now 9-0 (6) and may well be the most promising young fighter in the UK at the moment. He's exciting, growing and puts his punches together better every time he's out. Hopefully Frank Warren will get him into some sort of a title fight by the end of 2011 and move up through the levels swiftly rather than waste time at domestic level.
Although Gary Russell Jr hasn't fought since defeating Adolfo Landeros back in April he is pencilled in to fight at the end of this week on a card in Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California. The same card also features recent addition Leo Santa Cruz against Jose Lopez and the promising youngster Luis Ramos Jr facing Francisco Lorenzo.
17 year old Oscar Cortes moved to 15-0 (8) last week with a majority decision victory over Armando Mariscal. Cortes is currently pencilled in to fight on the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez v Ryan Rhodes in what should be an interesting bout. Hopefully Cortes will see his chance on the card as a stepping stone to bigger things as will Marco Antonio Periban who will also be fighting on the undercard. Periban is current 13-0 (10) having stopped the under-whelming Jose Alberto Clavero in 2 rounds back in April. Staying with Mexican fighters we also saw Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez move to 17-0 (15) by stopping Francisco Villanueva in 7 rounds.
Leroy Estrada, the 16 year old Panamanian prospect that I'm excited about moved to 5-0 (2) last weekend when he stopped Pedro Reyes in 3 rounds though it's a result that needn't be taken too seriously as Reyes wasn't expected to be even a slight test. One fighter who was in a tougher than expected test was Sadam Ali who defeated John Revish a few weeks back in a clear decision, though he was rocked late in the fight and had to show his maturity to survive and buy himself some time.
On May 14th we saw Sylvester Lopez scoring a sensational victory over Everardo Morales inside a round. Whilst Morales has now been stopped 10 times, he took fighters like Hugo Fidel Cazares, Tomas Rojas and Pongsaklek Wonjongkam a number of rounds to stop. Talking about stoppages Kubrat Pulev would stop Derrick Rossy in 5 rounds a week earlier in a result that looks iffy to say the least. A video of the Rossy v Pulev stoppage can be watched here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnlfUG2vCYw at around the 8:40 mark into the video.
Joe Hanks, one of the more promising American heavyweights managed to climb to 16-0 (11) after forcing Terrell Nelson to retire from a bout in late April.
Froilan Saludar has moved to 12-0-1 (9) after stopping Jack Amisa in just 48 seconds as the Pinoy puncher impressed again and the more we see of him the more impressive he seems to be.
As well as those fighters already mentioned as having bouts scheduled we also expect to see Jamie Kavanagh out in late June (23rd) and Thomas Dulorme in early June (10th). Kavangh's opponent has not yet been named though Dulorme is set to face the excellent test of Demarcus “Chop Chop” Corley in what should be an excellent learning fight for Dulorme.
All the fighters not mentioned in this blog have either not fought since the first review or haven't got a fight scheduled yet. Hopefully I'll update things at the start of July and we'll hopefully see the the likes of Carlos Ivan Velasquez returning to the ring.
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Leo Santa Cruz
It's great when you see really promising boxing prospects taking their first steps up in the world. This coming Friday night on TeleFutura we get to see one of the most promising young Mexican fighters fight in the biggest test of his career. 22 year old Leo Santa Cruz, 15-0-1 (7), of Lincoln Heights, California (though born in Huetamo, Michoacán de Ocampo, Mexico) faces the experienced Jose Lopez, 39-9-2 (32) of Puerto Rico. Lopez, although now 39, was recently the WBO Super Flyweight champion and has never been stopped in a career that dates back to 1991. Included the names that Lopez has fought are the likes of Fernando Montiel, Juan Alberto Rosas, Marvin Sonsona, Isidro Garcia and Carlos Gabriel Salazar.
For Cruz the fight with Lopez will be a major test of his ability, chin and mental toughness though maybe it's the sort of test a fighter like Cruz will need. So far in a career dating back to October 2006 he has had things relatively his own way, only a draw with Rodrigo Hernandez in Cruz's second fight marks an otherwise perfect record. Up to now the best win on Santa Cruz's 16 fight record is a 5th round KO over tough and skilled Belgian Stephane Jamoye (20-3) back in March of this year. Other than the win over Jamoye however Cruz lacks any sort of known quality on his record and perhaps needs to beat Lopez to prove he is a contender rather than a pretender.
Although Cruz is not a noted puncher, in fact he only scored 5 KO's in his first 11 bouts, he is a man who seems to be able to hurt other fights and his growing confidence seems to be a telling factor as he has stopped his last 5 fights early, including stopping the previously unstopped Jamoye. A stoppage against Lopez, whilst unlikely, would really prove that Cruz is a fighter to mark down as a future world level competitor. Although he's got a growing reputation for landing painful blows he's a solid enough boxer from a technical stand point to go places and with Golden Boy Promotions behind him there seems to be no reason for him not to be a major contender over the next decade.
For Cruz the fight with Lopez will be a major test of his ability, chin and mental toughness though maybe it's the sort of test a fighter like Cruz will need. So far in a career dating back to October 2006 he has had things relatively his own way, only a draw with Rodrigo Hernandez in Cruz's second fight marks an otherwise perfect record. Up to now the best win on Santa Cruz's 16 fight record is a 5th round KO over tough and skilled Belgian Stephane Jamoye (20-3) back in March of this year. Other than the win over Jamoye however Cruz lacks any sort of known quality on his record and perhaps needs to beat Lopez to prove he is a contender rather than a pretender.
Although Cruz is not a noted puncher, in fact he only scored 5 KO's in his first 11 bouts, he is a man who seems to be able to hurt other fights and his growing confidence seems to be a telling factor as he has stopped his last 5 fights early, including stopping the previously unstopped Jamoye. A stoppage against Lopez, whilst unlikely, would really prove that Cruz is a fighter to mark down as a future world level competitor. Although he's got a growing reputation for landing painful blows he's a solid enough boxer from a technical stand point to go places and with Golden Boy Promotions behind him there seems to be no reason for him not to be a major contender over the next decade.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Oscar Cortes
Teenage stars seem to be the theme of this blog this week, so lets add one more before the week's out. This time Mexican 17 year old Oscar “Raton” Cortes who fights later today (Friday) in what will be his 15th fight as a professional in a career that is still in it's infancy.
Oscar Cortes (full name Oscar Oswaldo Cortés Navarro) was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico on June 25th 1993 and as a young teenage amateur he would win a bronze medal in the National Olympics in 2007. In 2009, soon after his 16th birthday, he made his professional debut and stopped Geovani Vargas in 2 rounds on a card promoted by HG Boxing. It'd been a good start to his career though it was how he progressed that was going to be the interesting part.
Things weren't immediate for Cortes who had to wait 5 months for his second professional bout though when he returned to the ring he stopped Luis Angel Hernandez in 3 rounds and started to really mature in the ring. Over the proceeding 9 months following the win over Hernandez Cortes would fight 10 times scoring wins in each of those fights, 5 by KO. By the end of 2010 Cortes had climbed to 11-0 (6) and had run up over 40 rounds as a professional. Interestingly by the end of the year he had also inked a deal with Canelo Promotions, the promotional vehicle of the ultra-popular Saul “Canelo” Alvarez who were starting to promote him and put him on their shows.
To start 2011 Cortes would rematch Alejandro Gonzalez (who he beat by decision in December 2010) and manage to score a stoppage in the rematch to improve his record to 12-0 (7) and add to his growing reputation. He's added 2 more wins since that bout to stand at his current record of 14-0 (8) and he's been pencilled in for 2 upcoming dates. The first bout is tonight when he faces his toughest test so far in Armando Mariscal (5-4-2, 2). If he can, as is expected, beat Mariscal he is expected to be on the undercard of Saul Alvarez's title defence against Ryan Rhodes in a scheduled 8 rounder. That card will be by far the biggest that Cortes will have been on and he shares the undercard with Horacio Garcia and Marco Antonio Periban amongst others.
If Cortes can follow the pathway of a fighter like Alvarez he'll be onto very big things, though we've got to hope that he starts to face tougher tests than he has been doing so far. At the moment he has been facing soft touches that have been to help pad his record and get him used to the sport, after 14 fights and 57 professional rounds it's time he starts to face some opponents who will teach him something new before he starts to form bad habits. Currently ranked at #236 with Boxrec at Super Featherweight he seems like he'll be a fully fledged Lightweight by the time he really starts to face solid competition, though should be one to watch for the future.
Oscar Cortes (full name Oscar Oswaldo Cortés Navarro) was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico on June 25th 1993 and as a young teenage amateur he would win a bronze medal in the National Olympics in 2007. In 2009, soon after his 16th birthday, he made his professional debut and stopped Geovani Vargas in 2 rounds on a card promoted by HG Boxing. It'd been a good start to his career though it was how he progressed that was going to be the interesting part.
Things weren't immediate for Cortes who had to wait 5 months for his second professional bout though when he returned to the ring he stopped Luis Angel Hernandez in 3 rounds and started to really mature in the ring. Over the proceeding 9 months following the win over Hernandez Cortes would fight 10 times scoring wins in each of those fights, 5 by KO. By the end of 2010 Cortes had climbed to 11-0 (6) and had run up over 40 rounds as a professional. Interestingly by the end of the year he had also inked a deal with Canelo Promotions, the promotional vehicle of the ultra-popular Saul “Canelo” Alvarez who were starting to promote him and put him on their shows.
To start 2011 Cortes would rematch Alejandro Gonzalez (who he beat by decision in December 2010) and manage to score a stoppage in the rematch to improve his record to 12-0 (7) and add to his growing reputation. He's added 2 more wins since that bout to stand at his current record of 14-0 (8) and he's been pencilled in for 2 upcoming dates. The first bout is tonight when he faces his toughest test so far in Armando Mariscal (5-4-2, 2). If he can, as is expected, beat Mariscal he is expected to be on the undercard of Saul Alvarez's title defence against Ryan Rhodes in a scheduled 8 rounder. That card will be by far the biggest that Cortes will have been on and he shares the undercard with Horacio Garcia and Marco Antonio Periban amongst others.
If Cortes can follow the pathway of a fighter like Alvarez he'll be onto very big things, though we've got to hope that he starts to face tougher tests than he has been doing so far. At the moment he has been facing soft touches that have been to help pad his record and get him used to the sport, after 14 fights and 57 professional rounds it's time he starts to face some opponents who will teach him something new before he starts to form bad habits. Currently ranked at #236 with Boxrec at Super Featherweight he seems like he'll be a fully fledged Lightweight by the time he really starts to face solid competition, though should be one to watch for the future.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Robert Manzanarez
The sport of boxing currently has a handful of professional fighters who are just 16 years old. These were the youngest fighters I could find, the youngest individual was Robert Manzanarez who was born on December 17th 1994. Now you may be thinking, a 16 year old Mexican, a fighter just starting his career, nothing to be too excited about, right? Well kinda. Mazanarez certainly is just starting his professional career in the scope of things, though he's already the most experienced 16 year old out there. With a record of 10-0 (7) he's not as inexperienced as we perhaps expected when we learnt his date of birth.
Robert was born in Phoenix, Arizona though is now based in the wonderful fighting city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa in Mexico. It was in Los Mochis that a 15 year old Robert would step into the professional ring for the first time. Robert had turned 15 just 3 three months before his debut, an age perhaps too young to be fighting. He would win that night by stopping Jose Rosario Lopez in 32 seconds and just 8 days later he would return to the ring to defeat Julio Carmona in 3 rounds.
Between the start of April 2010 and the end of June that same year Robert hand managed to notch up 5 more wins and had already amassed an impressive record of 7-0 (6). All those opponents he faced, apart from the man he faced on his debut, were making their own debuts though it was still impressive that the youngster was beating them with such ease. Even the man who had made it to the final bell, Ricardo Carrillo, was dropped from a body blow in a white wash decision of 40-35 on all 3 cards.
To end the year Robert would step up his competition slightly and beat the 1-3 Rafael Moreno in 2 rounds before out pointing Omar Martinez over 4 rounds. Before his 16th birthday Robert was 9-0 (7) though then he'd take a break. After 6 months out of action Robert “Tito” Manzanarez would have his next fight and face the 1-4 fighter Luis Angel Hernandez. Against Hernandez we would see the young prospect go 6 rounds en route to winning the decision. This would be the first time Manzanarez would go 6 rounds and even in this fight he would knock down his opponent to take a wide decision (60-51 on one card).
The 5'7” 16 year old has only fought once this year, the victory over Hernandez, though of course as a teenager will almost certainly have other things on his mind. It's very, very unlikely that we'll see him in a meaningful fight any time soon, if ever to be honest, he's too young for us to assume he'll be a star. Though hopefully when he next returns to the ring he'll have decided which weight he's suited at as he's boxed as low as Flyweight and at his heaviest has been over the Super Bantamweight limit. With a record of 10-0 (7) and a total of 28 rounds under his belt he's far from experienced, though as far as 16 year olds go, he's one of the most experienced we'll find in our great sport.
Video thanks to larazabox
Robert was born in Phoenix, Arizona though is now based in the wonderful fighting city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa in Mexico. It was in Los Mochis that a 15 year old Robert would step into the professional ring for the first time. Robert had turned 15 just 3 three months before his debut, an age perhaps too young to be fighting. He would win that night by stopping Jose Rosario Lopez in 32 seconds and just 8 days later he would return to the ring to defeat Julio Carmona in 3 rounds.
Between the start of April 2010 and the end of June that same year Robert hand managed to notch up 5 more wins and had already amassed an impressive record of 7-0 (6). All those opponents he faced, apart from the man he faced on his debut, were making their own debuts though it was still impressive that the youngster was beating them with such ease. Even the man who had made it to the final bell, Ricardo Carrillo, was dropped from a body blow in a white wash decision of 40-35 on all 3 cards.
To end the year Robert would step up his competition slightly and beat the 1-3 Rafael Moreno in 2 rounds before out pointing Omar Martinez over 4 rounds. Before his 16th birthday Robert was 9-0 (7) though then he'd take a break. After 6 months out of action Robert “Tito” Manzanarez would have his next fight and face the 1-4 fighter Luis Angel Hernandez. Against Hernandez we would see the young prospect go 6 rounds en route to winning the decision. This would be the first time Manzanarez would go 6 rounds and even in this fight he would knock down his opponent to take a wide decision (60-51 on one card).
The 5'7” 16 year old has only fought once this year, the victory over Hernandez, though of course as a teenager will almost certainly have other things on his mind. It's very, very unlikely that we'll see him in a meaningful fight any time soon, if ever to be honest, he's too young for us to assume he'll be a star. Though hopefully when he next returns to the ring he'll have decided which weight he's suited at as he's boxed as low as Flyweight and at his heaviest has been over the Super Bantamweight limit. With a record of 10-0 (7) and a total of 28 rounds under his belt he's far from experienced, though as far as 16 year olds go, he's one of the most experienced we'll find in our great sport.
Video thanks to larazabox
Monday, 23 May 2011
Daniel "Bad Boy" Rosas
Young Mexican fighters seem to be the rising part of the sport. At the moment Mexico have more “World Champions” than any other country and it seems with the likes of Marco Antonio Periban, Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez and Julio Ceja they will be dominating for the foreseeable future. Despite the fact so many young Mexicans are making their mark it's impossible to know which will become the biggest success story, though another name to add to the huge list is Daniel Rosas.
Rosas was born in 1989 and is currently aged 21 though the past few years have been really stop start in regards to his boxing career. He debuted way back in November 2007 though only racked up 4 fights prior to 2010. Whilst he had won all 4 bouts 3 of them in the opening round, it wasn't a great start for a Mexican teenager who are typically kept incredibly active.
Something happened in 2010 that really kick started Rosas' career and in just his 5th professional bout he would win the WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) super flyweight title by stopping the then 7-0-1 Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr in 2 rounds. This would be the first title for Rosas though almost certainly won't be the last.
Since beating Sanchez Jr back in February of last year Rosas has been on a run of impressive victories beating far more experienced fighters in a run of form that has seen him being mentioned as a real star for the future. It's been his last 3 fights that have really been the most impressive. In November of last year he faced the then 21-5 Mario Macias in a bout that really proved Rosas was a special talent. Rosas would have to pick himself off the canvas before scoring a decision victory and dropping Macias twice in 8 rounds. It was the first time Rosas had had to go beyond 4 rounds and it was also the first time he had been down and yet he managed to past the test.
To end 2010 Rosas would face the 18-0 Felipe Orucuta. Orucuta was older, more experienced and naturally bigger. The two men would meet in a competitive bout though Rosas would manage to take the decision by the narrowest of margins, with scores of 95-94 (twice) and 96-94 all favouring Rosas. This result really made some folks sit up and take note, it was a stand out fight between two prospects and really a result that looks better now than it did at the time. Orucuta has since gone on to stop Julio David Roque Ler, who has famously taken top fighters the schedule including Jorge Arce and Alexander Munoz.
Rosas has only fought once in 2011 though he would score an incredibly impressive stoppage against David Gaspar who had only previously been stopped by world challenger Carlos Rueda. Sadly though Rosas seems to be wasting more time and after having a fabulous 2010 he's running the risk of losing his momentum if he only fights every 5 months. Amazingly there was talk of Rosas facing Fernando Montiel though thankfully that talk doesn't seem to have come fruition as that would still be a step too far for the youngster.
Daniel “Bad Boy” Rosas as he is known now stands at 10-0 (7) as a professional. Currently he is ranked #38 at Super Bantamweight by Boxrec.com, #45 by the IBO at at Bantamweight but most impressively #15 at Bantamweight by the WBC. He's certainly a fighter on the up, though can he continue his rise? Only time will tell.
Rosas was born in 1989 and is currently aged 21 though the past few years have been really stop start in regards to his boxing career. He debuted way back in November 2007 though only racked up 4 fights prior to 2010. Whilst he had won all 4 bouts 3 of them in the opening round, it wasn't a great start for a Mexican teenager who are typically kept incredibly active.
Something happened in 2010 that really kick started Rosas' career and in just his 5th professional bout he would win the WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) super flyweight title by stopping the then 7-0-1 Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr in 2 rounds. This would be the first title for Rosas though almost certainly won't be the last.
Since beating Sanchez Jr back in February of last year Rosas has been on a run of impressive victories beating far more experienced fighters in a run of form that has seen him being mentioned as a real star for the future. It's been his last 3 fights that have really been the most impressive. In November of last year he faced the then 21-5 Mario Macias in a bout that really proved Rosas was a special talent. Rosas would have to pick himself off the canvas before scoring a decision victory and dropping Macias twice in 8 rounds. It was the first time Rosas had had to go beyond 4 rounds and it was also the first time he had been down and yet he managed to past the test.
To end 2010 Rosas would face the 18-0 Felipe Orucuta. Orucuta was older, more experienced and naturally bigger. The two men would meet in a competitive bout though Rosas would manage to take the decision by the narrowest of margins, with scores of 95-94 (twice) and 96-94 all favouring Rosas. This result really made some folks sit up and take note, it was a stand out fight between two prospects and really a result that looks better now than it did at the time. Orucuta has since gone on to stop Julio David Roque Ler, who has famously taken top fighters the schedule including Jorge Arce and Alexander Munoz.
Rosas has only fought once in 2011 though he would score an incredibly impressive stoppage against David Gaspar who had only previously been stopped by world challenger Carlos Rueda. Sadly though Rosas seems to be wasting more time and after having a fabulous 2010 he's running the risk of losing his momentum if he only fights every 5 months. Amazingly there was talk of Rosas facing Fernando Montiel though thankfully that talk doesn't seem to have come fruition as that would still be a step too far for the youngster.
Daniel “Bad Boy” Rosas as he is known now stands at 10-0 (7) as a professional. Currently he is ranked #38 at Super Bantamweight by Boxrec.com, #45 by the IBO at at Bantamweight but most impressively #15 at Bantamweight by the WBC. He's certainly a fighter on the up, though can he continue his rise? Only time will tell.
Video below thanks to taverarichard It's of Rosas fight with Gabriel Aguillon, and although the stoppage is poor it's the best quality video of the young Bad Boy.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Marco Antonio Periban
It seems recently this page has been a little bit forgotten about for a number of reasons, mainly my work on a different site. Though to bring this site back to the public's attention I'll be talking about one of my hot tips for the future, Mexican Super Middleweight Marco Antonio Periban (12-0, 9). Periban is a 26 year old who turned professional in 2008 though has started to race up the rankings after a number of noteworthy wins.
After being a very solid amateur fighter in his native Mexico he would turn professional and score a 3rd round KO on his debut over fellow debutant Oscar Solis. In fact only one of his first 5 contests would go to a decision and that was his second professional bout when he faced Miguel Zamarripa who managed to survive the 4 rounds the bout was scheduled for. He would quickly run to 6-0 (4) adding by taking the 0 of the then 10-0-1 Richard Vidal by decision and it started to seem as if the Mexican was really one to watch despite being such a novice to the pros.
Periban's early career wasn't all easy work though, he was dropped in his 7th professional contest by Salomon Rodriguez in the toughest fight of his career. Periban would take a split decision that night and manage to escape with a perfect record though alarm bells were ringing that maybe he wasn't going to be fast tracked as some assumed. In his 8th bout he would face the very durable Jason Naugler, who had managed to take the explosive David Lemieux the distance. Whilst Naugler's durability weren't an issue his face, which was cut and swelling was and Periban became only the 2nd man in over 30 fights to stop Naugler in a fight that allowed him to show all the facets to his game.
Since the stoppage win over Naugler we have seen Periban run up 4 more straight wins by KO in the opening 2 rounds. Included in those wins were victories over the durable and tough Darnell Boone and over the then 10-0 Dion Savage.
Periban has been pencilled in to fight on the undercard of Gilberto Keb Baas' WBC Light Flyweight world title fight against Adrian Hernandez though an opponent seems to be rather difficult to find for the rising Mexican star. The rumour is that Periban will be fighting Jose Alberto Clavero (30-7-1) from Argentina who is 5-6-1 in his last 12 bouts and would feel like a rather under-whelming opponent for Periban.
Periban is a very skilled fighter with fast heavy hands and although questions may be about his chin and stamina he's an excellent and exciting addition to the Super Middleweight division and certainly a name to watch out for.
After being a very solid amateur fighter in his native Mexico he would turn professional and score a 3rd round KO on his debut over fellow debutant Oscar Solis. In fact only one of his first 5 contests would go to a decision and that was his second professional bout when he faced Miguel Zamarripa who managed to survive the 4 rounds the bout was scheduled for. He would quickly run to 6-0 (4) adding by taking the 0 of the then 10-0-1 Richard Vidal by decision and it started to seem as if the Mexican was really one to watch despite being such a novice to the pros.
Periban's early career wasn't all easy work though, he was dropped in his 7th professional contest by Salomon Rodriguez in the toughest fight of his career. Periban would take a split decision that night and manage to escape with a perfect record though alarm bells were ringing that maybe he wasn't going to be fast tracked as some assumed. In his 8th bout he would face the very durable Jason Naugler, who had managed to take the explosive David Lemieux the distance. Whilst Naugler's durability weren't an issue his face, which was cut and swelling was and Periban became only the 2nd man in over 30 fights to stop Naugler in a fight that allowed him to show all the facets to his game.
Since the stoppage win over Naugler we have seen Periban run up 4 more straight wins by KO in the opening 2 rounds. Included in those wins were victories over the durable and tough Darnell Boone and over the then 10-0 Dion Savage.
Periban has been pencilled in to fight on the undercard of Gilberto Keb Baas' WBC Light Flyweight world title fight against Adrian Hernandez though an opponent seems to be rather difficult to find for the rising Mexican star. The rumour is that Periban will be fighting Jose Alberto Clavero (30-7-1) from Argentina who is 5-6-1 in his last 12 bouts and would feel like a rather under-whelming opponent for Periban.
Periban is a very skilled fighter with fast heavy hands and although questions may be about his chin and stamina he's an excellent and exciting addition to the Super Middleweight division and certainly a name to watch out for.
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