Sometimes it's hard to be excited about a debut, especially when you can't be too sure about whether or not the fight will actually take place or not (such as Egviney Tishchenko's recently cancelled debut) this week however we are incredibly excited about Englishman Bradley Saunders who recently decided to turn professional with Frank Warren. Saunders will be making his debut against journeyman Jason Nesbitt (9-139-3-1, 6) on Friday night on Box Nation on the under-card of Kevin Mitchell's fight with Felix Lora.
What makes it easy to get excited about Saunders is know what's behind the former British amateur standout who really has made an impact on the international stage already. Fighting out of the South Durham ABC Saunders won a national title in 2006. The following year Saunders would win bronze medals at both the World Amateur Championships and the European Union Championships. In 2008 Saunders would be part of the brilliant Olympic team Britain took to Beijing (which included James DeGale, Frankie Gavin, Billy Joe Saunders and David Price), although he failed to medal at the games he did make a quick inpression stopping Ghana's Samuel Kotey Neequaye inside a round.
Whilst many of his Olympic team mates decided to turn professional soon afterwards Saunder stuck to the amateur scene though sadly missed out on the 2009 World Amateur Championships due to a hand injury (broken thumb). After that set back Saunders set his eyes towards the 2012 Olympic games in London though since then his plans have changed and instead Saunders has decided to put Olympic aspiration behind him and prepare for a new career as a professional fighter.
Whilst hopes are high for Saunders on Friday night he is facing a born survivour in Nesbitt who has only been stopped 11 times in a 152 and the last of those stoppages came in 2009 against Gary Sykes (who later went on to win the British super featherweight title). A victory for Saunders is expected though a stoppage would be incredibly impressive.
Showing posts with label Prospect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prospect. Show all posts
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
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
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Javier Fortuna
Once up a time Joan Guzman was seen as a possible pound-for-pound great with amazing speed, respectable power and boxing skills that matched the very elite...then we found out that he couldn't control his weight as he grew heavier, failed to make weight and eventually faded into obscurity. Guzman was the last fighter from the Dominican Republic that really got boxing fans excited until now thanks to 21 year old prospect Javier Fortuna (17-0-0-1, 13).
Featherweight prospect Fortuna started boxing when he was 11 and become one of the top amateurs stars in the Dominican Republic winning a number of medals at the junior level of the sport. Javier however had no intention of staying an amateur for too long and turned to the paid ranks aged just 17. In Fortuna's debut he stopped Ricardo Johnson in the opening round and then ran up 4 more KO's (including one over the experienced Luis Sosa) before going 4 rounds with Carlos Diaz on a card in the US Virgin Islands that also featured John Jackson.
After running his record to 10-0 (8) Fortuna would step up to face former world title challenger Francisco Lorenzo in a 9 round bout. This bout ended prematurely as a clash of heads resulted in a 1 round No Contest after just 106 seconds. Although this left a minor mark on Fortuna's record it showed that his handlers had enough belief in him to at least put up a tough bout with Lorenzo. A month after the No Contest Fortuna stopped the over matched Cristian Martinez inside a round. Soon after the Martinez fight Fortuna traveled to Mexico and faced Gregorio Torres in a tough and close fight that Fortuna narrowly won.
In December 2010 Fortuna made his US debut when he faced the unbeaten Victor Valenzuela in New York and stopped him in 70 vicious and wild seconds (in a fight that can be seen in the video at the bottom of this blog post). The impact of Fortuna was instant and 3 months later Fortuna would return to the US to face Derrick Wilson in a fight for the WBC Youth Intercontinental title. Despite Wilson being very game he was dropped several times en route to being iced late in the 8th round.
Since beating Wilson Fortuna has added 3 more wins to his record including a 10 round decision win over Hugo Orlando Gomez (the first time Fortuna had been taken 10 rounds) and now prepares for his next big step up as he faces the tough and experienced Miguel Roman (37-8, 28) on the undercard of Marco Antonio Rubio v Matt Vanda. A win over the former world title contender showed see Fortuna well on his way to a world title fight of his own in the next 12 months.
Interestingly Fortuna's nickname of "El Abejon" translates as "The Drone".
Video below is thanks to reverseapachemaster1 and as mentioned above shows Fortuna's win over Victor Valenzuela.
Featherweight prospect Fortuna started boxing when he was 11 and become one of the top amateurs stars in the Dominican Republic winning a number of medals at the junior level of the sport. Javier however had no intention of staying an amateur for too long and turned to the paid ranks aged just 17. In Fortuna's debut he stopped Ricardo Johnson in the opening round and then ran up 4 more KO's (including one over the experienced Luis Sosa) before going 4 rounds with Carlos Diaz on a card in the US Virgin Islands that also featured John Jackson.
After running his record to 10-0 (8) Fortuna would step up to face former world title challenger Francisco Lorenzo in a 9 round bout. This bout ended prematurely as a clash of heads resulted in a 1 round No Contest after just 106 seconds. Although this left a minor mark on Fortuna's record it showed that his handlers had enough belief in him to at least put up a tough bout with Lorenzo. A month after the No Contest Fortuna stopped the over matched Cristian Martinez inside a round. Soon after the Martinez fight Fortuna traveled to Mexico and faced Gregorio Torres in a tough and close fight that Fortuna narrowly won.
In December 2010 Fortuna made his US debut when he faced the unbeaten Victor Valenzuela in New York and stopped him in 70 vicious and wild seconds (in a fight that can be seen in the video at the bottom of this blog post). The impact of Fortuna was instant and 3 months later Fortuna would return to the US to face Derrick Wilson in a fight for the WBC Youth Intercontinental title. Despite Wilson being very game he was dropped several times en route to being iced late in the 8th round.
Since beating Wilson Fortuna has added 3 more wins to his record including a 10 round decision win over Hugo Orlando Gomez (the first time Fortuna had been taken 10 rounds) and now prepares for his next big step up as he faces the tough and experienced Miguel Roman (37-8, 28) on the undercard of Marco Antonio Rubio v Matt Vanda. A win over the former world title contender showed see Fortuna well on his way to a world title fight of his own in the next 12 months.
Interestingly Fortuna's nickname of "El Abejon" translates as "The Drone".
Video below is thanks to reverseapachemaster1 and as mentioned above shows Fortuna's win over Victor Valenzuela.
Friday, 24 June 2011
Andrzej Wawrzyk
This weekend is a really busy one for boxing fans thanks to a number of noteworthy cards, most obviously the huge Don King card in Missouri. Though the prospect I'm interested in here is a young Polish heavyweight who I have tipped for very, very big things. Andrzej Wawrzyk is 23-0 (10) and at 6'5” he's got the size to be a real force as long as he matures true power that I'm sure he will.
As an amateur Wawrzyk was truly an exceptional youngster in the Super heavyweight division where he won the European juniors and reached the quarter finals of the World juniors both in 2006. Unlike many other top juniors though Wawrzyk turned professional early and was just 19 when he turned to the paid ranks in late 2006.
On his debut Wawrzyk defeated the experienced Ervin Slonka over 4 one-sided rounds and just a week later Wawrzyk would score his first stoppage win by defeating Martin Stensky in the 2nd round. Although Wawrzyk would have his first real problems in his 3rd fight when he was dropped he'd get up and manage to just nick the win there against Aliaksandr Mazaleu.
Within a year of being a professional the giant Pole had run up a record of 11-0 (6) and early in 2008 Wawrzyk would pick up his first professional title, the Polish heavyweight title by defeating Marcin Najman in 2 rounds. He would soon add the WBC Youth World heavyweight title by stopping Harry Duiven Jr from the Netherlands (a fighter who took Odlanier Solis 8 rounds). He would defend both of those titles against Tomasz Bonin by a wide 10 round decision and has been on a string of wins against journeymen since then. Included in the names on Wawrzyk's record are the likes of Oleksiy Mazykin, Harvey Jolly, Lee Swaby and Paul Butlin.
This coming Saturday the huge Pole faces veteran German Andreas Sidon (36-10-0-1, 30) in what is another learning fight as opposed to a real test for the young heavyweight prospect. Wawryzk is, at 23 years old, one of the young emerging heavyweights who is worth following for the next few years.
As an amateur Wawrzyk was truly an exceptional youngster in the Super heavyweight division where he won the European juniors and reached the quarter finals of the World juniors both in 2006. Unlike many other top juniors though Wawrzyk turned professional early and was just 19 when he turned to the paid ranks in late 2006.
On his debut Wawrzyk defeated the experienced Ervin Slonka over 4 one-sided rounds and just a week later Wawrzyk would score his first stoppage win by defeating Martin Stensky in the 2nd round. Although Wawrzyk would have his first real problems in his 3rd fight when he was dropped he'd get up and manage to just nick the win there against Aliaksandr Mazaleu.
Within a year of being a professional the giant Pole had run up a record of 11-0 (6) and early in 2008 Wawrzyk would pick up his first professional title, the Polish heavyweight title by defeating Marcin Najman in 2 rounds. He would soon add the WBC Youth World heavyweight title by stopping Harry Duiven Jr from the Netherlands (a fighter who took Odlanier Solis 8 rounds). He would defend both of those titles against Tomasz Bonin by a wide 10 round decision and has been on a string of wins against journeymen since then. Included in the names on Wawrzyk's record are the likes of Oleksiy Mazykin, Harvey Jolly, Lee Swaby and Paul Butlin.
This coming Saturday the huge Pole faces veteran German Andreas Sidon (36-10-0-1, 30) in what is another learning fight as opposed to a real test for the young heavyweight prospect. Wawryzk is, at 23 years old, one of the young emerging heavyweights who is worth following for the next few years.
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.
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Sadam Ali
When it comes to rising American fighters, those in the know really are big on one young man, Sadam Ali. Known as “The World Kid” the 22 year old from Brooklyn seems to have been one of the quiet but improving fighters who people have perhaps forgotten about since his failure at the 2008 Olympic games. At the Olympics he would face talented Romanian Georgian Popescu who would thoroughly out point the young Ali though it was a learning experience. It would end Ali's amateur career which had seen him winning a number of competitions including 2 Golden Gloves championships.
After the Olympics Ali would turn professional and by the end of 2009 Ali was 4-0 (2) having stopped Ricky Thompson in his opening bout in just 102 seconds. Through 2010 Ali would add another 7 wins as he seemed to stand head and shoulders against the fighters he was facing. Although a win over Costa Rican Lenin Arroyo was impressive (Arroyo is a a veteran who had been durable though does seem to have faded in recent years) it seems like Ali was still a fighter playing in the low gears.
After 4 months out of the ring Ali started his 2011 and stopped Javier Perez on the Tomasz Adamek v Kevin McBride under card with a brilliant KO. Ali will return to the ring this coming Friday night at the same venue of the Adamek v McBride card (The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey) to face John Revish. Revish who is 10-3-2 (8) is another fighter that we'd expect Ali to beat with out too many problems and hopefully then move on to facing much better opponents as at the moment Ali is simply not being tested.
The super sharp, accurate puncher is so far not being forced to really show what he has and is getting away with winning whilst fighting on cruise control. We'd all love to see him in with someone who can force something else form him, though it could be a while before we see him in such a fight. Fighting in the talent heavy Welterweight division isn't going to help though he's young and will grow into a full blown Welterweight or even a Light Middleweight. He's one to keep an eye on and his fight with Revish will be a great chance to see just how good he is.
After the Olympics Ali would turn professional and by the end of 2009 Ali was 4-0 (2) having stopped Ricky Thompson in his opening bout in just 102 seconds. Through 2010 Ali would add another 7 wins as he seemed to stand head and shoulders against the fighters he was facing. Although a win over Costa Rican Lenin Arroyo was impressive (Arroyo is a a veteran who had been durable though does seem to have faded in recent years) it seems like Ali was still a fighter playing in the low gears.
After 4 months out of the ring Ali started his 2011 and stopped Javier Perez on the Tomasz Adamek v Kevin McBride under card with a brilliant KO. Ali will return to the ring this coming Friday night at the same venue of the Adamek v McBride card (The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey) to face John Revish. Revish who is 10-3-2 (8) is another fighter that we'd expect Ali to beat with out too many problems and hopefully then move on to facing much better opponents as at the moment Ali is simply not being tested.
The super sharp, accurate puncher is so far not being forced to really show what he has and is getting away with winning whilst fighting on cruise control. We'd all love to see him in with someone who can force something else form him, though it could be a while before we see him in such a fight. Fighting in the talent heavy Welterweight division isn't going to help though he's young and will grow into a full blown Welterweight or even a Light Middleweight. He's one to keep an eye on and his fight with Revish will be a great chance to see just how good he is.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Kubrat Pulev
We are all calling for former great Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield to retire from the sport of boxing, though on his up coming card in Denmark where Holyfield faces Brian Nielsen we have one of the hottest rising Heavyweight prospects, Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev. Pulev was a former elite amateur competing on the international scene and being involved in World championships and Olympics before turning professional. Kubrat would continue as an amateur for almost a full year after a very unimpressive 2008 Olympics.
On Pulev's debut he would stop Florian Benke in September 2009 and ended the year 4-0 (2) after adding wins over Serdar Uysal, Gbenga Oloukun and Zack Page. It seemed as if Pulev was going to be active and just need a few years to really establish himself as a premier heavyweight. 2010 started the same way, he stopped former world title challenger Matt Skelton in January and by May 2010 Pulev's record stood at a brilliant 8-0 (5). All of this was achieved in less than 9 months as a professional.
Sadly his career has slowed down substantially since then despite having added good rounds against good heavyweights. In fact his wins have included one time American hopeful Dominick Guinn, Olympic bronze medal winner Paolo Vidoz and also Yaroslav Zavorotnyi (a less impressive victory). He has amassed a solid looking record of 11-0 (5) and has several noteworthy names on his record already, he has shown a good jab and technical skills and although he's not lightning quick or mega powerful the man known “The Cobra” has been winning.
His bout on the Holyfield undercard sees him facing American fighter Derric Rossy who enters with a 25-3 record. Rossy is experienced and has mixed with the likes of Eddie Chambers and Ray Mercer though I can't help but feel that Rossy doesn't bring anything new to the ring that we've not seen already from Pulev's opponents. Rather than staying at this level of opponent what Pulev's management should perhaps do it try and keep pushing him, try and get an opponent like Alexander Dimitrenko who is ranked in the top 15 or so.
Pulev stands around 6'4” and appears to perhaps carry a little bit of extra weight, in fact he'd probably work best in the low 230's instead he's been above and around 247 a weight that really is unnecessary for him. If he can get into shape, and I don't even mean the prime Holyfield ripped to the nines shape, then he'd been a real potential challenger, but instead the soon to be 30 year old seems to have a party boy reputation that could destroy, or at very least, slow his progression to a world title fight.
On Pulev's debut he would stop Florian Benke in September 2009 and ended the year 4-0 (2) after adding wins over Serdar Uysal, Gbenga Oloukun and Zack Page. It seemed as if Pulev was going to be active and just need a few years to really establish himself as a premier heavyweight. 2010 started the same way, he stopped former world title challenger Matt Skelton in January and by May 2010 Pulev's record stood at a brilliant 8-0 (5). All of this was achieved in less than 9 months as a professional.
Sadly his career has slowed down substantially since then despite having added good rounds against good heavyweights. In fact his wins have included one time American hopeful Dominick Guinn, Olympic bronze medal winner Paolo Vidoz and also Yaroslav Zavorotnyi (a less impressive victory). He has amassed a solid looking record of 11-0 (5) and has several noteworthy names on his record already, he has shown a good jab and technical skills and although he's not lightning quick or mega powerful the man known “The Cobra” has been winning.
His bout on the Holyfield undercard sees him facing American fighter Derric Rossy who enters with a 25-3 record. Rossy is experienced and has mixed with the likes of Eddie Chambers and Ray Mercer though I can't help but feel that Rossy doesn't bring anything new to the ring that we've not seen already from Pulev's opponents. Rather than staying at this level of opponent what Pulev's management should perhaps do it try and keep pushing him, try and get an opponent like Alexander Dimitrenko who is ranked in the top 15 or so.
Pulev stands around 6'4” and appears to perhaps carry a little bit of extra weight, in fact he'd probably work best in the low 230's instead he's been above and around 247 a weight that really is unnecessary for him. If he can get into shape, and I don't even mean the prime Holyfield ripped to the nines shape, then he'd been a real potential challenger, but instead the soon to be 30 year old seems to have a party boy reputation that could destroy, or at very least, slow his progression to a world title fight.
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.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Joe Hanks
American heavyweights have become a global boxing joke in recent years, the term seems synonymous with “old and faded” or “fat and never was”. A look at the top young American heavyweights include blubber boy Chris Arreola, Eddie “Chubby” Chambers and Chazz “My dads name is what I have” Witherspoon. The older bunch include Evander “How old is he now?” Holyfield, Ray “The Oldman” Austin and Hasim “The Crock” Rahman.
Although it's somewhat difficult to know which heavyweight is going to be a star one of America's best hopes is unbeaten Joe “The Future” Hanks. Hanks has a record that reads 15-0 (10) and is seen as a developing heavyweight who is several years from reaching his prime. As a resultof this he has has so far faced relatively average opponents. This trend seems set to continue in his next fight (where as part of a card televised by ESPN 2 as part of “Friday Night Fights” Terrell Nelson) though he's being given time to learn the ropes and get rounds under his belt.
Hanks turned professional in December 2007 after a solid amateur career in the US but doesn't quite seem to have progressed as many hoped he would have. He deburted by defeating Joseph Rabotte in the 2nd round then got taken 4 rounds by Corey Winfield, though his first opponent of note came 15 months after his debut when he faced trail horse Alvardo Morales. Morales had scored a draw with Seth Mitchell and had never been stopped prior to facing Hanks, though Hanks needed just 172 seconds to change that. This was followed by several steps up and was highlighted when he beat the then 10-0 Ashanti Jordan by decision. At this point it seemed like Hank's was being pushed as an emerging heavyweight saviour
Hanks' career though wouldn't continue in the same vein. 2010 seemed a mostly wasted year for Hanks who despite fighting 5 times seemed to regularly take one step forward to take 2 steps back. Wins over journeyman Cliff Couser and the once hotly tipped Johnnie White were followed by fights with novice Marcus Dickerson and Villi Bloomfield (who was coming in on 2 straight losses). It seemed as if Hanks' career management flicked between being confident of their man and being unsure of his capabilities.
The fights he has been given have left some fans as unsure on him as his team appear to be. He has shown good but not great power and speed, technically he looks flawed and sometimes as if he is fighting well within himself. Although having a bit of a “Shannon Briggs” look to him he lacks that fight changing power and destructiveness of “The Cannon” and at times looks like a mini Briggs. He stands at around 6'4” and weights 230-240, with an athletic but muscular build, a far cry from so many other American Heavyweights of today. Hanks is now 28 and will have to make a move in the next 12 months if he wants to become a major player in the division. Sadly his up coming fight on Friday is against Terrell Nelson (8-11, with 2 No Decisions and 5KO's). Nelson enters the bout aged 39 and having gone 0-7, 2ND in his last 9 fights (dating back to 2007), hardly the step up that Hanks needs in his career.
Although it's somewhat difficult to know which heavyweight is going to be a star one of America's best hopes is unbeaten Joe “The Future” Hanks. Hanks has a record that reads 15-0 (10) and is seen as a developing heavyweight who is several years from reaching his prime. As a resultof this he has has so far faced relatively average opponents. This trend seems set to continue in his next fight (where as part of a card televised by ESPN 2 as part of “Friday Night Fights” Terrell Nelson) though he's being given time to learn the ropes and get rounds under his belt.
Hanks turned professional in December 2007 after a solid amateur career in the US but doesn't quite seem to have progressed as many hoped he would have. He deburted by defeating Joseph Rabotte in the 2nd round then got taken 4 rounds by Corey Winfield, though his first opponent of note came 15 months after his debut when he faced trail horse Alvardo Morales. Morales had scored a draw with Seth Mitchell and had never been stopped prior to facing Hanks, though Hanks needed just 172 seconds to change that. This was followed by several steps up and was highlighted when he beat the then 10-0 Ashanti Jordan by decision. At this point it seemed like Hank's was being pushed as an emerging heavyweight saviour
Hanks' career though wouldn't continue in the same vein. 2010 seemed a mostly wasted year for Hanks who despite fighting 5 times seemed to regularly take one step forward to take 2 steps back. Wins over journeyman Cliff Couser and the once hotly tipped Johnnie White were followed by fights with novice Marcus Dickerson and Villi Bloomfield (who was coming in on 2 straight losses). It seemed as if Hanks' career management flicked between being confident of their man and being unsure of his capabilities.
The fights he has been given have left some fans as unsure on him as his team appear to be. He has shown good but not great power and speed, technically he looks flawed and sometimes as if he is fighting well within himself. Although having a bit of a “Shannon Briggs” look to him he lacks that fight changing power and destructiveness of “The Cannon” and at times looks like a mini Briggs. He stands at around 6'4” and weights 230-240, with an athletic but muscular build, a far cry from so many other American Heavyweights of today. Hanks is now 28 and will have to make a move in the next 12 months if he wants to become a major player in the division. Sadly his up coming fight on Friday is against Terrell Nelson (8-11, with 2 No Decisions and 5KO's). Nelson enters the bout aged 39 and having gone 0-7, 2ND in his last 9 fights (dating back to 2007), hardly the step up that Hanks needs in his career.
Froilan "The Sniper" Saludar
Having recently seen an episode of KOTV I became aware of 22 year old Filipino flyweight Froilan Saludar (11-0-1, 8KO's). Although what KOTV showed of Saludar was limited to a mere 84 seconds it was 84 very impressive seconds for the youngster. Saludar's February fight with Liempetch Sor Veerapol (21-9-1, 14KO's) was shown in full by KOTV and it showed everything to get excited about.
Saludar made his professional debut in late 2009 when he was 20 years old and scored an opening round TKO over fellow debutant Roland Gamolo. In fact Saludar's first 3 contests ended in the opening round. Saludar's run of KO's would end with 3 straight decision wins including a 6 rounder against Ryan Illustrisimo. In his next fight Saludar's record took it's first black with a technical draw against Brian Diano after a clash of heads very early in the fight caused the early end.
Since the technical draw Saludar has really started to progress his career. He would win his first title, the WBO Asia Pacific Youth flyweight title 5 months after the Diano fight by defeating Remuel Obidos in just 146 seconds. The win over Obidos showed the impressive power of Saludar who left Obidos out cold in the centre of the ring face first. (Video below courtesy of MrJerbox10)
Saludar made his professional debut in late 2009 when he was 20 years old and scored an opening round TKO over fellow debutant Roland Gamolo. In fact Saludar's first 3 contests ended in the opening round. Saludar's run of KO's would end with 3 straight decision wins including a 6 rounder against Ryan Illustrisimo. In his next fight Saludar's record took it's first black with a technical draw against Brian Diano after a clash of heads very early in the fight caused the early end.
Since the technical draw Saludar has really started to progress his career. He would win his first title, the WBO Asia Pacific Youth flyweight title 5 months after the Diano fight by defeating Remuel Obidos in just 146 seconds. The win over Obidos showed the impressive power of Saludar who left Obidos out cold in the centre of the ring face first. (Video below courtesy of MrJerbox10)
Since knocking out Obidos for the WBO Asia Pacific Youth title Saludar has fought twice, defending the title once and then adding the WBO Youth flyweight title when he faced Sor Veerapol. (Video below courtesy of localhawaiian1) in just 84 seconds.
So far the man known as “The Sniper” has shown fantastic potential, he has lightning fast hands, hurtful power in both hands and true 1 punch KO power. Although he lacks experience having just fought 29 rounds as a professional he's managed to climb up the world rankings and now stands at #5 with the WBO at Flyweight. Stood at 5'5” Froilan Saludar could well be the next big boxing star from the fight crazy Philippines following in the footsteps of Nonito Donaire and Manny Pacquiao.
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Carlos Negron
Last weekend we saw 2 power punching prospects beaten for the first time. Firstly we the very likeable and humble David Lemieux (25-1, 14KO's) lose to the experienced veteran Marco Antonio Rubio (50-5-1, 43KO's) by 7th round TKO. The fight saw Lemieux's trainer Russ Abner throwing in the towel to protect his charge as the experienced Rubio took charge of the fight and dropped Lemieux. The following night was had James Kirkland (27-1, 24KO's) beaten in a single round by Japanese fighter Nabuhiro Ishida (23-6-2, 8KO's). For boxing prospects these two results should act as a big wake up call.
One man who although still unbeaten has already had a giant wake up call of his own is Carlos Negron (11-0, 7KO's). Negron is one of this weeks Puerto Rican prospects that we are featuring here this week and despite only being 23 has had a wake up call and managed to come through the rough patches of his career so far.
Stood at 6'6” and with a huge 83” wingspan Negron turned professional in 2009 weighing around 180lbs. He was an incredibly tall Cruiserweight and despite being young he looked skinny and physically immature, he really looked like he needed filling out. After 3 opening round KO's to start his career Negron would be dropped by Gevonte Davis, this was the wake up call that Negron perhaps needed. Although he continued to make the 180's it was only a year later that he weighed in around 194 and looked a much better fighter, he had filled out and no longer looked like a somewhat scrawny fighter.
In late 2010 it was announced that Negron was going to be fighting as a heavyweight in future and for his first fight of 2011 he weighed in at 211lbs. Negron would win his heavyweight debut over Willie Herring by decision as he went 8 rounds for the first time. Almost a year previously Negron had weighed just 181lbs (when he defeated Garrett Wilson). Negron fights for the 2nd time as a heavyweight this coming weekend when he faces Native American heavyweight Emerson Chasing Bear (4-1-2, 3KO's), a loss for Negron is unthinkable though he has already learned the lessons he's needed. No longer will Negron start fights by thinking his power is all he needs, in fact his power as a heavyweight likely won't really appear for several years instead Negron will start to work with his physical advantages, his imposing figure is something that he has to use. His reach should be his key, it's actually longer than that of Wladimir Klitschko and only 2 inches shorter than Nikolay Valuev's.
Negron though isn't all about his short professional career, a career that has only featured 30 rounds. Carlos was also a brilliant amateur. He had won a silver medal in the 2005 Pan-American games and a bronze at the Central American and Caribbean Games the following year. Although he was unimpressive in the 2008 Olympics he was already having a growing reputation and would sign a professional deal very young. His size, skills and youth are all great aspects to one of Puerto Rico's top prospects and a fighter that all fight fans need to be taking note of.
Friday, 8 April 2011
Thomas Dulorme
Puerto Rico is a country with a very rich history of fantastic boxers. Though out the ages the country has given us some of the greatest fighters ever. We've had Carlos Ortiz, Felix “Tito” Trinidad, Wilfredo Gomez, Cocoa Kid, Jose Torres, Esteban De Jesus, Wilfred Benitez, Sixto Escobar and a host of others. Though looking towards the future and not the past the country has some sensational rising stars. We've already looked at Carlos Ivan Velasquez, though this week we'll be looking at other top Puerto Rican prospects that are likely to become big names in the sport of boxing.
Firstly we are looking at the younger of this weeks prospects, Thomas Dulorme. Dulorme is an unbeaten 21 year old Welterweight prospect currently promoted by Gary Shaw Productions. He turned professional in late 2008 and defeated David Rodriguez by a razor thin majority decision. Since then Thomas has matured very well and gone from being a fighter who seemed able to make lightweight into a full out welterweight, adding power and confidence to his ultra quick hands and exceptional boxing ability.
In an interview with Boxing Asylum's Ben Weisman Dulorme admitted he had started boxing when he was just 8 years old, it shows in his fighting that he has a very wise head and his 13 years of learn so far have helped him to develop. Not only does Dulorme look relaxed and calm in the ring due to his years fighting but he also has a head that shows the experience, he's not, as his record shows, a 10 fight novice he's instead a veteran of the amateur game.
After struggling with Rodriguez in his debut Dulorme has strung together 9 straight stoppage wins. Although his first few fights were low key affairs in his native Puerto Rico he now seems to be blossoming into a fine fighter as he steps up the level of his opponents. Having already fought twice this year he has stepped up the level of opponents and seems to be cruising. His most recent victory was against Guillermo Valdes (TKO2) and was by far his most high profile fight. On the same night countryman Miguel Angel Cotto stopped Ricardo Mayorga in the MGM Dulorme was in the Foxwoods Resort Casino making up the undercard of the Sergio Martinez v Serhiy Dzinziruk fight. Whilst Cotto struggled against the tough Nicaraguan Dulorme cruised through Valdes.
Although it's too early to start saying that Dulorme will take over when Cotto retires, he's already being compared Cotto for the crisp sharpness on his shots, especially his jab and again like Cotto he shows that he can really dig to the body. His heavy fast hands will help him at this level to just cruise against opponents and we'll have to hope that 2011 sees Dulorme getting some serious development fights.
Video thanks to Yalter777
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Karl Place
British boxing is still on a bit of a high, currently the Brits have 4 world champions to celebrate with Amir Khan (WBA Light Welterweight), Carl Froch (WBC Super Middleweight), David Haye (WBA Heavyweight) and Ricky Burns (WBO Super Bantamweight) and a number of high ranked contenders. It’s when we looking to the future that we see just how hot British boxing really is. Not only do we have fighters like John Murray on the verge of world title fights but a lot of young raw talent breaking through. This coming Saturday we see one of the most exciting young British prospects back in action in a major Sky Sports 1 show. Although the main event on “Saturday Fight Night” is Stuart Hall (10-0-1, 6KO’s) defending his British Bantamweight title against John Donnelly (12-1, 3KO’s) it’s the co-feature that really interests me.
22 year old Light Welterweight Karl Place (12-0, 7KO’s) returns to the ring to face George Watson (8-3-2, 1KO). Place is really one of the most exciting young talents in the UK and has shown plenty to be excited about so far. Stood at 5’11” Place has the natural size to fill out into perhaps even a Light Middleweight though for now he’s a tall lanky Light Welterweight with a big future ahead of himself and with VIP Promotions/Steve Wood behind him theirs no reason why he can’t become a big star.
Place debuted as a professional back in October 2008 just weeks after turning 20 and scored a 2nd round stoppage over Chris Kitson. He would follow that up over the proceeding months by beating up some of the best journeymen with points wins over Carl Allen, Johnny Greaves and Baz Carey. Those 3 fights account for 12 rounds of Place’s 40 career rounds to date. After those fights Place would defeat 3 fighters in confidence building victories before getting his most notable name to date, Steve Saville.
Saville was a limited fighter but a tough guy, although he entered on a 3 fight losing streak they had included a loss to Gary McArthur (who entered 11-0) and Frankie Gavin (who was 3-0). Place started the fight terribly and seemed to lack the defensive skill to keep Saville off him, he had his nose in the opening round and appeared to be eating Saville‘s left hand too often. Late in round Place was caught with a big shot and appeared to be wobbled. He came out for the 2nd and appeared to have calmed down as he went about breaking down Saville and beating him to the canvas in the 2nd. Saville had received hard blows to the body and head from Place who learned more in that fight than he had in his previous 7.
Since scoring the victory over Saville Place has fought 4 times, scoring wins over Michael Frontin (TKO5), experienced journeyman Billy Smith (4PTS), Maurycy Gojko (TKO3) and Danny Dontchev (6PTS). With George Watson in the opposite corner on Saturday Place competes in his first fight scheduled for 8 rounds and Watson, despite the losses on his record is a tough fight. To date Watson has only been stopped once, two fights ago by Stephen Jennings (LTKO3) and has since taking the hard hitting Carl Johanneson 8 rounds. A stoppage for place would be hugely impressive, though a win would expected and still impressive for Place.
Video’s courtesy of Frank Maloney’s Youtube channel.
22 year old Light Welterweight Karl Place (12-0, 7KO’s) returns to the ring to face George Watson (8-3-2, 1KO). Place is really one of the most exciting young talents in the UK and has shown plenty to be excited about so far. Stood at 5’11” Place has the natural size to fill out into perhaps even a Light Middleweight though for now he’s a tall lanky Light Welterweight with a big future ahead of himself and with VIP Promotions/Steve Wood behind him theirs no reason why he can’t become a big star.
Place debuted as a professional back in October 2008 just weeks after turning 20 and scored a 2nd round stoppage over Chris Kitson. He would follow that up over the proceeding months by beating up some of the best journeymen with points wins over Carl Allen, Johnny Greaves and Baz Carey. Those 3 fights account for 12 rounds of Place’s 40 career rounds to date. After those fights Place would defeat 3 fighters in confidence building victories before getting his most notable name to date, Steve Saville.
Saville was a limited fighter but a tough guy, although he entered on a 3 fight losing streak they had included a loss to Gary McArthur (who entered 11-0) and Frankie Gavin (who was 3-0). Place started the fight terribly and seemed to lack the defensive skill to keep Saville off him, he had his nose in the opening round and appeared to be eating Saville‘s left hand too often. Late in round Place was caught with a big shot and appeared to be wobbled. He came out for the 2nd and appeared to have calmed down as he went about breaking down Saville and beating him to the canvas in the 2nd. Saville had received hard blows to the body and head from Place who learned more in that fight than he had in his previous 7.
Since scoring the victory over Saville Place has fought 4 times, scoring wins over Michael Frontin (TKO5), experienced journeyman Billy Smith (4PTS), Maurycy Gojko (TKO3) and Danny Dontchev (6PTS). With George Watson in the opposite corner on Saturday Place competes in his first fight scheduled for 8 rounds and Watson, despite the losses on his record is a tough fight. To date Watson has only been stopped once, two fights ago by Stephen Jennings (LTKO3) and has since taking the hard hitting Carl Johanneson 8 rounds. A stoppage for place would be hugely impressive, though a win would expected and still impressive for Place.
Video’s courtesy of Frank Maloney’s Youtube channel.
Gary Russell Jr
One of the names on the under-card of Maidana v Morales that seems to have been some what forgotten about is one of the USA’s most skilled prospects around. “Mr” Gary Russell Jr (14-0, 9KO’s). Currently based in Maryland the skilled youngster is still only 22 but seems headed to the top of the sport and is starting to take those big steps up in the boxing world that every fighter needs to make at some point.
Russell was one of the top young amateurs in the USA after picking up the sport at a young age he progressed well and ran up well in excess of 160 wins. He would win several amateur championships including the Junior Olympics (2004) Golden Gloves (2005), U.S. Championships (2005, 2006) and a Bronze medal at the 2007 World Amateur Championships. Though he missed out on making a shot at the 2008 Olympics when he collapsed prior to the weigh in.
Having seen his Olympic dreams crumble Russell would turn professional and make his debut in January 2009 on an episode of ShoBox: The Next Generation. He would stop Antonio Reyes in the 3rd round and follow it up with a handful of wins through out 2009 as he started to adapt to the professional scene. By the end of 2010 Russell Jr was starting to face substantially tougher opponents and gone were the inexperienced professionals that he had been allowed to face to get into the sport.
Stoppage wins against veterans Carlos Diaz, Mauricio Pastrana and the previously never stopped Rodrigo Aranda were hugely impressive for Russell. Russell showed not only was he maturing and genuinely able to throw hurtful shots but land to both the body and head. The key to Russell Jr though wasn’t his power but his lightning quick southpaw jab which comes from a wonderfully balanced stance. As well as the lightning jabs he can throw the hooks and crosses with the same alarming speed. He appears to be confident and is being pushed well by Golden Boy Promotions, hopefully they’ll continue to step him up in levels over his next few fights.
So far in 2011 Russell Jr has fought once beating Feider Viloria who entered the ring with a 23-7-1 record. Russell dropped Viloria in the 5th round before winning a 7th round technical decision in his longest fight to date. His upcoming fight on the Maidana v Morales fight sees him facing Ira Terry (24-4, 14KO’s). Terry is with out a win since December 2009 though lost in April 2010 to Carlos Ivan Velasquez in 4 rounds. Of course Carlos Ivan Velasquez was featured in the opening post of this blog, this gives us a chance to compare how the Puerto Rican and how Russell compare.
Stood at 5’5” and with a 61” reach Russell isn’t big for a featherweight though he is lightning fast and seems to be maturing into a fighter with a solid punch on him. The Featherweight division does seem to be one of the most promising in the world today with the likes of Yuriorkis Gamboa and Juan Manuel Lopez dominating it. Though with American talent including Mickey Garcia, Robert Marroquin and Abraham Lopez all along with Russell the Americans could well become the divisions dominant force one day.
Videos courtesy of Youtube user Boxing Prospect (not confused with an actual link to this blog with the same name).
Russell was one of the top young amateurs in the USA after picking up the sport at a young age he progressed well and ran up well in excess of 160 wins. He would win several amateur championships including the Junior Olympics (2004) Golden Gloves (2005), U.S. Championships (2005, 2006) and a Bronze medal at the 2007 World Amateur Championships. Though he missed out on making a shot at the 2008 Olympics when he collapsed prior to the weigh in.
Having seen his Olympic dreams crumble Russell would turn professional and make his debut in January 2009 on an episode of ShoBox: The Next Generation. He would stop Antonio Reyes in the 3rd round and follow it up with a handful of wins through out 2009 as he started to adapt to the professional scene. By the end of 2010 Russell Jr was starting to face substantially tougher opponents and gone were the inexperienced professionals that he had been allowed to face to get into the sport.
Stoppage wins against veterans Carlos Diaz, Mauricio Pastrana and the previously never stopped Rodrigo Aranda were hugely impressive for Russell. Russell showed not only was he maturing and genuinely able to throw hurtful shots but land to both the body and head. The key to Russell Jr though wasn’t his power but his lightning quick southpaw jab which comes from a wonderfully balanced stance. As well as the lightning jabs he can throw the hooks and crosses with the same alarming speed. He appears to be confident and is being pushed well by Golden Boy Promotions, hopefully they’ll continue to step him up in levels over his next few fights.
So far in 2011 Russell Jr has fought once beating Feider Viloria who entered the ring with a 23-7-1 record. Russell dropped Viloria in the 5th round before winning a 7th round technical decision in his longest fight to date. His upcoming fight on the Maidana v Morales fight sees him facing Ira Terry (24-4, 14KO’s). Terry is with out a win since December 2009 though lost in April 2010 to Carlos Ivan Velasquez in 4 rounds. Of course Carlos Ivan Velasquez was featured in the opening post of this blog, this gives us a chance to compare how the Puerto Rican and how Russell compare.
Stood at 5’5” and with a 61” reach Russell isn’t big for a featherweight though he is lightning fast and seems to be maturing into a fighter with a solid punch on him. The Featherweight division does seem to be one of the most promising in the world today with the likes of Yuriorkis Gamboa and Juan Manuel Lopez dominating it. Though with American talent including Mickey Garcia, Robert Marroquin and Abraham Lopez all along with Russell the Americans could well become the divisions dominant force one day.
Videos courtesy of Youtube user Boxing Prospect (not confused with an actual link to this blog with the same name).
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez
Mexican fighters are probably the most fascinating group of boxers out there at the moment. If you wish to just stereotype they are true warriors, they battle until they can't fight on and they often enjoy a good scrap. Although a few more skilled than that, such as current IBF Lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez who prefers to fight on the move with accurate counters and slippery movement, the majority prefer to fight than to box. Though one youngster who can box or bang and is very much one to watch is Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez.
Sanchez aged just 19 looks set to follow in the footsteps of so many other fighters from Mexico and go from being almost unheard of to reaching the top of the boxing tree. He has already sparred with a world champion (the then WBA Light Middleweight champion Rigoberto “Español” Alvarez, older brother of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez) and has already started to gain some form of notoriety as a hard punching youngster.
With a record of 16-0 (14) you could easily assume the 19 year old southpaw has been facing soft touch after soft touch. His record of a mere 43 rounds does suggest that his fights haven't been long gruelling tough affairs. Though below the raw numbers his opponents have been surprisingly solid so far. Since debuting as just an 18 year old back in 2009 Sanchez has faced opponents with a combined record of 123-65-6. Although he has faced several debutants and “career losers” his most recent opponents have been impressive enough fighters in their own right and have included:
Christian Solano (22-19-4 upon entering)-Solano had beaten British fighter John O'Donnell, he had taken Julio Cesar Chavez Jr 10 rounds and Saul Roman the same distance.
The, then unbeaten Rogelio Medina (23-0)
And veteran Antonio Arras (21-9)
Against Medina Sanchez picked up his first title as a professional by winning the vacant WBC Youth World middleweight title. This entitled Sanchez to a WBC ranking (though he is still outside of the top 40 after checking at with the organisation) though his most notable ranking is the #13 ranking he has with the NABO. The independent rankings of the IBO and Boxrec.com place Sanchez at #76 at Middleweight (IBO) and #41 at Middleweight (Boxrec.com) though the rankings hardly matter at this point.
From sources found on the web about Sanchez it's no wonder he is being matched as a professional. He is according to an article on “notifight.com” he was a “national champion and three-time junior national champion elite” as an amateur. Though as a professional those skills haven't really been required. Instead his exceptional power, thunderous aggression and ability to land hard clean shots to both head and body have helped “Zurdo De Oro” create a bit of a buzz.
Fighting out of Sinaloa, Mexico Sanchez will have plenty around him that know the business inside out. Sinaloa is of course the state that contains Los Mochis (think Fernando Montiel) and Culiacán (Julio Cesar Chavez). If Sanchez can emulate either of those two he'll become a name to be remembered, though as a Mexican middleweight/Super Middleweight he'll also have something going for him. Although Marco Antonio Periban is a Mexican Super Middleweight who may end up competing for a world title by the end of 2012 Sanchez, at just 19, will easily out grow the Middleweight division and could easily end up as high at Light Heavyweight. Imagine a Mexican 3 weight champion taking belts at Middleweight, Super Middleweight and Light Heavyweight, that really is the potential of young Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez.
Since his debut he has shown fast heavy hands, a patience far beyond his time and an ability to pick the right shots at the right time. The combination of these traits could very easily see him becoming of the modern Mexican greats.
Sources:
Notifight.com
Video below thanks to ZapariBoxingNotifight.com
Friday, 1 April 2011
Billy Joe Saunders
As well looking at 1 international prospect every week (this week was was of course Carlos Ivan Velasquez) we'll also try to look at 1 UK based prospect, or at very least a fighter fighting the same week as the blog. The weeks second fighter is British youngster Billy Joe Saunders. Saunders, one of Britain's 2008 Olympic team is one of the countries forgotten Olympians, he's been over shadowed by most of the others such as James DeGale and Tony Jeffries, yet has just as much long term promise as anyone.
Saunders is 21 and was the baby of the Olympic team going as just a teenager. Despite being knocked out in the 2nd round by the Cuban Carlos Banteaux (the eventual silver medal winner). As an amateur he had an impressive record, apparently winning his first 49 fights as a senior including all his fights at the 2007 Commonwealth Boxing Championships. Soon after the Olympics he would sign a professional contract with British boxing supremo Frank Warren and start his rise through the professional ranks.
Upon turning professional it didn't take Saunders long to make an impact. He needed less than 2 rounds to stop Hungarian Attila Molnar in show that also saw James DeGale and Frankie Gavin debut. Since then Saunders has racked up an impressive 7-0 (4) record and looked like an ever maturing fighter. Unlike many former amateurs Saunders isn't the type to be overly patient looking for single shots but has a very complete professional “style” based around aggression, coming forward and looking for the stoppage whether he gets it or not. With his youthful energy he looks exciting coming forward and throwing punches though we all know fine well that he has the technical skills to fall back on and box with if he needs to.
As a professional he has fought 24 rounds already in his career with distance fights against the likes of the tough Alex Spitko, the experienced Lee Noble (who had only been stopped once) and Andy Butlin. Billy Joe has looked impressive and a little hot headed, which at times has added a little bit more excitement and spite to the fight. Although he's still a youngster in terms of being a professional fighter he's shown he's not scared of older men and instead wants them to respect him as he beats them down. A side of him that is brilliant for a fighter.
Like Tyson Fury, Saunders is from travelling stock and has the fighting blood running through his veins. His father was an amateur whilst his mothers grandfather was the great Absolom Beeney, a legendary bare knuckle fighter. With this sort of pedigree and his Romany gypsy blood there should be no worries about Saunders knowing how to handle himself when the going gets tough. He'll have been brought up in a tough environment and often looks much older than his actual age. Amazingly as a fighter he's also been a traveller, each of his 7 fights have taken place in different areas, although 2 were in London, he's also fought in Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Belfast and Birmingham.
Saunders fights against 52 fight veteran Turgay Uzun from Turkey on the undercard of John Murray's fight with Karim El Ouazghari. Saunders is facing a tough hard punching fighter who has only been stopped twice and holds 22 KO's in 35 wins. Though Uzun should be a relatively safe test as he is a substantially smaller man and was making Welterweight last year when he took on World title challenger Rafal Jackiewicz (and went the 8 round distance). A win is expected of Saunders though a genuine stoppage win will be very impressive.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Carlos Ivan Velasquez
I would like to welcome you to the new boxing prospects blog, a blog that continues the work I used to do for Ringnews24.com under the title of “Prospect Scotting”. Due to a series of changes in life and work this blog is effectively taking over from what was, for some of last year, a weekly column talking about a prospect. Unlike last years column however these prospects don't need to have a fight lined up but need to just be a solid, talent prospect. To start this off we'll be looking at a very promising Puerto Rican fighter called Carlos Ivan Velasquez .
Carlos Ivan Velasquez is 26 years old and is unbeaten as a professional in 13 fights with 11 wins by KO. So far he has fought for 39 rounds as a professional with no fights having gone beyond 6 rounds, though has past solid tests already in his short career. Velasquez was a top amateur (more about that later) prior to turning professional in 2007. In his debut he defeated Stephan Arnold in 86 seconds whilst his twin brother and fellow prospect Juan Carlos Velasquez (currently 10-1, 5KO's as a professional) defeated Manuel Angulo over the 4 round disance.
Carlos Ivan would progress quickly as a professional having only 3 fights to ease himself into the professional ranks before facing substantially more experienced fighters. He would stop the tough experienced David Maund, who was difficult to stop despite being a “career loser” (he took a 4-13 record to the ring having been stopped only twice) and face several similar type of opponents. Carlos would prove to be too good for these types of tough men who are expected to test the stamina of prospects. It wasn't until Velasquez fought Manuel Sarabia that the Puerto Rican would hear the final bell. Sarabia had been stopped several times previously though his record going in was 16-24-9 with 11 stoppage losses he was a tough fighter. Sarabia had taken Mickey Garcia the 6 round distance, ending an 8 fight KO streak from the Oxnard man and would go on to take Abner Mares 6 rounds after Velaquez fought him.
Along side Sarabia as men to last the schedule is Juan Nazario (who entered 6-1-1). Nazario recently proved his toughness by going up to Light Welterweight to face Russian Khabib Allakhverdiev and last the distance. Since beating Nazario Velasquez' stock has been on the rise with impressive victories coming in his last two fights. Firstly was the stoppage of Ira Terry (who was 24-2 at the time and had never been stopped). Terry was bullied around by a faster, stronger heavier man in Velasquez who just dominated his opponent and stopped him as shown in the video below. In his last fight Velasquez had 5 round, easy on the eye war with Eduardo Arcos showed that Valeasquez can trade, bang, box and wear opponents down.
As a professional boxrec.com rank Velasquez as the 73rd best Super Featherweight in the world, and the 5th best from Puerto Rico (behind former world champion Roman Martinez, the capable Daniel Jimenez, Martinez's next opponent the unbeaten Luis Cruz and the 2 time title contender Mario Santiago). The IBO's computer ranking system rank him at 43rd in the world at Featherweight, a division that he has never actually made as a professional. He is the 2nd highest ranked Puerto Rican at the weight according to the IBO who rank Luis Cruz at 38th in the world at featherweight.
As well as being a promising professional Velasquez was a very good amateur. He went to the 2004 Athens Olympics as a 20 year old Featherweight and was unlucky to go out to to Edvaldo Oliveira in the round of 32 (on countback of a 43-43 draw). Although the excellent Aleksei Tishchenko would take the gold (and would have almost certainly beaten Velasquez had the two met) Velasquez would prove how good he was over the following years. His stand out amateur highlight was winning gold at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia. On his route to gold he would defeat Marlon Almagro, Ronald de la Rosa (in the final) and the excellent Yuriorkis Gamboa in the Semi Final. Gamboa had won Flyweight gold in the 2004 Olympics is one of the most talented Featherweights in the world today having won both the WBA and IBF titles as a professional.
Velasquez is certainly one of the most promising and exciting young Puerto Ricans prospects around at the moment and hopefully 2011 will see him building on a great 2010.
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