The Welterweight divisions seems to be a division full of promise with a huge number of emerging fighters coming through the ranks and making a name for themselves. We currently have fighters like Diego Gabriel Chaves, Mike Jones, Yoshihiro Kamegai, Kell Brook, Thomas Dulorme and Wale Omotoso all on the edge of a world title fight though one name that often gets over looked is 25 year old American Ronald Cruz (15-0, 12).
Born in Manati, Puerto Rico though now based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Cruz is one of the Welterweight division's best kept secrets and yet he's also one of the division's most promising young fighters and one who is going about his work incredibly well with out the hype of some of the other top prospects.
Cruz turned professional to little fan fare back in early 2009 and after having a relatively easy first year he was thrown into real bouts during 2010. In just his 9th fight he faced Juan Ramon Cruz (who entered 16-8-2) who had faced the likes of Urbano Antillon and Anthony Peterson when they had each had over 20 fights. Just months later Ronald would face Jeremy Bryan (14-1 entering the bout) dropping him 3 times enroute to a 6th round KO.
In Cruz's most recent bout he stopped the usually durable Anges Adjaho (now 25-7) in 5 rounds, only the second time Adjaho had been stopped in a career going back over a decade. What made that victory impressive is that Cruz managed to do what the likes of contenders Brad Solomon, Joel Julio and prospect Shawn Porter couldn't manage in 10 rounds a piece.
Cruz will be facing the hard hitting and fun to watch Allen Conyers (12-5, 9) this coming Saturday in yet another tough bout. Whilst Conyers doesn't have an impressive record he has often only been beaten by top opponents such as Delvin Rodriguez, James Kirkland and Carlos Molina and recently upset the then 20-0 James De la Rosa. Cruz is in with a fighter who could really give him a great work out and even a shock if he isn't prepared for a hard fight.
Video below thanks to superboxmma5
Showing posts with label Welterweight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Welterweight. Show all posts
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Monday, 9 January 2012
Yordenis Ugás
On the whole Cuban defectors haven't been hugely in the professional ranks, with only really Yuriorkis Gamboa and Guillermo Rigondeaux making any major waves so far (other than the waves Odlanier Solis makes every time he goes for a swim). Despite this Cuban's have got the potential to turn professional boxing on it's head, the talent from Cuba is amazing with the likes of Erislandy Lara and Yunier Dorticos climbing the ranks quickly. Another man who is worth take a note of is former amateur star Yordenis Ugás (10-0, 5) who may emerge as one of the real top Cuban's.
The 25 year old Ugás is like many of his compatriots, a very well schooled amateur, in fact his accomplishments in the unpaid ranks say it all as he's won World Cup Silver (2005), World Amateur Gold (2005), Central American and Caribbean Games Gold (2006), Pan Am Games Gold (2007) and Olympic Bronze (2008). Like many Cuban amateurs he was incredibly technical and used his skill and natural ability well to cover up what was repeatedly referred to as a shaky chin.
Despite winning the 2009 Cuban National title at Light Welterweight Ugás was overlooked for the World Amateur Championships later that year and elected to defect to the USA to turn professional. Ugás would make his professional debut on July 9th 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia where he defeated fellow debutant Dino Dumonjic over a 4 round shut out. Just 3 later Ugás was out again, this time stopping DeJuan Jackson in just 88 seconds.
In just his third bout Ugás made his television debut and made a swift impact in stopping Marqus Jackson in just 2 rounds on ESPN Friday Night Fights in August 2010 as his handlers kept him busy. Ugás used his chance to show off his ability on television and looked impressive with incredibly fast hands, solid defence and very good shot selection after he settled into the fight. The bout ended in the 2nd round as Ugás piled on the pressure and Jackson repeatedly went to the canvas as Ugás moved to 3-0 (2) and by the end of the year that had become 5-0 (3).
Whilst 2010 had been a busy year for Ugás with 5 fights in around 5 months 2011 wouldn't see him as active though it did see him stepping up to face better competition with the stand out win being over New Yorker Kenny Abril. Like the previous year Ugás would fit in 5 fights as he moved to 10-0 (5) and began to slowly show that he genuine skills to go with his amateur reputation. To start 2012 and really keep the bandwagon moving Ugás will face Esteban Almaraz (10-4, 4) in a bought that will be shown on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights alongside the meeting of Teon Kennedy and Christopher Martin in what appears to be a real cross rounds fight.
Although not strictly speaking a prospect I would like try and give all you fans a heads up that former world title challenger Javier Maciel fights on TYC Sports in Argentina soon after the ESPN2 card finishes. I'm a firm believer that Maciel is a real danger man at Light Middleweight and one to watch out for in the next year or two, so he may be worth staying up and watching.
Video of Ugás' television debut can be seen below thanks to damit305
The 25 year old Ugás is like many of his compatriots, a very well schooled amateur, in fact his accomplishments in the unpaid ranks say it all as he's won World Cup Silver (2005), World Amateur Gold (2005), Central American and Caribbean Games Gold (2006), Pan Am Games Gold (2007) and Olympic Bronze (2008). Like many Cuban amateurs he was incredibly technical and used his skill and natural ability well to cover up what was repeatedly referred to as a shaky chin.
Despite winning the 2009 Cuban National title at Light Welterweight Ugás was overlooked for the World Amateur Championships later that year and elected to defect to the USA to turn professional. Ugás would make his professional debut on July 9th 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia where he defeated fellow debutant Dino Dumonjic over a 4 round shut out. Just 3 later Ugás was out again, this time stopping DeJuan Jackson in just 88 seconds.
In just his third bout Ugás made his television debut and made a swift impact in stopping Marqus Jackson in just 2 rounds on ESPN Friday Night Fights in August 2010 as his handlers kept him busy. Ugás used his chance to show off his ability on television and looked impressive with incredibly fast hands, solid defence and very good shot selection after he settled into the fight. The bout ended in the 2nd round as Ugás piled on the pressure and Jackson repeatedly went to the canvas as Ugás moved to 3-0 (2) and by the end of the year that had become 5-0 (3).
Whilst 2010 had been a busy year for Ugás with 5 fights in around 5 months 2011 wouldn't see him as active though it did see him stepping up to face better competition with the stand out win being over New Yorker Kenny Abril. Like the previous year Ugás would fit in 5 fights as he moved to 10-0 (5) and began to slowly show that he genuine skills to go with his amateur reputation. To start 2012 and really keep the bandwagon moving Ugás will face Esteban Almaraz (10-4, 4) in a bought that will be shown on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights alongside the meeting of Teon Kennedy and Christopher Martin in what appears to be a real cross rounds fight.
Although not strictly speaking a prospect I would like try and give all you fans a heads up that former world title challenger Javier Maciel fights on TYC Sports in Argentina soon after the ESPN2 card finishes. I'm a firm believer that Maciel is a real danger man at Light Middleweight and one to watch out for in the next year or two, so he may be worth staying up and watching.
Video of Ugás' television debut can be seen below thanks to damit305
Friday, 9 December 2011
Diego Gabriel Chaves
I recently did a piece for hubpages looking at the best Argentinian boxing prospects and found out about arguably the most exciting young Welterweight on the planet, Diego Gabriel Chaves. Chaves is one of many, many prospects in the Welterweight division though to me personally he's the top prospect in the division with everything a fighter could want. In fact despite only having had 20 fights he has already started to break into the rankings of various organisations thanks to his long reign as the WBO Latino champion.
Chaves hails from Buenos Aires the same area of Argentina as Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna and has been dubbed “La Joya” which translates from Spanish as meaning “The Jewel” and he really is the jewel of Argentinian boxing at the moment, the hidden gem in fact. Chaves turned professional aged 22 after having had a solid amateur background in his homeland sadly however he seems to lack the big international medals due to facing the likes of Demetrius Andrade and Erislandy Lara.
Since turning to the paid ranks in 2008 Chaves has carefully climbed the rankings with the aid of some destructive power and really solid fundamentals. As proof of Chaves' power he stopped his first 9 opponents, all inside the opening 3 rounds of fights. It wasn't until Chaves faced the teak tough Guillermo de Jesus Paz that he was given his first real test. In round 2 of his fight against Paz Chaves was pushed down though the referee counted it as a legitimate knockdown (rather shockingly). Despite the “knockdown” Chaves got up and dominated his experienced and tough opponent for the remaining 8 rounds to take a wide decision.
Just a month after defeating Paz Chaves would capture his first professional title by winning the WBO Latino light middleweight title a title he defended once before returning to Welterweight. Chaves wasn't with out a title for long as he would pick up the vacant WBO Latino Welterweight title on his return to the division a title he has no defended 5 times. It was whilst defending his title against Omar Gabriel Weis that Chaves was given by far his toughest test. The experienced Weis would drop Chaves in the 6th round and really gave the youngster all he could handle in a close and very competitive fight. The fight, despite being incredibly tough, would have been one of the greatest learning experiences of Chaves' career, being dragged into a tough 12 round contest does beat blowing opponents away in a round.
Since struggling with Weis we've seen Chaves have 2 confidence building wins against lesser fighters then a win over the tough and experienced Jorge Daniel Miranda. Chaves would score a 3rd round knock out over Miranda from a beautiful body shot that really showed the heavy and accurate hands that Chaves has. Whilst he had been tagged by Miranda he seemed to always be in control of the fight before the knockout over a genuinely tough opponent.
Whilst Chaves is personally the most likely of the top Argentinian boxing prospects to really make a mark on the sport that's not to say that Argentina doesn't have a huge number of solid contenders and emerging fighters that could all seriously contend for titles.
Chaves hails from Buenos Aires the same area of Argentina as Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna and has been dubbed “La Joya” which translates from Spanish as meaning “The Jewel” and he really is the jewel of Argentinian boxing at the moment, the hidden gem in fact. Chaves turned professional aged 22 after having had a solid amateur background in his homeland sadly however he seems to lack the big international medals due to facing the likes of Demetrius Andrade and Erislandy Lara.
Since turning to the paid ranks in 2008 Chaves has carefully climbed the rankings with the aid of some destructive power and really solid fundamentals. As proof of Chaves' power he stopped his first 9 opponents, all inside the opening 3 rounds of fights. It wasn't until Chaves faced the teak tough Guillermo de Jesus Paz that he was given his first real test. In round 2 of his fight against Paz Chaves was pushed down though the referee counted it as a legitimate knockdown (rather shockingly). Despite the “knockdown” Chaves got up and dominated his experienced and tough opponent for the remaining 8 rounds to take a wide decision.
Just a month after defeating Paz Chaves would capture his first professional title by winning the WBO Latino light middleweight title a title he defended once before returning to Welterweight. Chaves wasn't with out a title for long as he would pick up the vacant WBO Latino Welterweight title on his return to the division a title he has no defended 5 times. It was whilst defending his title against Omar Gabriel Weis that Chaves was given by far his toughest test. The experienced Weis would drop Chaves in the 6th round and really gave the youngster all he could handle in a close and very competitive fight. The fight, despite being incredibly tough, would have been one of the greatest learning experiences of Chaves' career, being dragged into a tough 12 round contest does beat blowing opponents away in a round.
Since struggling with Weis we've seen Chaves have 2 confidence building wins against lesser fighters then a win over the tough and experienced Jorge Daniel Miranda. Chaves would score a 3rd round knock out over Miranda from a beautiful body shot that really showed the heavy and accurate hands that Chaves has. Whilst he had been tagged by Miranda he seemed to always be in control of the fight before the knockout over a genuinely tough opponent.
Whilst Chaves is personally the most likely of the top Argentinian boxing prospects to really make a mark on the sport that's not to say that Argentina doesn't have a huge number of solid contenders and emerging fighters that could all seriously contend for titles.
Friday, 2 December 2011
Yoshihiro Kamegai
Japanese prospects are very rarely featured on this blog (and I'm sorry about that) though one fighter we simply cannot ignore is Japanese Welterweight prospect Yoshihiro Kamegai (19-0, 17). The hard hitting 29 year old has started to get some international attention in recent months thanks to his appearance in the states when he defeated Hector Munoz in 6 rounds (on the undercard of Nishioka v Marquez).
Having debuted back in 2005 Kamegai's career has progressed somewhat slowly though he has shown all the traits of a fighter who can go a very long way. So far he has shown truly heavy hands and the ability to punch from almost any angles with his ability to mix it to both head and body being excellent. He has also shown an ability to switch hit and appears to hit genuinely hard with either hand. In fact of his 19 careers bouts only 4 bouts have gone beyond 6 rounds with only Daisuke Hata and Heri Andriyanto managing to see the distance.
Although Kamegai has genuine power on his shots he does look to be somewhat defensively deficient and can be hit clean and hard due to major defensive issues. Due to his defensive issues he could become one of the most fun fighters in the talent heavy Welterweight division. Sadly despite his power it's this defensive flaw that is likely to hold him back, despite his new found fame in the US. The current Welterweight division seems to be a division based upon speed with fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Andre Berto and Amir Khan (who has signaled his intention to move upto Welterweight in the foreseeable future). His defensive issues will almost certainly cost him though it will be fun to see how his career goes.
Having debuted back in 2005 Kamegai's career has progressed somewhat slowly though he has shown all the traits of a fighter who can go a very long way. So far he has shown truly heavy hands and the ability to punch from almost any angles with his ability to mix it to both head and body being excellent. He has also shown an ability to switch hit and appears to hit genuinely hard with either hand. In fact of his 19 careers bouts only 4 bouts have gone beyond 6 rounds with only Daisuke Hata and Heri Andriyanto managing to see the distance.
Although Kamegai has genuine power on his shots he does look to be somewhat defensively deficient and can be hit clean and hard due to major defensive issues. Due to his defensive issues he could become one of the most fun fighters in the talent heavy Welterweight division. Sadly despite his power it's this defensive flaw that is likely to hold him back, despite his new found fame in the US. The current Welterweight division seems to be a division based upon speed with fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Andre Berto and Amir Khan (who has signaled his intention to move upto Welterweight in the foreseeable future). His defensive issues will almost certainly cost him though it will be fun to see how his career goes.
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
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