A look forward to this weekend

Although this weekend isn't a huge high profile one for our great sport it is a genuinely busy one so rather than spending the next 30 minutes writing about the next prospect we'll be featuring I'll instead just quickly go around everything we have on.

Friday:
Firstly Thomas Dulorme, the Puerto Rican sensation who was featured very early on in this blog attempts to improve his record from 11-0 (10) when he faces grizzled veteran DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley. Dulorme, aged 21, is seen as the next big thing from Puerto Rico and shot in to the eyes of boxing fans last time out when he scored a tremendous KO over Harrison Cuello. In Corley we find a fighter who is generally a stubborn opponent and although he's now 37 he's only been stopped 4 times in a 55 fight career. Corley now stands at 37-17-1 (22) and gave Marcos Maidana fits when the two met last year.

Although it would be a huge surprise to see Dulorme lose, this promises to be his first real test and not one that he'll walk through. Corley, although beaten badly by Lucas Martin Matthysse in January, has done the distance with the likes of Maidana, Zab Judah, Randall Bailey, Floyd Mayweather, Junior Witter and Devon Alexander. A stoppage for Dulorme puts him in alongside the likes of Matthysse, Miguel Angel Cotto, Freddy Hernandez and Jose Alfaro (a lesser group group admittedly).

Other prospects in action include Fidel Maldonado Jr (10-0, 9) a Cameron Dunkin managed Lightweight who is facing his toughest test to date when he faces Eddie Ramirez in a Golden Boy Promotions show. Although Maldonado has been dropped as a professional he is still young and a fighter who is improving as he fills out his body. Though the show of the night is the Showtime triple header.

On the Showtime card we are treated to heavy punching Cruiserweight Lateef Kayode (16-0, 14) facing recent world title challenger Matt Godfrey (20-2, 10). This is the main event and sees Kayode step out of the prospect bracket into the contender one though the card has 2 other very interesting bouts which have genuine prospects facing off on it. We have talented Archie Ray Marquez (12-0, 8) facing Art Hovhannesyan (13-0-1, 7) is what promises to be a telling fight more than a major one. The fight likely won't have tremendous fireworks though the winner will find themselves stepping up the rankings. A few weights down exciting power puncher Chris Avalos (18-1, 15) faces Russian Khabir Suleymanov (11-0, 5). Whilst Avalos is expected to win we have seen his flaws in recent bouts with Chris Martin toying with him when the two faced off last year and a talented fighter can take advantage of Avalos' flaws.

Away from the prospect scene we have an interesting WBA Interim title fight down at Flyweight where relatively unknown Jean Piero Perez (18-3-1, 13) faces off against former Light Flyweight interim champion Juan Carlos Revecco (26-1, 15). The bout will be the first defence for Perez who won the title last year by beating Jesus Jimenez, though other than that little is really known about the champion.

Saturday:
Although Friday is packed to the rafters in terms of action, prospects and notable fights. Puerto Rican's seem to be the flavour of the day with Jonathon Gonzalez (13,0, 13) facing off against the tough Richard Gutierrez (26-6-1-1, 16). Gutierrez has only been stopped 3 times in 34 fights though 2 of those have come in his previous 2 fights. On the same card Luis Orlando Del Valle (12-0, 10) faces Vietnamese Dat Nguyen (17-1, 6) in a fight that is genuinely an enthralling contest with both guys looking to establish their own names in the sport.

21 year old Middleweight/Super Middleweight prospect Dominic Wade (11-0, 8) looks to add to his growing reputation by facing off against Juan Astorga (15-6-1, 10) in what could be a short but sweet 6 rounder.

The biggest prospect fight of the weekend however takes place in England and sees Olympic bronze medal winner David Price (10-0, 8) facing off against Tom Dallas (15-0, 11). This heavyweight clash will almost certainly over-shadow the British flyweight title fight between Paul Edwards (8-0, 2) and Chris Edwards (15-14-3, 4). Dallas goes into the bout after an incredibly poor showing with Zack Page whilst Price managed to impressively bang out Raphael Butler inside a round on his last showing, so this will be a fight with Dallas looking for redemption.

Again we have title fights, this time we have two pretty interesting bouts one in Mexico that really is interesting and one in Argentina that I feel will be a little bit one-sided. The Mexican one sees the new WBA Light Middleweight champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout (22-0, 13) defending his title against grizzled veteran David “The Destroyer” Lopez (40-12, 23). Trout starts at a 1/5 favourite though I cannot help but feel that the bookies have gotten this one very, very wrong. Lopez is on a long unbeaten and has been beating a number of top fighters on his route to a world title fight that takes place in Mexico, Lopez's homeland. Trout is in for a very, very difficult time.

The other title fight of the night sees unbeaten Argentinian Omar Andres Narvaez (34-0-2, 19) defending the WBO Super Flyweight title against William Urina (17-1, 14). I love watching Narvaez there is something really appealing about his style and although he lacks power he's a fun one to watch, though this fight really doesn't do anything for me. Narvaez is incredibly talented, a capable fighter who should be mixing it with the best in the division though has found himself in with Urina who isn't really even near to the same level as Narvaez.

Sorry for being “behind” on this blog, I've had a visitor and not really been working as much as I should have for the past 2 weeks.

Prospect Review Pt 1

Since this blog was started at the end of March we've seen 12 fighters profiled, with 8 of those having fought since they were featured in this blog. All 8 of those fighters have kept their unbeaten records and moved another step up in the boxing world.

Billy Joe Saunders was the first fighter mentioned in this blog who has fought since. He scored an impressive 2^nd round stoppage over Turkish fighter Turgay Uzun. Uzun had gone in as a tough opponent, his record was an unimpressive 35-15-2 going in but he had only ever been stopped twice in his 52 fights. Those stoppages had dated back to 2002 when he suffered an injury against Michele Orlando and a 2010 TKO against Damian Jonak (currently the WBC's #9 ranked Light Middleweight). A win for Saunders was expected but the stoppage was a bonus even if Uzun did effectively quit. The fight may have been an easy one but Saunders made it look easier than it was to defeat a veteran who has made a career out of surviving.

Frank Warren http://www.youtube.com/user/frankwarren




Rakhim Chakhkiev was the next fighter mentioned just days before his American debut against the experienced Harvey Jolly. Chakhkiev didn't struggle at all with Jolly and showed solid power with both hands as well a good active work rate. Although at times he did look a little wild it seemed more down to over confidence against Jolly who appeared unable to hurt him. The body attack of Chakhkiev was hugely impressive and although he's not a huge Cruiserweight he's powerful and those body shots will always have an effect. The fight was on the under card of Erik Morales v Marcos Maidana and was hugely impressive in scoring a 3^rd round KO.

ShareMMMAnos http://www.youtube.com/user/ShareMMMAnos



Gary Russell Jr was originally meant to be on the Morales v Maidana under-card though that fight fell through and instead of facing Ira Terry as first reported he fought Adolfo Landeros the following Friday. Landeros was sadly not the same quality of test that Terry would have been and Russell dominated the 6 round contest after scoring a knock-down in the opening round. Russell moves to an impressive looking 15-0 (9) and at 22 years old that's fine and they are bringing him through well though hopefully they'll put him in with someone a few steps up from Landeros next time out.


BoxingProspect http://www.youtube.com/user/BoxingProspect


Karl Place moved to 13-0 (8) with a 5^th round TKO over George Watson who had only been stopped once previously (by Stephen Jennings) and had survived 8 torrid rounds against Carl Johanneson back in January. 22 year old Place is being brought along well and given time to move up the rankings with out being in too many risky fights at this point. Unlike Gary Russel (above) the expectations on Place are much smaller and he'll likely remain at British level for a while longer than the ultra talented Russell.

Thomas Dulorme of Puerto Rico has really become a bit of an over night sensation after scoring a knock-out of the year contender against Harrison Cuello on the under-card of Victor Ortiz v Andre Berto. Dulorme, who started his career with a majority decision in 2008 has moved to 11-0 (10) and become a real sensation at Welterweight despite turning professional at Lightweight and now at 21 years old seems to have the world as his oyster. He has been active in 2011 having fought 3 times already and hopefully his time will capitalise on his new found fame by striking whilst the iron is hot. Dulorme has all the markings of a star though really will need to be given tougher tests before we mark him down as Puerto Rico's next great star.

JFKConspiracy (via sweetboxing)

Carlos Negron, the 6'6” Puerto Rican who turned professional as a skinny cruiserweight just a couple of years ago is now becoming a fully fledged Heavyweight and has extend his record to 12-0 (8) and 2-0 (1) as a Heavyweight. He beat the wonderfully named Emerson Chasing Bear on the Juan Manuel Lopez v Orlando Salido under-card by 4^th round by TKO. Although I've not seen the fight Negron could well be a true force in the division if he continues to develop like many feel he can. He's a huge fighter with a wonderfully athletic build and if he manages to get his jab going his 83” reach will be one of the sports most potent weapons.

Jamie “The Nuisance” Kavanagh made his UK debut on the under-card of Amir Khan v Paul McCloskey and beat regular test case Sid Razak over a 6 round decision. Razak, in his 70^th professional contest fell to 6-64 whilst Kavanagh progressed to 6-0 (2). The 20 year old from Dublin (though based in LA) will be given time to develop his talent and power though he's still a name that needs to be remembered for the future.

John Jackson was one of the last names mentioned by this blog and last night, in Uruguay he extend his record to an impressive 10-0 (9). The son of famed punched Julian Jackson seems to be following in his father's footsteps as a power punching force. Aged just 22 it might be too early to mark him as a future star though the Light Middleweight from the U.S. Virgin Islands is a fighter who must be on the verges of making a US debut after having fought at home, in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.

The fighters who haven't fought since this blog went live:
Carlos Ivan Velasquez
Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez
Froilan Saludar
Joe Hanks (fights on 22^nd April against Terrell Nelson)

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