Often boxing fans and writers alike view a single loss early in a fighters career as the end or as proof that they aren't able to cut it at a top level. What boxing fans often forget is that current top fighters like Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Maruqez and Manny Pacquiao all lost early in their careers and as a result I'm happy to often ignore a single loss, just like I'm doing with Japanese Bantamweight Ryosuke Iwasa (12-1, 9).
The 22 year old Iwasa of Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan is a fighter who came to the boxing worlds attention last year in one of the stand out Eastern battle of last year as Iwasa was outlasted by current WBC Bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka. Whilst Iwasa was stopped in the 10th round of that bout against Yamanaka he showed real glimpses of talent and the sort of potential that boxing fans need to get excited.
Even before the Yamanaka performance many had high hopes for Iwasa who had impressively come through the Japanese amateur ranks having been a former High School champion and as a result when Iwasa turned professional in 2008 aged just 18 the expectations were high. On his debut Iwasa stopped Shinya Takahashi a tough Japanese journeyman in 5 rounds, Takahashi had never been stopped before the bout and this just boosted the expectations of Iwasa.
Rather than fighting a host of easy fights Iwasa was some what fast tracked up the levels and in just 7 fights he had stepped up to facing Kinshiro Usui (who was 19-2 going into their bout) a man who had been unlucky not to have won the Japanese Bantamweight title just a few fights earlier. Impressively Iwasa would stop Usui in 4 rounds becoming the first man to stop him.
After the win over Usui Iwasa would then face Yamanaka in their thrilling 10 round battle for the Japanese Bantamweight title. Whilst Iwasa was eventually stopped by his older and more experienced foe he showed enough for boxing fans to remain excited about him, he had proven his determination, he had shown his heart and skills.The loss to Yamanaka looked even better just months later as Yamanaka won the WBC Bantamweight title stopping Christian Esquivel in 11 rounds.
Iwasa would bounce back from the loss to Yamanaka by quickly blowing out Rasmanudin (a former IIndonesian champion at Bantamweight who had entered the bout with a record of 13-1-2) in just 2 rounds. Then, just weeks after Yamanaka had won the world title, Iwasa managed to get his second chance at winning the Japanese Bantamweight title when he faced Zerofit Jerope Zuiyama (who was 24-2-3 entering the bout). Iwasa would out point the Filipino born Japanese based Zuiyama over the 10 round distance to claim the national title that he's now defended twice beating both Yuki Murai (KO1) and Kentaro Masuda (TKO7).
Next time out Iwasa faces former 2-time title challenger David de la Mora (24-2, 17) who is well known in Japan following a razor thin title bout with 3-weight world champion Koki Kameda, however last time out de la Mora was easily stopped by Anselmo Moreno. Iwasa will go in to the bout as the small favourite, though a win here should seriously boost him up the world rankings.
Iwasa's record of 12-1 (7) may not on paper look mind blowing but when you consider his only loss is to a current world champion and in a toe-to-toe war it's easy to excuse it. It's also worth noting that Yamanaka has since defeated Australian based Armenian Vic Darchinyan in just a few weeks.
Friday, 2 March 2012
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Genesis Servania
The Filipino boxing scene is one of the hottest right now and that's due to the huge number of prospects the country has. In the past I've looked at Milan Melindo, Sylvester Lopez and Froilan Saludar and it's time to add the name of unbeaten rising star Genesis Servania (16-0, 5) to our little ensemble.
Born in 1991 Genesis is one of the "babies" of professional boxing though is a fighter who is almost certainly a star in the making and is already climbing up through the boxrec and IBO top 100 at Super Bantamweight which is a division that Genesis has grown into since his debut back in 2009. In his debut Genesis weighed just 108lbs as he defeated Mike Espanosa (TKO2) and swiftly followed it up with 6 more wins in the next 12 months as he kept busy and kept growing and by the time he stopped Melchor Abcede (KO6) Genesis had become a fully blown Bantamweight.
Genesis had quickly and quietly gone about his business racking up wins against lower tier opposition with out too many problems, though he did struggle against Jun Piacidad winning just a split decision against the more experienced opponent in Genesis' first foray into the 8 round distance. Despite the fact he had been taking out pointing lower level opposition it seemed only a matter of time before until Genesis would have to step up and in 2011 he faced his first name fighter in Gerson Guerrero. Guerrero, a former title contender took an impressive record of 34-8 (26) into the bout against the then 14-0 (5) Servania, despite the difference in experience Servania was too big and too Fresh for his well respected Mexican opponent.
Servania has picked up a solitary win since defeating Guerrero though now finds himself in another test as he faces tough Kenyan Nick Otieno (21-7, 9). Although Otieno isn't a world level boxer he has recently fought for the Commonwealth Bantamweight title against Jamie McDonnell and has also lost to the talented Alexander Bakhtin so he has certainly mixed with a better class of opposition than Servania. Saying that however we would expect the young Filipino to defeat Otieno over the distance.
Born in 1991 Genesis is one of the "babies" of professional boxing though is a fighter who is almost certainly a star in the making and is already climbing up through the boxrec and IBO top 100 at Super Bantamweight which is a division that Genesis has grown into since his debut back in 2009. In his debut Genesis weighed just 108lbs as he defeated Mike Espanosa (TKO2) and swiftly followed it up with 6 more wins in the next 12 months as he kept busy and kept growing and by the time he stopped Melchor Abcede (KO6) Genesis had become a fully blown Bantamweight.
Genesis had quickly and quietly gone about his business racking up wins against lower tier opposition with out too many problems, though he did struggle against Jun Piacidad winning just a split decision against the more experienced opponent in Genesis' first foray into the 8 round distance. Despite the fact he had been taking out pointing lower level opposition it seemed only a matter of time before until Genesis would have to step up and in 2011 he faced his first name fighter in Gerson Guerrero. Guerrero, a former title contender took an impressive record of 34-8 (26) into the bout against the then 14-0 (5) Servania, despite the difference in experience Servania was too big and too Fresh for his well respected Mexican opponent.
Servania has picked up a solitary win since defeating Guerrero though now finds himself in another test as he faces tough Kenyan Nick Otieno (21-7, 9). Although Otieno isn't a world level boxer he has recently fought for the Commonwealth Bantamweight title against Jamie McDonnell and has also lost to the talented Alexander Bakhtin so he has certainly mixed with a better class of opposition than Servania. Saying that however we would expect the young Filipino to defeat Otieno over the distance.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Ronald Cruz
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
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
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Bradley Saunders
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.
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.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
The return of Carlos Ivan Velasquez
I started this blog almost a year ago and one of the very first fighters I mentioned was Puerto Rico's Carlos Ivan Velasquez, a fighter that I felt at the time was heading on to super stardom. Sadly since that blog Velasquez has been out of action, in fact Velasquez hasn't fought since beating Eduardo Arcos way back in July 2010. Thankfully however he is set to return to the ring on 3rd February fighting a yet to be named opponent in the Texas Station Casino, Las Vegas.
Whilst we don't know why he was out of action and we also don't know who he is facing I am very glad to see that he is returning to the ring as he looked sensational in early footage that I found and anyone who beat both Arcos and Ira Terry in their first 15 fights is worth making a note of.
Velazuez currently holds a record of 13-0 (11) though at 27 years old he may well have wasted 18 months of his prime development years so hopefully his handlers will force him to make up for lost time this year.
Whilst we don't know why he was out of action and we also don't know who he is facing I am very glad to see that he is returning to the ring as he looked sensational in early footage that I found and anyone who beat both Arcos and Ira Terry in their first 15 fights is worth making a note of.
Velazuez currently holds a record of 13-0 (11) though at 27 years old he may well have wasted 18 months of his prime development years so hopefully his handlers will force him to make up for lost time this year.
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Evgeniy Tishchenko
Sometimes this blog can be genuinely hard to research for especially when fighters have yet to make their professional debut. Sometime your can get lucky due to a lot of information about their amateur exploits other times you can really struggle to find the necessary information to make a fully fledged piece for the site. When it comes to Evgeniy Tishchenko, this is one of the most sketchy profiles you're likely to see here sadly though it seems like I'm one of the very few trying to put the pieces together (at least as far as English language blogs go).
What we do know about Tishchenko is that the giant Russian stands around 6'5 and at just 20 years old he interests us a lot with out even making his professional debut. From his amateur past it's quite difficult to be too sure about him. We know he competed in the Russian 2011 National Amateur Championships, he lost in the Semi Final there to Nikita Ivanov (who went on to win Silver) Also in 2011 Tishchenko beat Alexey Sevostyanov in the final of the Governor Cup in Saint Petersburg. We are also pretty sure he won the 2009 European Youth Championships and beat Cezary Samelko in the final, we also think he won the Russian Youth Championships (or the equivalent) the same year, all at 81KG.
Basically from what we can find is that he was a pretty good amateur. Whilst he didn't make a big name for himself in the seniors, he didn't stay there for long enough to really establish himself (and in Russia with a number of top names it's likely he decided not to wait around). Instead Tihschenko has run off to Germany where he will be making his professional debut tonight as he faces the Ukrainian veteran Ihor Pylypenko (3-11-1). Pylypenko has faced Valery Brudov (twice), Grigory Drozd and Rakhim Chakhkiev. A win for Tishchenko is expected though it's going to be interesting to see how he settles into the professional ranks.
What we do know about Tishchenko is that the giant Russian stands around 6'5 and at just 20 years old he interests us a lot with out even making his professional debut. From his amateur past it's quite difficult to be too sure about him. We know he competed in the Russian 2011 National Amateur Championships, he lost in the Semi Final there to Nikita Ivanov (who went on to win Silver) Also in 2011 Tishchenko beat Alexey Sevostyanov in the final of the Governor Cup in Saint Petersburg. We are also pretty sure he won the 2009 European Youth Championships and beat Cezary Samelko in the final, we also think he won the Russian Youth Championships (or the equivalent) the same year, all at 81KG.
Basically from what we can find is that he was a pretty good amateur. Whilst he didn't make a big name for himself in the seniors, he didn't stay there for long enough to really establish himself (and in Russia with a number of top names it's likely he decided not to wait around). Instead Tihschenko has run off to Germany where he will be making his professional debut tonight as he faces the Ukrainian veteran Ihor Pylypenko (3-11-1). Pylypenko has faced Valery Brudov (twice), Grigory Drozd and Rakhim Chakhkiev. A win for Tishchenko is expected though it's going to be interesting to see how he settles into the professional ranks.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Milan Melindo
At just 23 years years old Filipino prospect Milan Melindo (25-0, 9) may well be one of the most nailed on future champions in the sport. Born in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental though now based in Cebu City, Cebu Melindo is a fighter who has flown under the radar amazingly well despite some of the sweetest skills in the sport and one of the most under-rated records of any fighter out there, in fact some may argue with even classing him as a prospect.
Melindo started boxing as a youngster and there are reports that he fought over 500 amateur bouts, including winning gold twice at the Palarong Pambansa (the Filipino national games). Melindo would then turn professional way back in 2005 aged just 17 by winning a decision on his debut against Meljun Grumo and since then he has slowly crafted a very solid career.
After 2 years as a professional Melindo picked up his first title when he defeated Pongpan Patanakan Gym for the WBO Asia Pacific minimumweight title. Less than a year later Melindo would add the WBA Inter-Continental light flyweight title to trophy cabinet, though it wasn't until his 18th fight that Melindo proved his class as he faced former world champion Muhammad Rachman. At the time Rachman's record stood at an impressive 62-6-5 with only a single loss in the previous decade (a narrow points loss to the power punching Florante Condes) with Melindo seen as taking a giant step up in class. Melindo would be too quick for Rachmann who despite never giving up looked to be a level behind the young speedy upstart who took a clear unanimous decision and put the first big name on his record.
Following the win over Rachman it would have made sense for Melindo to push on with his career though instead he had 4 fights against lesser opponents (including 2 time PABA Super Flyweight champion Komrit Lukkuongmuekol) as he spent the following 18 months remaining busy. It wasn't until November 2010 that Melindo would again mix with world level level fighters as he faced former IBF Flyweight champion Carlos Tamara. In his previous bout Tamara had controversially lost the IBF title to Argentinian Luis Alberto Lazarte though at times Melindo make it look easy as he took a wide decision over Tamara to claim the second scalp of a former world title holder.
Again it looked like time for Melindo to kick on with things and start challenging for world titles of his own, though instead he decided to blow out Mexican veteran Rosendo Vega (KO1). Again it looked like Melindo's momentum had been killed off until he returned to the ring in September 2011 and defeated former title challenger Francisco Rosas. Despite Rosas weighing more on the scales than Melindo the Filipino eased to victory as he forced Rosas to retire after 10 one sided rounds.
Melindo will defend his WBO Inter-Continental flyweight title this coming weekend as he faces Juan Esquer, Melindo is expected to defeated Esquer (a former world title challenger himself). Whilst Melindo has perhaps padded his record somewhat it is impressive that 23 year old already holds wins over 2 former champions and looks to add a second title challenger to his record. Though hopefully this will be the last fight for Melindo, a supremely talented and lightning quick fighter, before he looks for a world title fight of his own. Whilst his division is one of the tougher ones (with champions including future hall of famer Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, My 2011Fighter of the Year Brian Viloria, the hard hitting Hernan "Tyson" Marquez and South African Moruti Mthalane) he has the skills to hold his own with any of them.
Video below thanks to MrPacman4ever
Melindo started boxing as a youngster and there are reports that he fought over 500 amateur bouts, including winning gold twice at the Palarong Pambansa (the Filipino national games). Melindo would then turn professional way back in 2005 aged just 17 by winning a decision on his debut against Meljun Grumo and since then he has slowly crafted a very solid career.
After 2 years as a professional Melindo picked up his first title when he defeated Pongpan Patanakan Gym for the WBO Asia Pacific minimumweight title. Less than a year later Melindo would add the WBA Inter-Continental light flyweight title to trophy cabinet, though it wasn't until his 18th fight that Melindo proved his class as he faced former world champion Muhammad Rachman. At the time Rachman's record stood at an impressive 62-6-5 with only a single loss in the previous decade (a narrow points loss to the power punching Florante Condes) with Melindo seen as taking a giant step up in class. Melindo would be too quick for Rachmann who despite never giving up looked to be a level behind the young speedy upstart who took a clear unanimous decision and put the first big name on his record.
Following the win over Rachman it would have made sense for Melindo to push on with his career though instead he had 4 fights against lesser opponents (including 2 time PABA Super Flyweight champion Komrit Lukkuongmuekol) as he spent the following 18 months remaining busy. It wasn't until November 2010 that Melindo would again mix with world level level fighters as he faced former IBF Flyweight champion Carlos Tamara. In his previous bout Tamara had controversially lost the IBF title to Argentinian Luis Alberto Lazarte though at times Melindo make it look easy as he took a wide decision over Tamara to claim the second scalp of a former world title holder.
Again it looked like time for Melindo to kick on with things and start challenging for world titles of his own, though instead he decided to blow out Mexican veteran Rosendo Vega (KO1). Again it looked like Melindo's momentum had been killed off until he returned to the ring in September 2011 and defeated former title challenger Francisco Rosas. Despite Rosas weighing more on the scales than Melindo the Filipino eased to victory as he forced Rosas to retire after 10 one sided rounds.
Melindo will defend his WBO Inter-Continental flyweight title this coming weekend as he faces Juan Esquer, Melindo is expected to defeated Esquer (a former world title challenger himself). Whilst Melindo has perhaps padded his record somewhat it is impressive that 23 year old already holds wins over 2 former champions and looks to add a second title challenger to his record. Though hopefully this will be the last fight for Melindo, a supremely talented and lightning quick fighter, before he looks for a world title fight of his own. Whilst his division is one of the tougher ones (with champions including future hall of famer Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, My 2011Fighter of the Year Brian Viloria, the hard hitting Hernan "Tyson" Marquez and South African Moruti Mthalane) he has the skills to hold his own with any of them.
Video below thanks to MrPacman4ever
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