Vasiliy Lomachenko vs George Kambosos Down Under

Ukrainian War Veteran Vasyl Lomachenko looks to further nail down his place in the fluid Lightweight division against former Unified Lightweight Champ George Kambosos Jr this Sunday 12, May 2024  @Hometown RAC Arena, Perth, Australia. That would be May 11th early AM American time because of the Time Zone differences in Down Under Oz compared to America.

Kambosos, 21-2, 10, KO pitched his single bout master class against the mercurial Teofimo Lopez who held the belts then, The Problem being he was soon belted out of all his belts by the WBC champ Devin Haney who pulled off the duplicate win in the rematch. Now it’s take care of Business or get off the Pot time for Kambo who may not be too much longer in this business. The IBF lightweight title will be on the line after Haney vacated to move up to Jr Welterweight glory.

The 36 year old boxing Wiz Lomachenko is well into his creaking years after a stellar Amateur and Professional career, yet still challenging the best in spite of his modest 17-3, 11 KO record. No doubt he’s a big favorite to win in a big fashion in spite of also being beat by Haney. The difference between the two fighters in this match up is that Kambosos was thoroughly outboxed in both his Haney bouts, whereas a large segment of fans thought Lomachenko beat Haney, yet was robbed as happens routinely in boxing.

ESPN is the broadcaster, so there it is for this weekend…Amen… 

Battle of Cinco de Mayo~Canelo Alvarez vs Jaime Munguia

Undefeated Jaime Munguia and his braintrust have figured now is the time to roll them dice to take on the #1 Fighter in Boxing, Canelo Alvarez who holds the complete suite of IBF World Super Middle, WBA World Super Middle, WBC World Super Middle, and the WBO World Super Middle Belts along with the Ring Belt, all of which will be up for grabs for this fight.

Munguia, 43-0, 34 KO has been largely a frustrating fighter to follow because his matchmaking has been so maddingly slow in developing him. At age 27, he still has significant youth on his side as compared to the 33 year old Canelo, 60-2-2, 39 KO who has logged 484 rounds of boxing at the highest levels of achievement possible in a career. Jaime is the fresher fighter with only 199 rounds of boxing, most of which was at a lower level. He is, however, a former WBO SuperWelter Champ with 5 defenses by age 22 before he vacated to move up to middle and super middle divisions and rightly may be seen as the fresher fighter.

He also has some natural size over Canelo although not enough to be that much of an advantage, but at this top level every speck of any advantage can play a significant role in the outcome. Here he dwarfs Hall of Famers Freddie Roach, his trainer, and Oscar De La Hoya his promoter.

He also shared the Ring recently with tough British Contender, John Ryder, whom he KOed in 9 rounds as compared to Canelo who pitched a wide 12 round shutout on Ryder the year before. The comparative results differential presumably set up this potential All Mexican Revolution Rivalry.

That long time trainer Freddie Roach is involved is a significant advantage for Munguia, a welcome change from longtime trainer, HOFer Erik Morales who never actually learned to box as a face first swarming slugger, yet still may be in Munguia’s corner on fight night for morale support of a friendly face.

Though many fans and experts are downplaying this fight with the “The Ring Experts” casting their curse on the fight by overwhelmingly picking Canelo, Jaime has been untapped and underrated until now. I tend to think he’s ready, almost in a debut mode to make a good showing.

 

Win, Lose, or Draw, there it is on Cinco de Mayo Weekend with a decent undercard…Amen…

Devin Haney & Ryan Garcia Glove Up For The WBC 140lb Title

Well now Boxing Fans, we may or may not have a fine battle of the historic 140lb Junior Welterweight Title, the WBC in this instance when Devin Haney gloves up against the mercurial, melting wonder of Ryan Garcia who is still trying to get his feet under him after multiple mental health problems.

Garcia, 24-1, 20 KO, also seems to be perpetual dispute with his promoter GoldenBoy along with a host of boxers and fans found in the Twitter Universe now known as X. Those derailments resulting in a couple of fights delayed or cancelled make it hard to keep his career straight in spite of a stellar 25-1, 20 KO record.

Net result is Haney, the WBC Champ, gets to play 2nd fiddle for this promotion in spite of a fine record, 31-0, 15 KO, because his style of hiding behind his points scoring jab and moving around the ring doing little else has won him few fans. Ryan fans who will be out in force whether as spectators or PPV buys, so net result is that Haney will profit no matter his lowly fan appeal.

Of the two, Ryan has the most untapped physical talent and potential whereas the steady as she goes ring demeanor of Devin, also 25 years old, may be operating as high a capacity as he is capable of. Unless someone can seriously hurt him that the unconventional Ryan is certainly capable of, he’ll just motor along in cruise control, but truth be told, these fellers look to be more romantically inclined than boxing inclined, a tragic testament to how far Championship Boxing has fallen. 

For now in the leadup, the 25 year old Haney is currently the 8:1 favorite for his PPV title defense against 25 year old Garcia on Saturday @Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY, so there it is in a nutshell…

Aussie Tim Tszyu Gloves Up vs Towering Inferno Sebastion Fundora

Unbeaten WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu, 24-0, 17 KO takes on the formidable challenge of Towering Inferno Sebastian Fundora, 20-1-1, 13 KO this Saturday, March 30th @T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Though both fighters were in training against other fighters for this card with Tim the Headliner, now this is a very short notice fight for both. Tim’s original opponent, former WBC/WBA Welter Champ Keith Thurman, pulled out with a training injury.

As we can see, though the fighters will have to make the 154 lb limit for Tim’s WBO Belt to be on the line, 6-6 ft Fundora has a massive height and reach advantage that is difficult to train for at this weight. He’s an all action nonstop type fighter and a southpaw who doesn’t mind fighting inside his reach which proved to be a fatal flaw when Brian Mendoza knocked him cold for the waived count.

That was a year ago, so though inactive for that year, that’s also a year of potential work Sebastion may have put in on both physical and mental recovery as well as stylistic tweaks designed to take advantage of his formidable asset advantages. I personally don’t know what he has done in that interim, but only state the obvious possibilities afforded to him and his trainer.

No matter, stylistically this is a matchmaker’s dream, two highly ranked prime age studs going into an anticipated firefight with some decent undercards in support…fingers XX!!!

 

Dateline: Friday March 8th~Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia

Anthony Joshua gloves up in Saudi Arabia against the former UFC and now Boxing Phenom Francis Ngannou this Friday, March 8th in Saudi Arabia. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearns and the DAZN broadcasting platform have teamed up with the Saudis to deliver Heavyweight Manna from Heaven @Kingdom Arena, Riyadh.

The Chinese Colossus Zhilei Zhang also gets his first Title Challenge in a much anticipated Heavyweight WBO Interim Heavyweight Title Fight as the main support against former WBO Champ Mighty Joe Parker. Joe has mounted a succesful comeback after career setbacks when he easily shut down the former WBC Champ Deontay Wilder a few months ago in a previous monstrous Saudi lineup of Heavyweights.

Francis, 0-1, 0 KO has definitively proven that his late career choice to take up Boxing has paid substantial dividends with 2 Career purses, not to mention International Accolades with Boxing Fans when he exposed the decaying Blubber of WBC Chump Tyson Fury, now circling the drain. This being Boxing, of course the Referee failed to record the 2nd of Francis’ Knockdowns of Fury who was forced into grabbing Francis on his way down such that they both hit the deck. At least one judge got the scoring right by crediting Francis that resulted in a split decision in Riyadh last October 28th, 2023.

The 10 round nontitle scores were tight, 95-94, 94-95, and 96-93 scores for Francis’ Boxing Debut that set the fans howling for more.

As the Huge -1400 favorite against Ngannou, Fury lost much of his limited provincial fanbase in his clownish comeback to Boxing, whereas Francis is now a Star even in his loss because Boxing Fans intuitively know best.

AJ, 27-3, 24 KO, last pitched a Brute Force Masterclass on Fury Slayer Otto Wallin at the close of 2023, when Wallin’s corner stopped the fight after the 5th round. AJ as the favorite at age 34 also has some youth on the 37 year old Francis, but it’s been proven that Francis packs a serious equalizer in punching technique, so I look for AJ to carefully outbox him much like he did in his Bloody Masterclass rematch against the powerful Andy Ruiz that regained him all his lost Unified Titles.

There are plenty of other exemplary fights on the card, but if you love Heavyweights as do most Boxing Fans, this Friday Saudi Arabian Night is for YOU!!!

Tyson Fury Quitting His Scheduled Saudi Fight Against Oleksandr Usyk?

Ukrainian Cossack Oleksandr Usyk, without throwing a punch, continues to embarrass Tyson Fury whose blubber has grown old and fetid, now embarrassing his fans and boxing in general.

What were the odds that Fury would make the scratch line for this fight in the beginning, and what pray tell us are they now?

Fury first caved, ie “bottled it” as the English like to put it during the lead up to the Wladimir Klitschko rematch to retire in a drug suspension disgrace for a 3 year bacchanal of drunkenness, drugs, gluttony, and worse. Fleeing to America to escape his past, his weak sister WBC bauble was the best he could manage on his soft schedule.

Meanwhile, Usyk KOed Fury’s stable mate, Daniel Dubois, and now by default Fury whose fig leaf is some pitiable cartoon sparring footage not even fit for an aspiring 1st grade videographer’s show and tell presentation.

Worse, Fury’s British nemesis whom Fury fled from in one of the all time $umptuou$ fight ducks ever put together, the former unified champ Anthony Joshua, AJ as he is colloquially known means to also further embarrass Fury by fighting novice boxing prospect, the former MMA champ Francis Ngannou who knocked down Fury twice to only get a single credit that had fight fans howling.

AJ has already easily dismantled Otto Wallin who had previously diced up Fury like a Rotel Tomato to no credit from the usual suspects placed as judges of modern boxing.

It is likely AJ does the same to Francis this March in Saudi Arabia. Bless him, Francis intuitively knows that the best in the boxing business earn their keep in boxing is by making Big Fights and Record Purses for him against Big Names in boxing…only in Boxing, folks, and now MMA too!!!

 

70th Anniversary of the Beginning of The Archie Moore Legend

It was 70 years ago this January 27th, 1954 that secured what turned out to be the legend of Archie Moore when he blistered Joey Maxim with 2 knockdowns to top off a definitive defense of his previous closely won first title defense.

Archie was well known as somewhat ancient when he rematched the granite jawed LightHeavyweight Champion, Joey Maxim, who had previously sent the all time phenom of Ray Robinson into a long retirement. In a hard fought title challenge, Archie won the decision where boxing politics forced his first defense to be a rematch close enough to be controversial in the always contentious Boxing circles of thought.

Not so the 3rd fight against Maxim where the 37 year old Archie coming off a career started in the depression followed by WW2, finally entered the gates of Valhalla. He would finish out as the dominant LightHeavyweight Champion of his era. Archie was not shy about ending his career with a splash against a coming of age challenge by Muhammad Ali whom Archie had previously trained when young Cassius Clay turned pro after a Gold Medal won in the LightHeavyweight Division in the 1960 Olympics.

By then Moore had been stripped by the National Boxing Association in 1960 because he failed to defend the light heavyweight title according to their specifications.  The Ring and the New York State Athletic Commission still recognized him until 1962 until they also stripped him for failure to defend.

Through all the thick and thin shenanigans in boxing, Archie never lost his LightHeavy title in the ring over a long career of defenses. Archie’s sin against the boxing establishment was that he fighting big Heavyweights was making him more $$$ than his LightHeavy Title Defenses, ultimately with a Classic Challenge against all time great Rocky Marciano where he knocked down The Rock as hard as can be had before finally getting knocked out by Rocky.

Notably for the Ali bout, Moore’s purse was $75,000, well over young Clay’s $40,000. Moreover, it was reputed and likely true that Moore bet on himself to fall in that 4th round that young Clay had predicted. That caused a bitter separation with his trainer, Dick Sadler, who was majorly miffed he wasn’t in on the financial splendor. 

By his end, Archie cleaned up in his last boxing bout though he would comeback for one more bout in a grudge match against ‘rassler Mike DiBiase. Archie’s final record was an amazing 183 Wins-23 Losses-10 Draws with a record 132 Knockouts according to Boxrec. Not to mention all through his adult life he was known as one of the most erudite spokesmen for boxing and life in general which ain’t bad for a depression era boy born on an Oxbow of the mighty Mississippi River in Benoit, Mississippi…Amen…

 

 

 

Unified Champ Artur Beterbiev vs Callum Smith in Quebec City

Unified LightHeavyweight Champ Artur Beterbiev puts his sumptuous WBC/WBO/IBF titles on the line against former SuperMiddleweight WBC/WBA Champ Callum Smith this Saturday, January 13th @Centre Videotron, Quebec City in Canada.

The Ferocious Beterbiev, 19-0, 19 KO, will be fighting a much taller, rangier fighter than normal for him, the currently unranked Smith being 6-3+ with a greater reach. Smith has taken some significant time off after his two LightHeavyweight debuts, 2-0, 2 KO, but truth be told, although that may have adjusted him without concussive trauma at the higher weight before putting in for some rest, nothing can prepare him for the nightmare than Beterbiev brings into every matchup.

One thing Smith has going for him is professional experience, 29-1, 21 KO and age, 33 years compared to the somewhat ancient in boxing terms 38 years of Beterbiev who will turn 39 shortly after this fight. And like most Eastern Europeans, Artur had an extensive Amateur career, so in ring wear, he’s older than his record suggests, but it’s not likely he’ll get old for this fight.

Smith was the first recipient of the Super Six Ali Trophy after a tourney where he came in on top in his heyday, so we cannot definitively say he has no chance.

Though Smith may be able to jab and move and try to pick his strategic big shots in the early going, perhaps he could aim for a cut stoppage that Artur is not immune from. Yet not many are picking the upset over the relentless Beterbiev who’s obliterating pressure dominates his every fight.

For boxing fans and fighters, it’s just what the Doctor ordered to get us through these  bitter Winter Blizzards…Halleluiah!!! 

 

 

 

 

Vergil Ortiz Moves Up To 154 lb Division vs Frederick Lawson In Vegas

Unranked Boxrec Welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr, 19-0, 19 KO is making a health move to the 154 lb Junior Middleweight division against Boxrec #96 Fredrick Lawson, 30-3, 22 KO, this Saturday, January 6th @Virgin Hotels in Vegas.

RHABDOMYOLYSIS

There, I said it BIG, but I had to look it up since it has been a stumbling block for Vergil these past few years. When the body starts feasting on itself tue to famine or overtraining, waste products start to shut down the function of the Kidneys. The damage can be permanent if not fatal, but it’s always distressful.

Here is Verg in peak health pre rhabdomyolysis looking like a million buck$:

Lawson, though a ranked welterweight, has been over the 147lb mark 19x in his career, so he’s certainly has considerable experience over 147 lb limit. Facts are that 23 of his fights have been in Ghana, his nation of origin, but he has 11 fights in the US, so again, he’s used to fighting in the US, so @age 34, he should be fresh with only 167 rounds banked in his career. 

The Disclaimer is all three of his losses have been by stoppage where he logged 24 of those rounds, so while he may be vulnerable to a KO loss, at least he goes rounds, and rounds are exactly what Vergil needs at this point.

Anyway, while I’m not a medical doctor and lack extensive knowledge of Rhabdomyolysis, I do know that the high level boxing that Verg competes in can be very dangerous to those fighters in poor health. It’s a good move to jump a division by Vergil who may have stayed too long at the Welter limit since there have been no reports of any illness thusfar. 

Bigger fights are on the horizon for Vergil pending the results of this fight, so fingers crossed for the health of both fighters…XX

Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder…Well, Sorta, Maybe…

This Saturday, December 23rd @Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, former All Everything Champ Anthony Joshua, 26-3, 23 KO, takes on Fury Slayer Otto Wallin, 26-1, 14 KO supported by former WBC Champ Deontay Wilder, 43-2-1, 42 KO making a come back against former WBO Champ Mighty Joseph Parker, 33-3, 23 KO.

Also in support of the card are a massive cast of relevant fighters that include LightHeavy WBA Champ Dmitrii Bivol, 21-0, 11 KO going against Boxrec ranked #14 Lyndon Arthur 23-1, 16 KO.

A battle of Undefeateds as Jai Opetaia, 23-0, 18 KO tangles with Boxrec ranked #29 Ellis Zorro, 17-0, 7 KO. 

Boxrec #4 Daniel Dubois, 19-2, 18 KO is going to have a HUGE handful against Boxrec #26 Jarrell Big Baby Miller, 26-0-1, 22 KO. 

Boxrec # 17 Arslanbek Makhmudov, 18-0, 17 KO goes against Boxrec #26 Agit Kabayel, 23-0, 15 KO.

Boxrec #16 Frank Sanchez, 23-0, 16 KO takes on the unranked monstrous New Zealander Junior Fa, 20-2, 11 KO.

Boxrec #9 Filip Hrgovic, 16-0, 13 KO looks to mop up Box #379 Mark De Mori, 41-2-2, 36 KO.

The winners will have a lot of options opening up, and even the losers, so well done Eddie Hearn who was the primary promotional architect of this Fistic Festival in the Desert.

Whew, and that’s a whole lotta KOs added up, so KO will be King for A Night of KNOCKOUTS on DAZN Saudi Time this Saturday.