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Chris Arreola KOs Abell, Lopez KOs Dallas On FNF

Published

14 years ago

January 29, 2011

TEMECULA-Two Riverside prizefighters Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola and Josesito Lopez proved they were a notch above their opponents in front of a sold-out crowd on Friday at Pechanga Resort and Casino.

Arreola took a few punches from Minnesota’s Joey “Ice” Abell (27-5, 26 KOs), looked him over, then crushed the heavyweight with a counter right that snapped his head back like one of those boxing toys. Then came a flurry of half a dozen blows that had Abell reeling on the ropes and the fight was quickly stopped at 2:18 of the first round. Arreola kissed Abell on the cheek right after the ref stepped in.

“I didn’t hit so might as well kiss him,” said Arreola (30-2, 26 KOs).

The Riverside heavyweight who lost last year to cruiserweight turned heavyweight Tomasz Adamek wants to dispel all thoughts that he’s a mere set up for heavyweight champions.

“Everybody who believed in me thank you. We're going to run this byotch in 2011. I promise,” said Arreola after the scrap, which headlined ESPN's Friday Night Fights. “Everybody who supports me thank you, everybody who hates me thank you. 2010 was the worst year in my life and it was my fault. 2011 I’m going to work my ass off and get this title. I guarantee it.”

Arreola flew to Houston, Texas to work with Ronnie Shields on footwork and precision right hands. It immediately helped.

“We worked on balance, balance, balance,” said Arreola. “When he (Abell) pulled back, I cranked that right hand and it was right there.”

Though Abell’s punches did land Arreola said they weren’t enough to stop him.

“You always feel the punch. I worked on keeping my hand right in front of my nose because lefties are tricky,” he said.

Other bouts

Within the first minute of the fight heads were clashing and Josesito Lopez (29-3, 17 KOs) emerged with a small gash right above the bridge of his nose. Mike Dallas (17-1-1) looked to hit and hold immediately as Lopez worked to fight inside.

A left hook at the end of the second round staggered Dallas a bit. Before that, both fought entangled throughout the round as Dallas seemed to be hitting and holding.

Lopez landed a four punch combination that had Dallas on the move. When Lopez cornered him he turned his back and was hit on the kidney and needed time to rest. The referee gave him time but warned him not to turn his back in the third round.

In the fourth round Dallas boxed more and held less and used quick one-twos to score points as Lopez tried to close the distance. A few body shots were landed by Lopez but Dallas was busier.

Lopez mauled Dallas in the fifth round. During a six punch combination the Bakersfield boxer stopped and complained about a blow behind the head. Lopez continued and kept punching and forced Dallas to retreat.

The sixth round saw Dallas try to resume control but Lopez kept attacking the body. At the end of the round Lopez fired several blows and Dallas slipped to the floor.

Two crushing left hooks hurt Dallas in the eighth and while he stumbled into the corner referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the fight. Dallas then stumbled into the ropes and complained about the stoppage but he was falling down. The first left hook stood up Dallas and the second hook had the Bakersfield fighter reeling. Caiz stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round and Lopez grabbed the NABF junior welterweight title.

“It was a tough fight just like we expected. He was fast, he was skilled. I went through the tough storm but now I’m here with the victory,” said Lopez. “I put everything on the line and I managed to stay focused.”

Dallas, who held the NABF title, was disappointed in the stoppage.
“I touched my nose and the ref stopped the fight and he shouldn’t have,” said Dallas. “He never once called for him hitting me on the back of my head.”

Estrada

Former Olympian Shawn Estrada (11-0, 10 KOs) had too much firepower and too much skill for Minnesota’s willing Jon Schmidt (10-1, 6 KOs). As soon as the first round began Estrada was piercing Schmidt’s defense with right hands and left hooks.

Though Schmidt was floored early he got up and tried valiantly to get back into the fight. Estrada slipped the blows and landed a perfect one-two combination for a clean knockout at 1:48 of the first round.

“I thought he was going to give more because he had a great record, but I stopped him,” said Estrada.

Hoskins

Kevin Hoskins (4-0, 3 KOs) of L.A. won a slugfest with Wilmington’s Ramon Flores (3-10-2) by split decision after four rounds of a junior lightweight battle. Hoskins was the more accurate puncher but Flores fired more blows that just didn’t connect enough. The scores were 39-37 twice for Hoskins and 39-37 for Flores. There were no knockdowns.

Elegele

A counter right hook by Joseph Elegele (10-0, 8 KOs) dropped Manuel Aguilar (5-1, 4 KOs) for a knockout at 2:18 of the first round of a junior welterweight bout set for six rounds. Elegele’s long reach was too much to overcome for Aguilar who was belted the first time he attempted to fire back.

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David A. Avila

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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