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Fedor Loses To Silva, His Second Straight, Says He May Retire

Published

14 years ago

February 13, 2011

A year and half ago, Fedor was on the short list of names when you needed to know the baddest man on the planet. Skip ahead to the present day, and it is not out of the realm of possibility that the Russian's career might be over, after he was beaten up by Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the main event of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament quarterfinal match at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Saturday night. Silva used a severe bulk advantage to have his way with Fedor, and after nearly getting submitted and stopped out on strikes in the second round of their match, Fedor's right eye was swollen and glued shut. A dozen hammer fists will do that. The doctor advised the referee to pull the plug.

Fedor (31-2 entering; from Russia; coming off a loss to Fabricio Werdum in his last outing; age 34) weighed 230 pounds, while Silva (from Brazil; 15-2 entering) was 264 pounds at the weigh in, probably over 280 on fight night.

Credit to Fedor, he stuck around for an interview postfight. Thru a translator, he said, “Something went wrong, I didn't re-adjust myself. Maybe it's the time to leave.” Gus Johnson asked him to be more explicit. “Yes, maybe, it's the last time, maybe it's high time. Thanks God for everything. I spent a great, beautiful, long sport life. Maybe it's God's will.”

In the first, Silva got caught with a counter, after starting out extremely aggressively. Silva looked to smush Fedor against the cage. Fedor wanted to get a guillotine on Silva but the giant smothered that. Fedor got on top, then looked for a kimura, which Silva escaped from. Fedor's nose dripped blood as Silva pushed him against the cage. The two traded, and then Silva grabbed hold of Fedor to keep the Russian's bombs in check. In the second, Silva slipped a shot and brought Fedor to the mat. Silva gained side control, then got his back. Fedor slipped back onto his back, and then on to his belly once again. Silva looked for a choke, and then threw hammer fists down at the Russian, with two minutes to go. Silva worked for a side triangle choke, then lost it, when Fedor slithered out. He was still on his back, with 1:20 hours to go. Minutes, I know, but it had to feel like an eternity..Silva tried for a kneebar, and then Fedor tried for an ankle lock, which Silva basically laughed at. It was a busy round. Fedor's right eye was nearly shut after the round, and the ref called for a stoppage.

In the TV semifinal, Sergei Kharitonov fought Andrei Arlovski, a former UFC heavyweight champion who came in with three straight losses, to Fedor, Brett Rogers and Antonio Silva. This match was a quarterfinal scrap in the Grand Prix. Arlovski looked to be first, and he used his feet to his advantage, getting off and getting out of range early on. But he got dropped by a left hook-right uppercut-right hook package, and Sergei followed with three shots, the last of which knocked Arlovski into Tweetybird land. He lay flay on his back, eyes open, but unfocused. The loser dropped to 23-9. Seven of his losses have via strikes, and he's been punched out in the first round for the third time in two years. Might it be time to give in to the brutal truth, and admit that his brain isn't responding to impact like he'd like it to, and retire? The winner is now 18-4.

Shane Del Rosario faced off with Lavar Johnson, who was shot in July 2009 at a family reunion, and hit three times, but who looked none the worse for wear in the first round. But that didn't mean he had an answer for Del Rosario's armbar. The tapout win came at 4:31 for Del Rosario.

Gian Villante of New York met Chad Griggs, who boasts the scalp of ex WWEer Bobby Lashley. Griggs brought it to him from second one. Villante maybe turned the tide with a high kick which caused a bleed from Griggs' left ear. No deal, Griggs kept on whaling, and caught Villante at 2:49 of the first round with a right from hell and a hammer fist flurry to close it out, via TKO.

Valentijn Overeem, the older brother of the Strikeforce heavyweight champion, snapped a neck crank onto K1 vet Ray Sefo, and made him tap out at 1:37of the first round of the TV opener.

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Michael Woods

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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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