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Michael Oliveira Rises To 15-0

Published

11 years ago

July 18, 2011

The Sweet Science

Michael Oliveira’s return home a Brazilian knockout

Unbeaten prospect wins WBC Latino Middleweight title

SAO PAULO, Brazil (July 16, 2011) – Undefeated prospect Michael “Brazilian Rocky” Oliveira(15-0, 12 KOs) captured the vacant World Boxing Council Latino middleweight title in tonight’s main event on the “Sao Paulo Fight Night” pro-am card, by way of a sudden sixth-round knockout of Jose“Minquito” Soto (24-8-2, 13 KOs), at Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo.

The 21-year-old Oliveira, rated No. 18 by the World Boxing Council, is a Brazilian native fighting out of Miami. “Sao Paulo Fight Night,” presented by MO Productions, was the third installment in a six-fight, two-year deal with Brazilian network giant, TV Globo.

Oliveira displayed an improved jab in a feeling-out opening round, in which he showed patience and, under new trainer Orlando Cueller, a much different game plan than in the past, calling for Oliveira to brawl less and box more from a distance. The action picked-up in the second as Soto was more aggressive, but Oliveira effectively worked the body in the third round and start to breakdown his game Dominican opponent.

In the fourth round, Oliveira’s power advantage became more apparent, when he trapped Soto on the ropes, rocking him with straight rights. Soto came back in the fifth but a wicked left to the body, quickly followed by a devastating right uppercut, ended the fight early in the sixth.

“I’m quicker when I keep my hands low and I’m loose,” Oliveira commented, “but I had to keep my hands high because of head-butts. We changed strategy three times. He didn’t fade, hit like a mule, and kept coming. I felt my body punching was effective. I followed Orlando’s instructions; when he said to go to the head at the right time, or to go the body at the right time. Victory came easier because I listened to my corner.

“I’ve improved a lot because of my experiences working in the gym. I have a high-quality team that took the time to not only work on my defects, but they saw my offense. I’d give myself a seven grade (on scale of 1-10). My goal is to fight for a world title. My team will evaluate me, help me work to continue improving, and schedule my next fight. They’ll let me know when I’m ready for a world title fight.”

Michael’s father and the show’s promoter, Carlos Oliveira, was pleased by the overall success of the show, as well as the improvement his son displayed before a passionate crowd. “The show was a complete success,” he remarked, “other than we had to delay going live because of a soccer game going late on television. I saw improvement from Michael. His defense was a little better and he was much more patient. While he was fighting I think he thought about his last fight, which kept him more focused on what to do.”

Cueller was happy with Michael’s performance in what was their first time working together in a fight. “We had to make adjustments during the fight,” Cueller explained. “His opponent was heavy handed and determined. He was a decent inside fighter, too. Michael used his jab and timed his opponent’s jab well. He used his jab and moved his head more than he ever did in the past. He worked the body and took advantage at the end. Michael executed everything I asked of him. He did a good job.”

World boxing champion Glen Johnson, who trains with Oliveira at Thump Fight Gym in Miami, walked Michael into the ring as a show of friendship and support.

“Michael did a good job,” Johnson said. “He knows that has a lot of stuff to work on, especially defense, but he’s young and still a work in progress. He forced some shots to the head when there were some clean shots to the body, but he continues to get better and he’s heading in the right direction. He has Orlando Cueller in his corner to guide him and all Michael has to do is listen to him and work hard. He is determined.”

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

7 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

7 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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Articles

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

Published

7 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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