Articles

Hank Lundy At The Door Of World Title Shot

Published

9 years ago

August 3, 2011

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Aug. 3, 2011) – He’s won 10 of his last 11 fights since 2008, captured two lightweight titles, fought in front of a worldwide audience four times in 16 months and is now ranked among the Top 20 in two major sanctioning bodies, yet Philadelphia’s “Hammerin’” Hank Lundy still hasn’t gotten the call to fight for a world title.

“I’m knocking at the door,” said Lundy, who’s promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports. “I’ll fight anybody they put in front of me. What more do I have to do to show these guys I’m one of the top fighters in the world?”

The answer might come Friday, Aug. 19th, 2011 when Lundy defends his North American Boxing Federation (NABF) lightweight title against former world champion David Diaz in the 10-round co-feature of ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” telecast at The Venue At Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., presented by Hitz Entertainment in association with Banner Promotions.

This will be Lundy’s first title defense since capturing the belt in a win over Patrick Lopez on April 1st and his fifth consecutive bout on “Friday Night Fights” since April of 2010. A win over Diaz (36-3-1, 17 KOs), whose resume includes victories against former five-time world champion Erik Morales and former World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior welterweight champion Ener Julio in addition to a grueling battle against pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, would boost Lundy (20-1-1, 10 KOs) in the lightweight rankings and possibly lead to a major title shot by the end of the year.

“[World Boxing Association and WBO interim lightweight champion] Robert Guerrero, [WBA and WBO lightweight super champion] Juan Manuel Marquez – I can beat those guys,” Lundy said. “If they will give me a shot and let me prove my talent, I guarantee I will wipe them out with no problem.”

Until then, Lundy must deal with Diaz, who’s in the midst of his second comeback following a 10-month layoff. Diaz returned to the ring in January with a majority-decision win over Robert Frankel. The 35-year-old Chicago native originally left boxing for more than a year following his knockout loss to Pacquiao in 2008, which, at the time, earned Pacquiao his fifth world title in five different weight classes (he’s since accomplished the feat in eight separate weight classes).

Lundy is seeking his third consecutive win since losing his North American Boxing Organization (NABO) title to John Molina Jr. in July of 2009. He rebounded from that loss with a win over Omri Lowther two months later on ESPN and then captured the vacant NABF title with a hard-fought win over Lopez, a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004) for the Venezuelan national team.

“I feel like Patrick Lopez was the toughest fight I ever had and I handled him well,” said Lundy, who won the fight by scores of 99-91, 97-92 and 95-94. “I’m not sleeping on Diaz, but he’s 35 years old, has no knockout punch and no defense.

“When he fought Pacquiao, he got hit with everything except the kitchen sink. He comes right at you, but it’s not like I’m going to go in there and brawl with him. I’m a smart, intelligent fighter with youth on my side. I’m going to break him down. He’s a southpaw, and I plan on fighting southpaw because the one thing I’ve noticed about southpaws is they don’t like to deal with other southpaws.”

Lundy is ranked 15th in the International Boxing Federation (IBF), 29th in the International Boxing Organization (IBO) and 16th in the World Boxing Council (WBC), while Diaz is 21st in the WBC, 7th in the WBO and 4th in the IBO. Diaz held the WBC lightweight title from 2006 to 2008 before losing to Pacquiao and then failed in his attempt to recapture the belt in a unanimous-decision loss to Humberto Soto (56-7-2, 32 KOs) in March of 2010 – just six months after he beat former world champion Jesus Chavez in Chicago.

“My southpaw side is my natural side, and when I hit him he’s going to feel it,” Lundy said. “I’m going to stick to the game plan and do what I need to do. I know Diaz will try to wear me down. That’s what these fighters do today. They let you take the early rounds and try to wear you down, but everyone who’s faced me knows I’m in great shape, so I won’t be worn down.

“Everyone I’ve fought, I’ve exposed. Even in the loss to Molina, I beat myself. That’s why he’s running from me. Molina is scared of me. If you look at the scorecards, I was beating him every round, and what people don’t know is I was sick as a dog and I still fought anyway. That’s the heart of a champion. That fight made me even more dangerous. These other champions know it and that’s why they won’t step in the ring with me.”

Lundy’s title defense against Diaz is part of a dynamic card featuring the 12-round main event rematch between light welterweight Ruslan Provodnikov (19-1, 13 KOs) and Mauricio Herrera (18-7, 7 KOs) of Lake Elsinore, Calif., who also fought in the main event of ESPN’s first telecast of the season with Herrera pulling off the upset. Tickets are available through www.fanfueled.com or www.thevenue-chicago.com starting at $30.

“Showtime is back on the 19th,” Lundy said, “and ‘Hammerin’’ Hank is out to prove to the world that I’m one of the most legitimate 135-pounders in the world. I’m not to be played with. Once again, I’m putting my belt on the line and running and ducking from nobody. The champions in my weight class need to do the same.”

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

5 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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Articles

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

Published

5 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

5 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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