Articles
Usarov-Barthelemy Tops Feb. 4 Undercard in Albany
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (January 10, 2012) A sensational undercard is being compiled by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing for their upcoming event, “KO AT THE TU” on Saturday, February 4th at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York.
World class prospects in the bantamweight division will clash in a scheduled ten rounder as undefeated Russian standout Sahib Usarov challenges Yan Barthelemy of Cuba for the WBO Inter-Continental Title.
The 28-year-old Usarov, sporting a record of 17-0 (6KO’s) is currently world ranked #10 by the World Boxing Organization and is the reigning WBO European Bantamweight Champion.
Making his debut in the United States at “KO AT THE TU”, the southpaw Usarov is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over Yuriy Voronin on December 17th in Kiev, Ukraine.
Barthelemy, a Gold Medalist in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, currently resides in Miami, Florida. In his last outing, broadcast on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, the southpaw improved to 12-2 (4KO’s) with a brilliant performance winning a ten round decision over Francis Ruiz on March 18, 2011 in Hollywood, Florida.
Also added to the undercard of “KO AT THE TU” is a scheduled eight round super middleweight battle featuring undefeated Jason “Monstruo” Escalera of Union City, New Jersey and Marcus Brooks of Atlanta, Georgia.
The heavy-handed Escalera has become one of the New York/New Jersey area’s most popular fighters since turning professional four years ago. Known for his show-stopping knockouts, Escalera carries a record of 12-0 (11KO’s), his last five fights ending by knockout within the first three rounds.
In his last start on October 22, 2011, Escalera scored a second round stoppage of Mickey Scarborough at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The knockout, coming from a barrage of power shots, was shown LIVE across North America on Azteca Television’s “Boxeo Azteca”.
Brooks, a native of the boxing rich country of Puerto Rico, now resides in Atlanta, Georgia, carries a record of 7-8 (3KO’s) and has battled numerous undefeated prospects including Vanes Martirosyan, Brad Solomon and Andy Mejias. Brooks has never been stopped in his career.
Already announced in the main event at “KO AT THE TU” is a heavyweight showdown between defending IBA Champion Joe “The Future” Hanks of Newark, New Jersey and monstrous Cuban Rafael Pedro.
The previously announced cruiserweight bout between David Telesco and Vincent Miranda has been postponed due to a training injury suffered by Miranda.
Additional bouts and much more information on “KO AT THE TU” will be announced in the coming days.
Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.
Articles
2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura
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.
WATCH RELATED VIDEOS ON BOXINGCHANNEL.TV
Articles
Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score
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.
Articles
2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland
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
-
Featured Articles1 week ago
A Shocker in Tijuana: Bruno Surace KOs Jaime Munguia !!
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
R.I.P Israel Vazquez who has Passed Away at age 46
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Fighting on His Home Turf, Galal Yafai Pulverizes Sunny Edwards
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
The Noted Trainer Kevin Henry, Lucky to Be Alive, Reflects on Devin Haney and More
-
Featured Articles2 weeks ago
Introducing Jaylan Phillips, Boxing’s Palindrome Man
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Avila Perspective, Chap. 306: Flyweight Rumble in England, Ryan Garcia in SoCal
-
Featured Articles2 weeks ago
Cardoso, Nunez, and Akitsugi Bring Home the Bacon in Plant City
-
Featured Articles1 week ago
Results from the Chumash Casino where Akhmedov Gave a GGG-like Performance