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RINGSIDE REPORT Peterson KOs Holt in DC

Published

12 years ago

February 23, 2013

Peterson started off slow, but shook off the rust, and brought the hammer down on game Holt. (photo courtesy Tom Harrington)

The road to redemption for Lamont Peterson ran through South East DC, onto East Capitol Street, and into the squared circle inside the DC Armory.

There, a small but vocal crowd cheered on their native son as the IBF junior welterweight champion stepped back into the ring after a fourteen month layoff.

Any early evidence of ring rust quickly evaporated as Peterson (31-1-1) thrilled his loyal following with an action packed eighth round TKO of former champ Kendall Holt (28-6-0).

With the bar set high for his first bout following a controversial title win over Amir Khan in December 2011, the focused Peterson emphatically answered any lingering questions concerning his future as a world class fighter.

With the well documented positive test for synthetic testosterone which cost him his WBA title and a lucrative rematch with Khan firmly in his rear view mirror, Peterson provided a statement performance over the talented Holt.

As the bell rang for the first round both fighters spent the initial three minutes feeling each other out. Holt made a statement by connecting with a strong right hand.

Holt continued to press the action in the second and third frames, landing with jabs and right hands. Peterson continued to shake off the rust and refine his attack.

The pace quickened in the fourth as both boxers began to find their range and engage. During a wild exchange near the end of the round, Peterson dropped Holt with a booming right hand. Holt, of Paterson, NJ, survived the eight count and made it to the bell.

Peterson continued to assert himself in the fifth as he battered Holt with savage combinations. Holt was holding on for dear life at one point, laying on top of Peterson against the ropes in an attempt to stop the assault.
Round six found Holt trying to regroup and catch a second wind. He was active throwing combinations. Peterson landed a barrage of fierce punches and put Holt down for the second time. The game former champion survived the eight count but barely made it to the end of the round.

After the intense exchanges of the previous two rounds, both fighters used the seventh to catch a slight breather. They each landed combinations, with Holt seeming to gather himself.

The eighth round began with Peterson intent on walking Holt down and imposing his will. He trapped Holt against the ropes and unleashed an explosive series of punches. With the shots thudding off Holt’s head, referee Tony Weeks had seen enough and waved the fight off at 1:42 of the round.

With the victory Peterson set himself up for important fights and significant paydays in the 140 pound division.

The loss for Holt could mean the end of his run as a major player at junior welterweight.

With his title belt securely around his waist, and cheers of affirmation cascading down around him, Lamont Peterson was redeemed.

The co-feature matched Roman Morales (15-0) against Jesus Pollo Hernandez (10-0-3) in an eight round junior featherweight bout.

Both fighters began at an even, measured pace. Hernandez, of Huntington Park, CA, was the busier of the two and landed some combinations.

Round two started with Morales, of San Ardo, CA picking up the pace and landing a three punch combination. He barley missed with a counter right that could have brought a halt to the proceedings. Both boxers finish the round busy and trading punches.

Morales blazed out of his corner to start the third frame by landing 3 and 4 punch combinations. Hernandez answered with a left and both fighters continues trading back and forth.

In the fourth the exchanges continued between the talented pugilists. Morales closed the stanza by dropping Hernandez with a left-right combination to end the round.

With both fighters banging to start the fifth, the early edge went to Morales as he gained momentum. A crushing body shot near the end of the round dropped Hernandez and he was unable to beat the ten count.

In a six round cruiserweight bout Venroy July (13-0) of Suitland, MD faced off with Elvin Sanchez (5-2-1) of Paterson, NJ.

July, a lawyer by day, is surely glad he’s got his day job. Despite knocking Sanchez down with a short right hand in the second round, he succumbed to a left, right combination from Sanchez at 2:55 of the third round.

Heavyweight Danny Kelly (4-0) of Washington, DC wasted no time in disposing of his 309 pound opponent, South Carolina’s Schyuler Marshall.
The fit and ready Kelly dropped the unfit and unready Marshall with a powerful combination to earn a first round stoppage.

In a scheduled four round featherweight attraction, Gevonte Davis the 2012 National Golden Gloves champion, of Baltimore, got his pro career off to a promising start with a first round technical knockout of Desi Williams, of Wilson, NC.

The evening’s action kicked off with a solid six round featherweight bout between Raul Lopez from the Bronx, NY and DeWayne Wisdom, of Indianapolis, IN.

The action moved back and forth as Lopez mounted a sustained, aggressive attack. Wisdom managed to find his spots, dropping Lopez for an eight count in the second, and connecting with some wild bombs.

Their sustained aggression continued through the six rounds with the more polished Lopez winning a unanimous decision.

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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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