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Olszewski Beats Alcivar in NY

Published

11 years ago

September 27, 2013

New York boxing fans packed the Five Star Banquet Hall in Long Island City Wednesday night as Eileen Olszewski (8-5-2, 1KO) defeated Patty Alcivar (7-2-0, 3KO) by TKO to capture the IFBA world flyweight title in an action packed fight.

The scheduled ten round contest, a rematch from a March 27 fight, was the headline attraction in a full night of boxing presented by Uprising Promotions that featured nine other bouts.

As the bell sounded to kick off the main event both fighters went right to the center of the ring and began exchanging combinations. A clash of heads resulted in a small welt under Alcivar’s right eye. The round continued at a furious pace with the 36-year-old Alcivar landing combinations. She’d won a UD8 in the previous faceoff, in the same venue.

In the second round the 45-year-old Olszewski (on offense, above, in Marlene Vazquez photo) began to land a sharp right hand while Alcivar brought the fight to her and countered with several strong lefts and rights.

The third frame found Olszewski mixing some left hands into her attack, which found their target. Alcivar finished the round strongly, scoring with multiple combinations and catching her opponent’s attention.

During rounds four and five the back and forth action continued with both fighters on the receiving end of sharp punches. Olszewski continued to find a home for her right hand. Alcivar used her body to shorten the distance and smother punches before firing her own combinations.

In the sixth stanza Olszewski began to land her uppercut, but the determined Alcivar remained focused and continued to score with combinations.

Olszewski’s left hands began to snap Alcivar’s head back in the seventh round. Alcivar returned to her stool at round’s end with a bloody nose and a right eye that was beginning to swell.

There was a brief delay before the start of the eighth round as the ringside doctor examined the discolored swelling that was threatening to close Alcivar’s right eye.

After Alcivar assured referee Sparkle Lee that she was ready to continue, the bell sounded for round eight.

Olszewski pounced and began firing punches at the damaged right eye. Alcivar gamely fought back, but Lee had seen enough and waved the fight off at fifty one seconds of the round.

In victory Olszewski, who had actor Liev Schreiber as part of her corner, captured a world title for the third time in her career.

The big boys met in a four round heavyweight bout when Brooklyn’s Jarrell Miller (5-0-1, 5KO) faced Macon, Georgia’s Tobias Rice (4-9-1, 2KO).

Although outweighed by 58 pounds, Rice began gamely taking the fight to Miller by using his jab and lateral movement to stay out of harm’s way. Miller used the opening three minutes to find his timing for the home run shot.

In the second round Miller quickened the pace and began firing combinations, buzzing Rice after catching him with a heavy left hand. Rice continued to fight back in what was quickly becoming an uphill battle.

Perhaps sensing the onslaught that would be forthcoming, Rice refused to answer the bell for the third and the jovial Miller was awarded a TKO victory.

It was Brooklyn versus the Bronx as Ian James (2-6-1, 1KO) met Jose del Valle (2-3-2) in a four round lightweight clash.

With a significant height and reach advantage, del Valle earned a unanimous decision over the game but overmatched James.

Light heavyweights faced off when Kings County’s Michael Ocasio (3-1-1, 2KO) and Patterson New Jersey’s Michael Mitchell (1-2-2) battled to a majority draw decision.

Mitchell showed better overall boxing skills but Ocasio would not be denied as he bulled his way in and evened the score.

The popular Valdrin Muriqi (4-3-0) earned a unanimous decision victory over Guyana’s Jermain King (0-1-0) in their four round middleweight fight. King, who was making his pro debut, started with a wide attack. Muriqi kept his focus and boxed impressively, utilizing a wide range of combinations in the win.

The fifth bout of the evening was a four round junior welterweight tilt between Marcos Suarez (1-0-1) of the Bronx, and Itali Martinez (0-0-1) of Mexico who was making his pro debut.

Suarez started off strongly by using his speed and boxing skills to gain advantage over the first two rounds.

Fans were reminded to never question the heart and desire of a Mexican fighter as Martinez gained ground over the final two rounds by being relentless in his pursuit.

The judges all saw it the same way, a unanimous draw.

Brooklyn’s Wesley Cero (1-0-0, 1KO) wasted no time in announcing his arrival on the professional scene, debuting with a crushing first round TKO victory over Japan’s Masaki Aida (0-1-0) in their lightweight contest.

Aida simply had no answer for Cero and was getting bounced around the ring before his corner waved it off at 31 seconds of the first round.

Brooklyn battled Far Rockaway when Submana Abdule (2-7-0, 1KO) stepped into the squared circle against Trevis Hall (4-1-1,1KO) in a four round featherweight bout.

Hall showcased his powerful right hand during the first two frames . At one point in the second round he forced Abdule to take a standing eight count and almost put him away.

In the third both fighters mixed body punches into their attack. In the fourth a well timed right by Hall sent Abdule down. He beat the count, but in the end the judges scored a unanimous decision for Far Rockaway’s Hall.

The second fight of the evening featured lightweights in a four round scrap.

Luis Lebron (2-0-0, 1KO) of San Juan, Puerto Rico squared off against Brooklyn, New York’s Glenford Nickey (2-1-1, 1KO).

Lebron said hello by staggering Nickey with a big right hand shortly after the opening bell. Nickey was game though and used body punches and upstairs combinations to stay in the fight.

The second and third rounds saw both fighters working on the inside in good back and forth action.

In the final frame Lebron landed a big right hand and was looking for the KO. Nickey dug in his heels and gamely answered back.

Lebron earned a tough majority decision.

The evening began with Devaughn Lee winning a majority decision, over Jerrod Caldwell.

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Chris Wheat

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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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