Articles

Scouting Report For Kovalev-Caparello

Published

9 years ago

July 30, 2014

The Sweet Science

Krusher Kovalev

Photo Credits: Rich Graessle/Main Events

Atlantic City, NJ: Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (24-0-1, 22 KOs) has a reputation as a knockout artist but his challenger for the WBO Light Heavyweight World Title Blake “Il Capo” Caparello (19-0-1, 6 KOs) has a reputation for lasting deep into the later rounds of a fight where Krusher has never been before. On August 2nd everyone is dying to see whether Caparello can handle Sergey’s power long enough to see whether or not Sergey has the endurance to go the distance. Below is the scouting report for the match-up:

Blake Caparello

Photo Courtesy of: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment

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Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev

Age :31

Record : 24-0-1, 22 KOs

Strength : Sergey’s biggest strength is his power. He has both one-punch power and he can mix it up. He has the ability to break opponents down with his power.

Weakness : Kovalev has been hit before, though not hurt, so his defense is questionable. He has not gone past eight rounds so endurance is an unknown.

Experience : Sergey has fought everybody that has been put in front of him. He has gone into other people’s hometowns and came through victorious.

Power : Krusher has an abundance of power. It is his biggest advantage. He also puts punches together well.

Speed : Kovalev has average speed.

Endurance : Sergey’s endurance has never been tested because he knocks out the majority of his opponents. He has never been past the eighth round.

Accuracy : Kovalev puts bunches of punches together. He is very accurate with the one punch knockout.

Defense : Sergey focuses on his offense more than his defense.

Chin : Krusher has never been down in a fight.

Style : Sergey is an offensive fighter who comes straight at his opponents.

Intangibles : This is Sergey’s second straight fight where there has been the possibility of an even bigger fight on the horizon but he has managed to stay focused on the opponent in front of him

Crowd Support : Sergey is fighting in Atlantic City for the second time. He is trying to make it his home. It is close to Brooklyn where he has a big contingent of Eastern European fans who will make the trip to Revel.

Blake “Il Capo” Caparello

Age : 27

Record : 19-0-1 (6 KOs)

Strength : Caparello has incredible technical skills, easily out-pointing most of his opposition thus far. He is also very well conditioned and stays active, with this is his ninth bout in the past two years.

Weakness : Caparello lacks real punching power. He has only earned a knockout in six of his 20 professional fights.

Experience : Blake’s experience is gradually improving with each fight, he recently outpointed former ranked light heavyweight contender Elvir Muriqi

Power : Kovalev will have a big advantage in power as Caparello utilizes his technical skillset more than anything.

Speed : Caparello has average speed.

Endurance : Blake has great endurance, he successfully went 10-rounds in his most recent bout, and had three consecutive 12-round decision wins before that.

Accuracy : Blake is a pretty accurate puncher. He puts together good counter-shots and has a very effective jab as well.

Defense : Blake is very defensive-minded, moves around the ring well and has not really gotten himself into danger thus far.

Chin : Blake’s chin is questionable because nobody has really gotten to it yet.

Style: Blake is a defensive-minded fighter with great technical skills offensively.

Intangibles : Caparello could have continued to quietly climb the rankings, but instead has decided to seize the moment and take a fight that most other fighters would rather avoid.

Crowd Support : Caparello has only fought in the US once before, and his name is not too well-known so he will most likely be in hostile territory.

The Match-Up

1. Will Caparello be able to take Sergey’s power?

2. If Caparello is able to take Sergey’s power, will Sergey have a Plan B or C?

3. Is Sergey looking past Caparello to the bigger fights?

4. Is Caparello in over his head and will he fold under the big lights?

If this fight goes past eight rounds everyone is anxious to see whether or not Caparello can seize the opportunity and out-box Sergey or if Sergey’s beast mode will take over in later rounds to finish off Caparello.

Main Events’ CEO Kathy Duva, said, “In the Provodnikov-Algieri fight in June, we saw a previously untested underdog box his way to a world title against a widely-feared puncher. That was a big upset! I think Sergey Kovalev is better than Ruslan Provodnikov, but maybe Caparello is better than Algieri? We just don’t know and that’s why we fight the fights. And the great thing about Kovalev is that he makes every fight exciting!”

Also, here is the roster of people who’ll be present for the Thursday presser to do a final hype for the Saturday card.

WHO: Sergey Kovalev and his team

Blake Caparello and his team

Isaac Chilemba and his team

Cory Cummings and his team

Kathy Duva – Main Events

Ray Stallone – HBO

WHEN: Thursday, July 31st – 1:00PM ET

The Press Conference will be streamed live beginning 1:00PM ET

http://www.ustream.tv/MainEvents

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 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

8 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

8 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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