Articles

N’Dam Beats Stevens in IBF Middleweight Eliminator

Published

9 years ago

October 2, 2014

Curtis Stevens was a step behind, sometimes two and three, against Hassan N’Dam in the main event of an ESPN2 card which unfolded in Santa Monica, CA on Wednesday night.

It looked like the ring was a 22 footer at times, as Stevens plodded after N’Dam, and was unable to cut off the ring against the mover. Stevens, used to doing the knocking down, himself hit the deck in round eight, and the conclusion was foregone after 12 rounds. By scores of 116-111, 116-111, 119-108, N’Dam had his hand raised, and he earned a shot at the IBF middleweight crown. That strap is up for grabs next week, with champ Sam Soliman defending against Jermain Taylor.

Stevens’ stock takes a pretty severe dip. N’dam gets props for being focused, but this wasn’t Stevens’ finest night. Or even his tenth finest night…

King Sports, no relation to Don, promoted the show.

Stevens (from Brooklyn), who entered at 27-4, was 158.8, while N’Dam (30-1, with 18 KOs entering; born in Cameroon, resident of France) was 158.

In the first, Hassan moved, mostly to his left, away from that snarly left hook. Stevens was the predator, but was a step behind. In the second, Hassan went to the deck, for the second time, once again a slip. He cranked a jab, a pop but don’t stop type, and kept his distance. Stevens didn’t seem to have an early handle on cutting Hassan off at the pass, making him stop moving.

In the third, Stevens sought to close the distance. He was peppier with his feet, and was a bit more on message with his jab. The traded some in close, and maybe Hassan was getting tired of the movement.

In the fourth, Stevens kept on following, pressing yes, but not for the most part in effective fashion. He wasn’t showing an aggression that you want from such a hurler. His right wasn’t busy, maybe a mistake if he wanted to send Hassan back toward his left hand.

In the fifth, we saw some swelling on Stevens’ eye. The jab from Hassan was present enough to keep Stevens from getting bolder, and his legs still looked fresh. He was helped by the fact that Stevens wasn’t accelerating his stamina depletion.

In the sixth, Stevens came out zestier. Then, he backtracked. He plodded after the Cameroonian. He missed in showy fashion several times. Nope, still hadn’t solved Hassan.

In the seventh, Stevens scored some, and Hassan started looking a bit more concerned. Still no right from Curtis, though. “You started off well, but you’re giving him too much respect,” said Stevens trainer Andre Rozier after the round.

In the eighth, Curtis went down, off a right hand. He was up, with 2:18 left. Hassan flurried, hard and for a good spell, but Curtis’ head was clear and he defended well. A counter left hurt Hassan a bit late. The right came after a jab, while Curtis was hurling a right.

In the ninth, Stevens ate jabs, and Hassan even started backing him up some. Maybe Curtis was luring him…

In the tenth, Curtis had Hassan on the ropes but he got wrapped up. The Hassan jab was landing cleaner by now. In the 11th, Hassan moved when and where he wanted. He did a silly dance late, showing how confident he was. Rozier told Stevens he needed a KO to win, and that he was losing an “easy fight to win.”

In the 12th, Stevens ripped to the body some, and then Hassan slid away. Curtis scored and scared N’Dam late but we went to the cards…

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Michael Woods

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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