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Barthelemy Defeats DeMarco, Sammy Outpoints Wale on PBC on CBS

Published

5 years ago

June 22, 2015

The Sweet Science

RANCES BARTHELEMY EARNS IMPRESSIVE UNANIMOUS DECISION OVER ANTONIO DEMARCO ON PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS ON CBS

FROM THE MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA

Sammy Vasquez Wins Action-Packed Slugfest Over Wale Omotoso

LAS VEGAS (June 21, 2015) – Rances “Kid Blast” Barthelemy (23-0, 13 KOs) dominated and dropped Antonio DeMarco (31-5-1, 23 KOs) on his way to a wide unanimous 10-round decision on Premier Boxing Champions on CBS Sunday afternoon at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as promoter of the event and President of Mayweather Promotions Floyd “Money” Mayweather watched from the first row.

Barthelemy was strong in his 140-pound debut, landing with his left hand from every angle, including a straight left that knocked DeMarco down in the fourth round. Barthelemy controlled the fight, never allowing the southpaw DeMarco to ramp up the pressure or land anything significant.

Despite being deducted a point in the ninth round, Barthelemy won by the score of 99-89 on all three judges’ scorecards.

In the televised opener, Sammy “The Sergeant” Vasquez (19-0, 13 KOs) was too quick and busy for the heavy fisted Wale “Lucky Boy” Omotoso (25-2, 21 KOs) as he won a unanimous 10-round decision by the scores of 98-92 on all the scorecards.

Vasquez got off to a fast start winning the first three rounds by using an aggressive southpaw style to deliver numerous combinations to the head and body. Omotoso was eventually able to slow down Vasquez a bit with an increased offensive output and strong counters.

Despite blood pouring down over his face, Vasquez finished strong to pull away. . Vasquez out-landed Omotoso 162-134 while landing 50 percent of his power punches, per CompuBox.

RANCES BARTHELEMY

“I worked very hard with my trainer to prepare for this fight and that preparation helped me catch DeMarco in the fourth round and I dropped him.

“My left helped me a lot tonight. I stayed true to the Cuban boxing school, and when I saw an opening I threw the other hand to keep him guessing.

“I’m blessed to be in this position. Coming from an impoverished upbringing in Cuba to fighting on a PBC card on CBS is unbelievable.

“I want Omar Figueroa next. It would be like a modern day version of Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo.”

ANTONIO DEMARCO

“I was waiting to counter and he landed a strong left in the fourth when I went down.

“I fought my fight and my style. One has to learn how to handle losing, and he was just the better fighter tonight.

“This was a great opportunity on CBS, but unfortunately we weren’t able to accomplish our objective.

“Right now I just want to go home to my family. I don’t know what’s next. I’m going to think hard about whether to retire or continue fighting.”

SAMMY VASQUEZ

“Wale’s a tough competitor. Obviously I haven’t tested like this previously.

“My objective was just to box him, move around and not let him hit me because I know he has the power that his record shows. He does hit kind of hard, but it’s not anything I haven’t seen before.

“I knew I had him hurt in the ninth when I connected on a solid body shot.

“I carry Pittsburgh and Monessen on my back. I’d like to be fighting there, but Las Vegas is the mecca of boxing and all the greats have fought here. I have an exciting fighting style and I like to bring that to my opponent like I showcased today. I hope that I created some more fans that want to follow me.

“With everyone watching on CBS this was an incredible opportunity for me and my career. I want to thank all the fans that watched for helping me grow my fan base.

“It’s awesome to fight on Father’s Day. My dad has been my backbone from the very beginning. I started boxing because I was getting bullied. We’ve had some struggles in this game, and everything I’ve been through with my two tours of Iraq. He’s always been my backbone and I’m just so blessed to have him in my corner.

“I don’t know what’s next yet. I don’t have a specific opponent in mind and I don’t want to call anyone out. Beating Wale was great, but we’ll go back to the drawing board and consider who’s out there for me.”

WALE OMOTOSO

“I thought it was a closer fight, but that’s the judges’ job. It was a good fight for sure.

“I was hurting him with the left jab and some hard rights. That’s why he was bleeding.

“He caught me with a good right, but I wasn’t really hurt. He’s sharp with his left though and kept me a little off balance.

“This was a great opportunity for me. It was great exposure and people will know me now.

“I’ll fight anybody they want to put in front of me.

“I want to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there and a Happy Father’s Day to my son. I love him so much.”

The card was promoted by Mayweather Promotions in association with TGB Promotions.

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The Sweet Science

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

5 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

5 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

5 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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