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DEREVYANCHENKO OUTCLASSES AYALA IN MAIN EVENT OF SHOBOX

Published

9 years ago

August 8, 2015

The Sweet Science

SERGIY DEREVYANCHENKO OUTCLASSES ELVIN AYALA

IN MAIN EVENT OF SHOBOX: THE NEW GENERATION TRIPLEHEADER

Ievgen Khytrov Delivers TKO Over Nick Brinson

Regis Prograis Earns Unanimous Decision Over Amos Cowart

Three-Fight Telecast To Replay Monday, Aug. 10 At 10 p.m. ET/PT

On SHOWTIME EXTREME^®

Photo Credit: Rosie Cohe/SHOWTIME^®

ATLANTIC CITY (Aug. 8, 2015) –Talented undefeated middleweight prospect and 2008 Olympian Sergiy Derevyanchenko continued to move on the fast track as he earned a unanimous decision over former world title challenger Elvin “El Lycan” Ayala of New Haven, Conn. in Friday’s main event of the ShoBox: The New Generation tripleheader from Bally’s Atlantic City.

Known as “The Technician,” Derevyanchenko (6-0, 4 KOs/WBS: 23-1, 7 KOs), of Brooklyn, N.Y. by way of Ukraine, kept his record unblemished as he carefully broke down the experienced Ayala (28-7-1, 12 KOs) in their eight rounder. He was the more effective and accurate aggressor, unleashing an excellent body attack and out-landing Ayala 185 to 49 on power punches.

Derevyanchenko, who had never been past the fourth round, thoroughly and comfortably outboxed the 34-year old Ayala from the opening bell, showcasing his superiority and dominance on a one-sided unanimous decision (80-71 twice, 80-72).

“I am happy with my performance. I would have liked to have scored the knockout, but Elvin showed he has a lot of heart,” said Derevyanchenko. “I was able to work on a lot of different things and show a lot of different dimensions to my game.

“This was my first time going eight rounds and I feel great. My stamina was great and I was able to do pretty much everything that I wanted to do in there. Elvin was my toughest opponent to date and I think that I passed this test with flying colors.

“I feel that I need a few more fights, and a few more good learning experiences like this, but a world title is not too far down the road. I trust my team behind me to guide me in the right direction, and when they tell me that I am ready, then I will be.”

Ayala, who was coming from upsets over Eric Mitchell and Ronald Gavril, fought back, but couldn’t counter the Ukrainian’s power.

“The kid can flat out fight,” said Ayala. “He without a doubt has championship caliber. I tip my hat off to him. I thought that I would be able to do something to neutralize him in there, but he was the better man tonight. He has a very bright future.”

Impressed with Derevyanchenko’s performance, Boxing Historian and SHOWTIME Analyst Steve Farhood asserted that the Ukrainian is ready to move from prospect to contender.

“Derevyanchenko fought as advertised,” he said. “He’s a technician. A very smart and believe it or not, mature fighter. He took control in the first round, mixed his attack to the body and to the head and showed superiority. He gives us no reason to think that he’s not ready for something much bigger.”

In the co-feature, undefeated power-punching middleweight and 2012 Olympian, Ievgen “The Ukrainian Lion” Khytrov (11-0, 10 KOs) of Brooklyn, N.Y. by way of Ukraine, scored an eight-round TKO over daring Nick “The Machine Gun” Brinson(17-4-2, 7 KOs) of Geneva, N.Y. with a devastating flurry of power punches at 2:31 of the final round.

Khytrov got his toughest test to date from Brinson, who dominated the early rounds with good lateral movement, consistent combinations to the body and strong jabs. But the Ukrainian picked up the pace and although he appeared to be frustrated in the middle rounds with his inability to finish his opponent, he continued to exert pressure.

After the sixth, Khytrov picked up the pace landing meaningful combos and powerful rights.

His aggressiveness paid off. With 29 seconds left in the eighth, referee Earl Brown halted the contest after “The Ukrainian Lion” put Brinson on one knee after a flurry of punches.

“This was a tough fight for me. I had some discomfort in my stomach back in the dressing room, I just didn’t feel 100 percent, and it took me a couple of rounds to find my rhythm,” said Khytrov. “Brinson had a good game plan and had some success early, but I never worried. I knew I was hurting him with my shots and I felt him breaking down as the rounds wore on.

“This was a good learning experience for me and my career. I fought through some adversity and still was still able to secure the victory. I feel that I am ready for some of the biggest name in the 160-pound division but I have faith in my team, my trainers, managers and promoters, and they will do whatever is best for me. Whatever they decide is best, I will be ready for and ready to put on a spectacular performance.”

Brinson, who was ahead on the scorecards (68-65, 70-62; 66-66), argued he was taking a knee at the time of the stoppage.

“I am fine. I am upset with the stoppage, said Brinson. “Our game plan was to box and give him a lot of lateral movement. I felt his strength on the inside, so we worked to outbox him and overwhelm him with the jab.

“I took a knee to recoup. I wasn’t knocked out. I knew where I was. I thought the smart thing to do was take a knee and get myself back together. He was coming on strong, but I knew there wasn’t much time left at all in the fight. I looked at the ref and I told him I was fine and he still stopped the fight. It is upsetting to me. I was winning the fight.

“I would love a rematch. It was a great fight, and I think the fans loved it. If a rematch is on the table I would take it right away.”

Opening the telecast in a quintessential ShoBox: The New Generation matchup, undefeated knockout artist Regis “Rougarou” Prograis (15-0, 12 KOs) of New Orleans, La., captured a one-sided eight-round decision over previously unbeaten Amos “2Smooth” Cowart (11-1-1, 9 KOs) of Groveland, Fla. in an impressive battle of junior welterweight southpaws.

Prograis, who averaged over 100 punches per round, landed 381 body punches and connected with 219 power punches, while Cowart, who was courageously attempting to counter the Rougarou’s speed and power, landed 129 connects and 94 power punches.

Prograis showcased his boxing superiority by outlanding and outclassing his opponent with strong jabs, body shots and impressive foot work. He won by the scores of 80-72 twice and 79-71.

“I feel great, I am ready to go a couple more rounds,” said Prograis. “This was a great fight for me. I was able to show another dimension and box.

“I have been going in there and just walking guys down and putting them away, but Amos came to fight. He showed that he has a huge heart and a great chin, because I hit him with some big shots and he kept coming, so I tip my hat off to him.

“He was a true warrior in there, he hit me with some good shots, but we expected that coming in and were prepared for that. I am very happy with my performance. This is just the beginning for me.”

Cowart, who moved up in weight for this matchup, admitted Prograis was the better fighter.

“He is a really good fighter,” said Cowart. “I was expecting him to come in and go toe-to-toe. He never hurt me, but he was more active.

“He was able to adjust in there. He was the better man tonight. I think it was a very exciting fight, and I wish I would have let my hands go more. I showed that I am true warrior though and I will be back and learn from this.”

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The Sweet Science

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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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