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Unbeaten Bryan Wins Heavyweight Slugfest Against Rossy On ShoBox

Published

9 years ago

August 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

TEMPERATURE’S RISING IN LAS VEGAS:

UNDEFEATED TREVOR BRYAN WINS HEAVYWEIGHT SLUGFEST

OVER GAME, HARD-TRYING DERRIC ROSSY IN MAIN EVENT

OF SHOBOX: THE NEW GENERATION TRIPLEHEADER

‘The Dream’ Improves to 16-0 with Unanimous Decision in Great Fight,

DeCarlo Perez Outpoints Previously Unbeaten Juan Ubaldo Cabrera,

Heavyweight Joey Dawejko Scores Opening-Round Knockout over Natu Visinia

Catch Replay Monday, Aug. 31, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHO EXTREME^®

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

LAS VEGAS (Aug. 29, 2015) – On a hot summer August night, in a specially-constructed ring outside the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center (DLVEC) across from the D Las Vegas, Trevor “The Dream” Bryan remained unbeaten and passed the toughest test of his career with a crowd-pleasing, hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision over Derric Rossy in the main event of a ShoBox: The New Generation tripleheader live on SHOWTIME^®.

Bryan (16-0, 11 KOs), of Albany, N.Y., dropped the vastly more experienced Rossy (30-10, 14 KOs), of Medford, N.Y., with a flurry of punches 30 seconds into the fight en route to winning one of the most exciting heavyweight fights of the year by the scores of 98-91 twice and 97-92. Round 3 of the slugfest could be a candidate for Round of the Year.

In Friday’s co-feature, middleweight DeCarlo “3-Mendo” Perez (15-3-1, 5 KOs), of Atlantic City, upset previously undefeated Juan Ubaldo Cabrera (23-1, 16 KOs) of the Dominican Republic on a unanimous 10-round decision. Perez, who took the fight on a week’s notice, beat the two-time Dominican Republic Olympian by the scores of 98-91 twice and 97-92 in a match that featured steady two-way action for the most part. Cabrera became the 134^thboxer to suffer his initial defeat on ShoBox.

In the opening bout of the telecast, heavyweight Joey Dawejko (15-4-2, 7 KOs), of Philadelphia, registered an impressive 1:15, first-round knockout over Samoa’s Natu Visinia (11-2, 9 KOs) of Tacoma, Wash., in a scheduled eight-round scrap.

“We saw two drastically different types of heavyweight fights tonight,’’ said boxing historian and ShoBox expert analyst Steve Farhood. “One quick bang-out — where Joey Dawejko made a lot of fans. I think people would like to see him again, I’d like to see him again. And the second fight, Trevor Bryan, he didn’t get the stoppage but he also gained a lot of fans. He’s a fighter that most fans have not seen, and tonight he was introduced on the big stage in a very successful way.

“Derric Rossy showed such resistance and that made the win sweeter for Bryan, who had never fought anybody resembling the class of Rossy. It was a physical fight with a lot of good exchanges. Trevor Bryan stamped himself as a young American heavyweight to watch.

“[Juan Ubaldo] Cabrera was a disappointment. It looked like he was going to be the classier, busier fighter for three rounds, but [DeCarlo] Perez took over. And to fight as effectively as Perez did on one-week notice against a fighter that was 23-0, is impressive. It’s the biggest win by far on Perez’s career.‘’

Hall of Fame promotor Don King was ecstatic afterward. “It was great to see heavyweight boxing back to what it is supposed to be — you are hanging on the edge of your seat with every punch,’’ he said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen, but Trevor Bryan pulled through. He’s only 16-0 but he broke through the door to greatness. That’s the big thing. Now we have to look for him to get a heavyweight championship fight as he goes along.

“So it was a terrific fight and as a matter of fact it was a terrific night of fights and that’s what it’s all about. People ask me ‘when is the next one?’ people shouting in their seats and tingling. And we did it for the women — fighting for women’s rights — the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. Oh man I am so excited. This is what it’s supposed to be.’’

The 6-foot-4 Bryan, who turned 26 on Aug. 23, went 10 rounds for the first time. A pro since November 2011, he had registered 10 of his 11 knockouts victories in three rounds or less.

“I think I showed to people that I like to fight and that I will fight,’’ Bryan said. “The heavyweight division is weak. Guys don’t like to throw a lot of punches. Being this was my first time on television, I think I had more anxiety than anything, but overall I was very happy with my performance.

“Rossy is a very durable, experienced guy. For him to hang in like he did says a lot. I know I definitely hurt him a few times but I didn’t follow up with the right punches. I didn’t place my punches like I should have after he was hurt. I know I need to relax more and listen to my corner.

“I was a little surprised that he didn’t box and move more but this was a hard-fought fight and a good fight for the fans.’’

Rossy pushed Bryan in many of the rounds, making for ferocious exchanges that had the crowd on their feet. The 35-year-old gamer has been on the wrong end of many close decisions in the past, but he had no qualms with the verdict this time.

“Bryan is definitely a good fighter, talented and he hits hard,’’ said Rossy, who has been in with some of the best in the division. “But after the knockdown, I was fighting on all heart. It wasn’t my plan to stand and slug and make it a war, but once I got dropped my strategy went out the window.

“This was an extremely hard fight, but that early knockdown was the whole difference for me. I’m OK but this was an exhausting 10-round fight.’’

Despite having little time to prepare, Perez, 24, won his fourth in a row and is 9-1 in his last 10 fights. “The heat [close to100 degrees] was no factor, I’ve been training in a gym that has more humidity than this,’’ he said. “The tough part was not knowing anything about my opponent; we saw no film so I had to adjust on the fly.

“I knew I’d be getting stronger as the fight went on. To keep throwing punches and dishing out punishment, that’s my style.

“This should open up a lot of doors for me. What I did tonight was prove what intense work ethic, pushing and fighting through all the odds, can do. I am very happy and already am looking forward to my next fight.

Cabrera, 36, whose pro career has sputtered due to long stretches of inactivity, had a point deducted in the seventh for hitting behind the head. Afterward, he offered no excuses. “I just got outhustled,’’ he said. He didn’t punch that hard. I was never hurt. I just didn’t throw enough. I felt fine until I got tired in the 10^th round.’’

The 5-foot-10 Dawejko, despite giving away five inches in height and being outweighed by 37¾ pounds, came out firing and hurt and staggered Visinia with an overhand right to the side of the head. He followed up with a flurry of punches to the head and body. After Visinia was given a standing eight-count, Dawejko landed eight unanswered punches before the referee stepped in and stopped it.

“I thought I would knock him out but not that fast,’’ said Dawejko, who outlanded the Samoan 18-1, 16 of them power shots. “Natu’s a tough guy. My plan was to tire him out and take him out in the fourth or fifth.

“This win does everything for my career. It basically eliminated the loss in my last fight to Amir Mansour [that snapped Dawejko’s six-fight winning streak]. “This shows I’m back. They have to mention me now when they’re talking heavyweights.’’

Going in, Visinia was regarded as perhaps the most promising up-and-coming Samoan heavyweight since former longtime contender David Tua.

“This is very disappointing,’’ Visinia said. “I just waited too long to get started with the jab and got caught with a good one. That happens in boxing but I’m going to keep working. I don’t want the boxing world or boxing gods to turn their backs on me now. This was a bump in the road. I’ll be back.’’

Aired during the telecast was an exclusive taped interview with Floyd Mayweather and Jim Gray and a live interview withWBC Super Middleweight Champion Badou Jack and Farhood.Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) will put his undefeated record and WBC and WBA Welterweight World Championships on the line against power-punching, two-time welterweight world champion Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs) and Jack(19-1-1, 12 KOs) will make his first defense against mandatory challenger “Saint” George Groves (21-2, 16 KOs) on Saturday, Sept. 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME PPV^®. The four-fight pay-per-view telecast starts at8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

The ShoBox tripleheader will re-air this week as follows:

DAY CHANNEL

Monday, Aug. 31, 10:30 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME Extreme

Friday’s three-fight telecast will be available at SHOWTIME ON DEMAND beginning today, Saturday, Aug. 29.

Barry Tompkins called the ShoBox action from ringside with Farhood and former world champion Raul Marquez serving as expert analysts. The executive producer was Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.

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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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