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Danny Roman Retains NABA Title and other SoCal fight results

Published

9 years ago

September 26, 2015

ONTARIO, CALIF-Two rising prospects met stiff resistance in their climb up the contender ladder with NABA super bantamweight Danny Roman retaining the title by unanimous decision over Oxnard’s Erick Ruiz on Friday.

L.A.’s Roman (16-2-1, 5 Kos) made the first defense of the title with a solid win over Oxnard’s Ruiz (14-4, 6 Kos) who weathered the early storm by the champion and showed how resilient the better fighters can be. A large crowd at the Doubletree Hotel saw a pretty good fight card.

The first four rounds saw Roman blister Ruiz with blinding combinations and counters. Ruiz just couldn’t cope with the speed and had a bloody nose after the first round. Around the fifth round Roman slowed down enough for Ruiz to hang in.

Uppercuts continued to land for Roman who landed several off four-punch combinations. Ruiz countered but only one punch at a time. Roman was racking up the rounds.

Not until the eighth round did Ruiz manage to offset the avalanche of points Roman was mounting. Behind several jabs Ruiz was able to upset the timing of Roman. Jabs kept landing for Ruiz who looked to win the eighth round. He also won the ninth behind jabs and some shots to the body. Roman seemed puzzled.

The 10th and final round saw Roman attack with perfect four-punch combinations. He had been stymied for the two previous rounds but did not allow Ruiz room or time to utilize the jab. A blistering attack by Roman put Ruiz in defensive mode. Though he tried for a knockout blow Ruiz never could land the big one.

After 10 rounds two judges scored it 99-91 and another had it 98-92 all for Roman who retains the title.

Other bouts

San Diego’s undefeated Giovanni Santillan (17-0, 9 Kos) won by majority decision over Mexico’s Ernesto Ortiz (10-3, 7 Kos) after eight rounds in their junior welterweight clash. Santillan usually has a speed advantage against most fighters but found Ortiz equally as quick- fisted and with a longer reach. Santillan was nearly floored in the fourth round but found his footing.

Ortiz had a sneaky-quick right cross that landed frequently and bloodied Santillan’s nose in the fourth round. But the San Diego southpaw used his quick combinations to pierce Ortiz’s peek-a- boo defense and that proved the difference in the last three rounds. One judge scored it 76-76, the other two 78-74 and 80-72 for Santillan.

Utah’s Jose Haro (11-1-1, 6 Kos) struggled against the always rushing Juan Reyes (12-3-3, 2 Kos) of Riverside in their featherweight bout. Haro pulled out the win with more accurate punching and better defense to win by unanimous decision. Every round was close but the judges preferred the more accurate Haro.

Santa Ana’s Erick Ituarte (12-1-1, 3 Kos) defeated an excellent fighter in Laredo, Texas’s Angel Martinez (6-2-1, 2 Kos) in a duel between featherweights. Both had severe body attacks but it was a fifth round knockdown by Ituarte with a left hook that proved the difference. The judges had Ituarte winning by margins 59-54, 60-53 twice, but Martinez could easily have won three rounds in their six-round fight.

Indio’s Manuel Mendez (6-1-1, 3 Kos) was losing every round until he landed a right hand bomb to knock out Colombia’s Cesar Villarraga (8-1, 4 Kos) at 2:25 of the third round. From the first round it was obvious Mendez was bent on lowering Villarraga’s guard with body shots. It finally happened during an exchange that saw Mendez connect solidly on Villarraga’s chin and down he went. He tried getting up but his leg was hurt from the fall. He was helped out of the ring.

Dakota “Chosen One” Walker won his heavyweight pro debut with a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Edgar “Porky” Najera (0-5) after four rounds. Walker was in control all four rounds behind some quick jabs and one-twos. Najera tried counter-punching but was too slow to catch the faster Walker.

Photo: Carlos Baeza / Thompson Boxing Promotions

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David A. Avila

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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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