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Revitalized Lundy ready for his title shot

Published

9 years ago

October 23, 2015

WORLD-RATED PHILADELPHIA lightweight Hank Lundy (right), seen here after scoring a knockdown this past weekend during his win over Carlos Winston Velasquez at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, is now the reigning WBC Continental Americas Champion and is in search of his first world title shot after 32 professional fights. The win Saturday marked Lundy’s return to the 135-pound division after a brief stint at junior welterweight. Lundy hopes to unify the 135-pound world title and ultimately take another shot at 140.

Photo courtesy of Will Pau

Lundy ready to ‘reclaim his throne’ in 135-pound weight class after capturing vacant title Saturday

PHILADELPHIA (Oct. 23^rd, 2015) — With a triumphant return to the lightweight division this past weekend at Mohegan Sun, Hank Lundy made his point loud and clear.

“I’m back. ‘Hammerin” Hank is back at 135,” said Lundy, who stopped veteran Carlos Winston Velasquez in the fifth round of their scheduled 10-round bout Saturday to capture the vacant Word Boxing Council (WBC) Continental Americas Lightweight Title.

“I mean business. And when I get in that ring with you, don’t think it’s going to go the whole 10 or 12 rounds. I’m going to knock you out. I’m reclaiming my throne at 135.”

Forgive Lundy’s bravado, but Saturday was not only a victory in the ring, the 26^th of his pro career and 13^th by knockout, but also a victory in the court of public opinion, where Lundy took a beating in January after failing to make the 135-pound weight limit in a scheduled bout against Petr Petrov, a fight he accepted on just eight days’ notice.

With more than eight weeks to prepare for Velasquez, Lundy had no such trouble shedding the weight, clocking in at 134, though he thinks he might’ve been even lighter than what the scale indicated.

“The commissioner, he stopped at 134. I think I came in at 133,” Lundy quipped.

“Like I told everyone, if you give me the right amount of time, I can make 135.”

Credit this resurgence to Lundy’s steely determination and the guidance of fellow Philadelphia boxer, Bernard Hopkins, the longest reigning middleweight world champion of all-time and the oldest fighter to ever win a world title, who helped Lundy put the past behind him and instead focus on what he needed to do to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.

“I took it from Bernard and he actually talked to me about that situation. Everybody came down on me, but he said, ‘Hank, the key thing is staying ready so that you won’t have to get ready,'” Lundy said. “What I took out of that is preparing myself and keeping my weight down, staying 10 pounds away from my fight weight.”

While some fighters lose a bit of power when dropping to a smaller weight class, Lundy has actually maintained his strength, as evident by the two knockdowns scored in the Velasquez fight. The weight makes no difference, Lundy said, as long as you execute.

“It’s more about technique, the leverage from your punches and the whole thing about it, carrying the punching power you have to make sure you make weight correctly that way you won’t be drained or anything,” he said. “I’m still punching like I punched at 140.”

Lundy has bounced between both divisions over the past five years, chasing the bigger paydays and the national television spotlight at 140, but now his goal is to reclaim the No. 1 spot at 135, where he sat in 2012 before a stunning loss to journeyman Raymundo Beltran.

“I’m hungry,” Lundy said. “One thirty five, that’s where I started my quest and that’s what I’m looking forward to doing. I started my quest at 135 and I’m back there. I want to win the world titles. I want to unify them and the move up to 140. My mission is to clean up 135 and I’m going to do it.”

Who’s next? The sky’s the limit. Jorge Linares currently holds the WBC world title. Unbeaten Terry Flanagan owns the World Boxing Organization (WBO) crown. The International Boxing Federation (IBF) title is currently vacant. Lundy could lobby for a shot at a world title now or continue to fight his way to the top. Either scenario is feasible.

“Listen, I’m ready to go right now,” Lundy said. “If they call me right now, I’m ready. I don’t need no tune-up. Like I said, in my career I’ve been matched tough. There’s no hype about me, ‘Hammerin” Hank, where you really have to find out to see if I’m what they say I am. I am what I am. I’m hungry. I’m determined. I’m that bad-ass that people talk about who comes into your hometown and beats you.”

The journey back to No. 1 won’t be easy. Nothing has. Lundy has built his career taking the tough fights, the fights others didn’t want, traveling everywhere from Mississippi to Montreal to the Ukraine to answer the call. In 32 pro fights, he’s fought in front of his hometown fans in Philadelphia just six times, never truly afforded the luxury of padding his record in his own backyard like so many other fighters.

When Lundy refers to himself as a “throwback fighter,” it’s a valid comparison. There’s only one “Hammerin”’ Hank, which is bad news for fights fans and good news for the rest of the lightweight division. With Saturday’s win at Mohegan Sun, the 135-pound weight class has officially been put on notice. Philadelphia’s fighting pride is back.

“I was always matched up tough,” he said. “Nothing was ever easy. Most of these guys that you see now, they get a lot of soft touches, whereas a guy like me, I’m proven. When you talk about ‘Hammerin” Hank’ and you look at my career, there were no soft touches. That’s why when you ask me about the world title shot, or do I need a tune-up, no, because I’ve been fighting tough since I was in the pro game.”

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

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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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