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Unbeaten Brant Ekes Out Win Over Rose; Miller, Clarkson Romp On ShoBox

Published

9 years ago

October 24, 2015

ROB BRANT IMPROVES TO 18-0 WITH HARD-FOUGHT
10-ROUND MAJORITY DECISION OVER LOUIS ROSE IN MAIN EVENT OFSHOBOX: THE NEW GENERATION TRIPLEHEADER

Unbeaten Heavyweight Jarrell Miller Blasts Ahror Muralimov
in Third Round, Samuel Clarkson Demolishes Lavern Harvell
in Two Rounds From the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona

Catch Replay Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHO EXTREME^®

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

PHOENIX (Oct. 24, 2015) – On a night when five of the six fighters were making their debuts on ShoBox: The New Generation, newcomers Rob “Bravo” Brant and Jarrell ‘Big Baby” Miller remained undefeated and the oneShoBox returnee, Samuel “The Main Event” Clarkson, won his seventh in a row Friday live on SHOWTIME at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix.

Brant (18-0, 11 KOs), of St. Paul, Minn., withstood a late, sustained rally from Louis “The Unknown” Rose (13-3, 5 KOs), of Los Angeles, to win a close, hard-fought 10-round majority decision in the ShoBox main event.

In a pair of explosive matches in the scheduled eight-round co-features, undefeated heavyweight Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (15-0-1, 13 KOs), of Brooklyn, N.Y., knocked out Ahror “Aha” Muralimov (14-2, 11 KOs), of Houston, Texas via Uzbekistan in the third round and southpaw Samuel “The Main Event” Clarkson (17-3, 11 KOs), of Cedar Hills, Texas, dropped Lavarn “Baby Bowe” Harvell (15-2 8 KOs), of Atlantic City three times en route to an impressive second-round TKO.

Brant, who won the majority of the early rounds, triumphed by the scores of 96-94 twice and 95-95. There were no knockdowns in the close, competitive match that could have gone either way. In the toughest fight to date for both boxers, Brant was more accurate while Rose was much busier and more active.

“Credit to Brant for taking a fight that virtually everyone thought would be close and competitive, and it turned out to be exactly that,’’ ShoBox analyst Steve Farhood said afterward. “And credit Rose for coming on in the second half of the fight and being a threat to yet another undefeated prospect. Both fighters fought well, and in the case of Brant he needs to learn from this experience, throw a few more left hooks and grow as a prospect. And only time will tell if he grows from this experience.”

Brant, making his fifth start of the year, went 10 rounds for the first time in a pro career that began in November 2010.

“I knew it was going to be a tough fight,’’ said Brant, the 2010 National Golden Gloves champion at 178 pounds and a member of the U.S. national boxing team who’d won his previous five fights by knockout. “Every time I thought I had him hurt he would come back. I had to keep my composure in there and stick to the game plan. I think my jab was key tonight. It really helped me keep the pace and set up my punches.

“In the second half I slowed the pace and picked my shots to win the fight. It was a great learning experience. I need to get right back in the gym and continue to progress.”

The defeat was a bitter one for Rose, who rose from being homeless six years ago into a legitimate prospect at 160 pounds.

“This is very disappointing, I really don’t feel like talking,’’ said Rose, who had beaten six undefeated fighters in a career that began in November 2011. “I thought I did enough to win. I had him backing up and hurt from the sixth round on. Obviously, I want a rematch.”

Miller, making his fifth start in 2015, stopped Muralimov with a single, devastating right hand to the chin at 1:03 in the third round of a fast-paced slugfest that featured give-and-take action during the first six minutes. Muralimov seemed to be getting the better of the exchanges in the first and Miller was getting off better during the second.

“I’m a warrior,’’ said Miller, a former professional kickboxer. “I want knockouts. I don’t want decisions. This was a tough guy tonight. Anybody that can take a smash in the mouth like he did and keep coming back shows that he came to win.

“I am willing and ready to fight any of the top heavyweights.’’

Muralimov, who got in his fair share of heavy shots, had success boxing and moving side to side. He worked the body well. Then, he got caught and that was that.

“He just beat me, what can I say. Of course, this is disappointing,’’ said Muralimov, who lost for a second straight time. “I was in great shape and thought I was ready. I know I should have continued to work the body more. ‘’

In the opening bout of the telecast, Clarkson dropped Harvell twice in the last minute of the first with right hooks before decking and finishing him with a left-right combo at 0:48 of the second.

“”I knew the knockout was coming, I just didn’t know when,’’ Clarkson said. “I think my straight left was the difference – it set up the big rights for me. We’ve been working on throwing straight shots instead of looping punches and it came together tonight. “I take it one fight at a time, but I’m ready to get back in the ring and fight whoever they put in front of me.”

Harvell, who was fighting his first scheduled eight-rounder, had a two-fight winning streak end. “I feel fine. I’m good,’’ he said. “But this is very disappointing. Just to lose makes it hard.’’

The event was presented by Greg Cohen Promotions and Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions in association with Iron Boy Promotions, GH3 Promotions, Fight Card Promotions, Salita Promotions and Winner Take All Productions.

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

DAY CHANNEL

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME Extreme

Friday’s three-fight telecast will be available at SHOWTIME ON DEMAND beginning Saturday, Oct. 24.

Barry Tompkins called the ShoBox action from ringside with Farhood and former world champion Raul Marquezserving 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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