THE FLURRY: I Like Golovkin A Lot, but I Love Martinez

Published

13 years ago

September 8, 2012

fightaction-02-1024 First things first, let’s talk about Gennady Golovkin (who I will now refer to as GGG strictly because I want to):

• GGG has serious, easy power. P4P he reminds me of Miguel Cotto coming up the ranks. Even if it looked like he wasn’t landing much, he was visibly hurting his opponent with every power shot. Not only was Proksa wincing at shots, but his face was disfigured after just four rounds of boxing. His power is some of the best we’ve seen at this weight class in a while

• GGG is the real deal, but only in the sense that he’s a consensus top-5 Middleweight in the world. To put him on the pedestal some pundits have done based on his spectacular performance last Saturday is aggressive to say the least

• GGG’s polish for a power puncher of his magnitude was by far the most impressive thing I saw in his fight. We’ve seen massive punchers before, but rarely do we one who’s undisputable bombs are thrown with such precision and little exertion. The devastating body shots that effectively ended this fight were neither haymakers nor wild shots. They were just perfectly thrown hooks to the body. His head attack was equally impressive as he landed crushing blows with relatively short, simple combinations. What GGG did with his wide stance was truly great, and definitely done with enough technical/tactical skill to get me intrigued

• What’s next for GGG? Honestly, I can’t see how he doesn’t get the winner of Martinez-Junior. HBO has to be in love with this kid. I haven’t heard this much buzz about a fighter making his HBO debut in quite some time. They have to have a say, right? Al Haymon can’t make all of the decisions for the whole sport. Wait….right?

• And who else is there? Geale is a great fighter, but nobody in America (outside of the real boxing enthusiasts) knows who he is. How do you sell us another Martinez-Macklin-type fight (Spoiler Alert: I’m assuming Martinez wins)? Geale and GGG should probably square off for the right to the winner, but this is boxing, so I wouldn’t count on the logical matchup to take place

• While I don’t thing GGG is going to takeover the sport as some have suggested, I do think he’s a championship-caliber fighter who will hold at least one major belt between 154-168 lbs. in his career and make numerous defenses of that belt. If he were to face Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (who I will now refer to simply as ‘Junior’ out of laziness), I’m convinced we’d be looking at a Fight of the Year candidate that GGG would win via late stoppage. But since I think we’ll see Golovkin-Martinez first, I think GGG gives Martinez all he can handle for 8 rounds. However, championship fights are 12 rounds, and I think Martinez’s adaptive style, stamina, experience, and ability to finish fights will have him take over the late rounds and win a close decision (unless he stops GGG). To be clear, I think GGG has the skills to beat Martinez. I just don’t think he’d do it on his first try.

Perfect segue: Martinez-Chavez, Jr. thoughts
Before I get into my breakdown and prediction on how this fight ends, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit I’m a Sergio Martinez fan. I feel I have to get that out in the open as I’m inherently going to be biased in his favor. And I don’t feel bad about that because how could you not like the guy? He’s exciting in the ring, eloquent outside of it, and he is a very good role model. That said, I pick fights on facts, and Sergio Martinez is simply a better boxer.

• Make no mistake. Junior is a hell of a fighter. He’s a tough, granite-chinned, powerful middleweight. He is deserving of this shot based on his last few wins and lack of viable contenders at 160 lbs. His cockiness works to his advantage as walks through his opponents’ offense to deliver his own heavy shots. Junior works the body incredibly well, and that’s really helped him develop into the well-rounded power puncher he is today

• Sergio Martinez is an elite, world-class champion at the top of his game. Martinez has good hand speed and great footwork due to his raw athleticism. He’s awkward to prepare for with his constant, unique movement, and he can finish fights with one punch. He simply has too many offensive tools and defensive smarts to be beaten by Junior

• Martinez has beaten fighters that Junior’s handlers would never let him step in the ring with. Martinez’s experience will be a major factor in this fight. He has had his nose broken early in a fight. He has been rocked by very large, heavy punchers like Kelly Pavlik. In both of those Middleweight title bouts, Martinez had his arm raised at the bell. We’ve seen what happens when Martinez gets hit with a great shot by a big puncher, but the unknown element of what happens if Junior gets hurt is yet another advantage for Martinez

• While we don’t usually see this out of Martinez, he has employed some mind games to give himself yet another advantage. Sergio seems to really have gotten under the skin of Junior, and I think it will make a difference in the fight. Junior is going to be trying so hard not just to win this fight, but to knock Martinez out and prove a point. Junior hears the critics and wants so badly to make a name for himself. In doing so, I’m confident he’ll leave himself open and vulnerable to expertly-timed counter shots by Martinez. Again, Martinez is an elite fighter, and not one to miss openings. It’s like missing your spot as a pitcher against a superstar hitter… they will make you pay every time, and that’s why they’re superstars

• While the loss to Antonio Margarito on Sergio Martinez’s record should not be ignored since he employed a similar swarming, stalking offensive assault to Junior, I believe Martinez can win an inside fight or a slugfest with Junior. Just because Junior walked through Andy Lee does not mean he can walk through Sergio Martinez.

• The last factor in this fight that is worth noting for me is Junior’s corner. I think Freddie Roach is an incredible teacher of offensive boxing. Look at his stable of fighters: Manny Pacquaio, Amir Khan, Junior… all dynamic offensive fighters. However, I don’t think Roach has given any of them much tactical advice during their fights in the last few years. Sergio Martinez is nearly impossible to prepare for as I mentioned (largely because you can’t find many left-handed sparring partners that can emulate his natural flow), so it’s imperative to adjust on the fly against him. Part of the reason he comes on so strong at the end of fights is because he’s constantly figuring out how to get around his opponent’s defense. If you can’t adjust, he will pick you apart late in a fight. This is exactly what will happen against Chavez. TKO11 for Martinez as Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr. throws in the towel.

• With Martinez listed at just -185 in sporting books, I’d say this is a good chance to make some money if you’re the betting type

And lastly, I wanted to share my prediction for Andre Ward-Chad Dawson. Before I get into my prediction, I want to note how astonished I was at the betting line for this fight. I’ve seen Andre Ward as high as -350 (MORE THAN 3-TO-1 favorite). To me, that’s crazy. This is the most even title fight on paper I’ve seen since Jermain Taylor-Winky Wright which ended in a true draw. I think Ward takes this one, but at 3-1, Dawson is surely a live underdog–certainly less of an underdog than JCC Junior as mentioned above

• Andre Ward will win this because, to Lee Wylie’s point (http://www.tss.ib.tv/news/articles/15194-the-breakdown-andre-ward-chad-dawson), he has more ways to win. There is a reason Andre Ward is undefeated: Nobody has figured out how to beat him in the ring.

• Conversely, Chad Dawson has been beaten. He was beaten largely due to complacency. He let Jean Pascal beat him. He has let other fighters stay in fights with him just because he has at times lacked the urgency to finish fights. Dawson is so naturally gifted with boxing talent that he can almost always win on that alone. Against a guy like Ward, he’ll need to open up his guard a bit and have his best night. He is more than capable of winning this fight, but I don’t think he has the mental fortitude to do so

• Regardless of the outcome, this fight is so good for the sport. I hope it’s not a snoozefest (and for the record, I do not think it will be) as their immense talents neutralize one another, but it doesn’t matter. The winner will universally be recognized as a superstar in boxing, which is exactly where the winner belongs. If only more top fighters were willing to fight the best guys out there like these two…Props to Dawson for suggesting this fight and meeting Ward in Ward’s weight class and hometown. Props to Ward for taking the fight against a bigger man who is undoubtedly the best fight/toughest challenge for him out there right now.

• Ward will win a close, but clear decision over 12 grueling rounds. Get out a notebook for this one, these guys will be putting on a clinic on The Sweet Science…

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Blake Hochberger

Friday Boxing Recaps: Observations on Conlan, Eubank, Bahdi, and David Jimenez

Published

21 hours ago

March 8, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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March 7 was an unusually heavy Friday for professional boxing. The show that warranted the most ink was the all-female card in London, a tour-de-force for the super-talented Lauren Price, but there were important fights on other continents.

Brighton

Michael Conlan, who sat out all of 2024 on the heels of being stopped in three of his previous five, returned to the ring in the British seaside resort city of Brighton in a shake-off-the-rust, 8-rounder against Asad Asif Khan, a 31-year-old Indian from Calcutta making his first appearance in a British ring.

Conlan, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist who famously signed with Top Rank coming out of the amateur ranks, is now 33 years old. Against Khan, he was far from impressive, but did enough to win by a 78-74 score and lock in a match with Spain’s Cristobal Lorente, the European featherweight champion.

Conlan, who improved to 19-3 (9), absorbed a lot of punishment in those three matches that he lost. With his deep amateur background, Michael has a lot of mileage on him and he would have been smart to call it quits after his embarrassingly one-sided defeat to Luis Alberto Lopez. His frayed reflexes speak to something more than ring rust. Heading in, Khan brought a 19-5-1 record but had scored only five wins inside the distance.

Conlan vs Khan was the co-feature. In the main event, Brighton welterweight Harlem Eubank, the cousin of Chris Eubank Jr, improved to 21-0 (9 KOs) with a dominant performance over Conlan’s Belfast homie Tyrone McKenna. Eubank was credited with three knockdowns, all the result of body punches, before referee John Latham had seen enough and pulled the plug at the 2:09 mark of round 10. It was the fourth loss in his last six outings for the 35-year-old McKenna (24-6-1).

Harlem Eubank wants to fight Conor Benn next and says he is willing to wait until after his cousin “wipes Benn out.” Chris Eubank Jr vs Benn is slated for April 26 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The North London facility, which has a retractable roof, is the third-largest soccer stadium in England.

Toronto

Local fan favorite Lucas Bahdi and his stablemate Sara Bailey were the headliners on last night’s card at the Great Canadian Casino Resort in Toronto. The event marked the first incursion of Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions into Canada.

Bahdi, who is from Niagara Falls but trains in Toronto, burst out of obscurity in July of last year in Tampa, Florida, with a spectacular one-punch knockout of heavily-hyped Ashton “H2O” Sylva. His next fight, on the undercard of Jake Paul’s match with Mike Tyson, was less “noisy” and the same could be said of his homecoming fight with Ryan James Racaza, an undefeated (15-0) but obscure southpaw from the Philippines who was making his North American debut.

Bahdi vs Racaza was a technical fight that didn’t warm up until Bahdi produced a knockdown in round seven with a sweeping left hook, a glancing blow that appeared to land behind Racaza’s ear. The Filipino was up in a jiff, looking at the referee as if to say, “this dude just hit me with a rabbit punch.”

The judges had it 99-90, 97-92, and 96-93 for the victorious Bahdi (19-0) who was the subject of a recent profile on these pages.

Sara Bailey, a decorated amateur who competed around the world under her maiden name Sara Haghighat Joo and now holds the WBA light flyweight title, successfully defended that trinket with a lopsided decision over Cristina Navarro (6-3), a 35-year-old Spaniard who “earned” this assignment by winning a 6-round decision over an opponent with a 1-4-3 record. The judges scored the monotonous fight 99-91 across the board for Bailey who improved to 6-0 and then returned to the ring to assist her husband in Lucas Bahdi’s corner.

Also

Twenty-two-year-old super bantamweight Angel Barrientes, a Las Vegas-based Hawaii native, delivered the best performance of the night with a one-sided beatdown of Alexander Castellano whose corner mercifully stopped the contest after the seventh round as the ring doctor stood in a neutral corner chatting with the referee.

The gritty Castellano, who hails from Tonawanda, New York, brought an 11-1-2 record and hadn’t previously been stopped. A glutton for punishment, he appeared to suffer a broken orbital bone. Barrientes improved to 13-1 (8 KOs).

The show was marred by an excessive amount of fluffy gobbledygook by the TV talking heads which slowed down the action and made the promotion almost unwatchable.

Cartago, Costa Rica

Fighting in his hometown, super flyweight David Jimenez scored a lopsided 12-round decision over Nicaragua’s Keyvin Lara. The judges had it 120-108, 119-109, and 116-112.

Jimenez, now 17-1, came to the fore in July of 2022 when he upset Ricardo Sandoval in Los Angeles, winning a well-earned majority decision over a 20/1 favorite riding a 16-fight winning streak. That boosted him into a title fight with the formidable Artem Dalakian who saddled him with his lone defeat.

Jimenez’s victory over Lara was his fifth since that setback. It sets up the Costa Rican for another title fight, this time against Argentina’s Fernando Martinez who acquired the WBA 115-pound title in July with an upset of Kazuto Ioka in Japan. Lara, who unsuccessfully challenged Ioka for a belt in 2016, falls to 32-7-1.

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Price Conquers Jonas on an All-Female Card at Royal Albert Hall

Published

2 days ago

March 7, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Ben Shalom’s BOXXER Promotions was at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall tonight with an all-female card topped by a welterweight unification fight between WBC/IBF belt-holder Natasha Jonas and WBA champion Lauren Price.

Liverpool’s Jonas, who turns 41 in June, has had a sterling career, but Father Time has caught up with her. The 30-year-old Price, an Olympic gold medalist, had faster hands, faster feet, and hit harder. The classy Jonas (16-3-1) acknowledged as much in her post-fight interview: “She beat me to the punch every time.”

The scores were 100-90, 98-92, and 98-93.

In advancing her record to 9-0 (2), Price built a strong case that she is the best fighter to come down the pike from Wales since Joe Calzaghe. As for her next bout, she hopes to fight the winner of the March 29 rematch in Las Vegas between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan. That match, with all of the meaningful welterweight hardware at stake, would be a hot ticket item if potted in Cardiff.

Semi-wind-up

Caroline Dubois staved off a late rally to successfully defend her WBC lightweight title with a majority decision over South Korea’s spunky Bo Mi Re Shin. The judges had it 98-92, 98-93, and 95-95. Although the 95-95 tally by the Korean judge was quite a stretch, Shin performed far better than the odds – Dubois was a consensus 35/1 favorite — portended.

Dubois, a 24-year-old Londoner trained by Shane McGuigan, is the sister of IBF heavyweight title-holder Daniel Dubois. Reportedly 36-3 as an amateur, she advanced her pro record to 11-0-1 (5). Heading in, Shin (18-3-3) had won nine of her previous 10 with the lone setback coming via split decision in a robust fight with Belgium’s Delfine Persoon in Belgium.

Other Bouts of Note

Kariss Artingstall returned to the ring after a 14-month absence and scored a unanimous decision over former amateur rival Raven Chapman. The scores were 98-91, 97-92, 96-93.

The prize for Artingstall, who happens to be Lauren Price’s partner, was the inaugural British female featherweight title and a potential rematch with Skye Nicolson who would relish the chance to avenge her last defeat, a loss by split decision to Attingstall in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics. Nicolson, who was part of tonight’s broadcast team, defends her title later this month in Sydney against Florida’s Tiara Brown.

It was the first 10-rounder for Artingstall (7-0). Chapman (9-2) had an uphill battle after Artingstall decked her in the second round with a straight left hand.

In a mild upset, Jasmina Zopotoczna, a UK-based Pole, won a split decision over Chloe Watson, adding Watson’s European flyweight title to her own regional trinket. One of the judges favored Watson 97-93, but each of his colleagues had it 96-95 for the Pole. Although there was no great furor, the verdict was unpopular.

Zapotoczna, who fought off her back foot, improved to 9-1. It was the first pro loss for Watson who is trained by Ricky Hatton.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 316: Art of the Deal in Boxing and More

Published

3 days ago

March 6, 2025

David A. Avila

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So, they want to save boxing?

A group of guys with recent ties to the sport of boxing and bags of money suddenly believe they can save a sport that is older than any other sport since the dawn of mankind.

Boxing is the oldest sport.

When cavemen roamed the planet, you can believe one tribe bet another tribe their guy could whip the other guy. Thus began the sport of boxing. There was no baseball, soccer or horse racing.

Even the invention of the wheel was still a few generations away when men were duking it out with other men for sport.

Throughout history mentions of one man fighting another man without arms are written in the Tales of Ulysses and other literary references.

Boxing will never die. Period.

Here is the reason why.

Boxing requires only two men in their underwear with no weapons and no requirement of classes in jujitsu, kickboxing, wrestling or advance training facilities. You can prepare in your backyard with one heavy bag and a pair of boxing gloves. It’s simple.

MMA, on the other hand, requires money.

Boxing is for the poor. Any kid can walk into a gym and begin training. When they become adults, then they start paying to use the gym.

Don’t let people fool you and tell you “boxing is dying.”

People have been saying those same words since John L. Sullivan in the late 1800s. You can look it up.

The phrase “boxing is dying,” is said by people who want you to pay them money to save it. Kind of sounds like the guy currently sitting in the White House who is going to save America by firing Americans from their jobs and allowing Russia to take over Ukraine.

Don’t believe these people.

Boxing does not need saving.

Why would Dana White, who has stated for decades that MMA is bigger than boxing, though no MMA fighter can equal the purses of a Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Tyson Fury, why is he involved in boxing?

There is big money to be made in boxing, especially with internet gambling sites being allowed all over the world. And boxing is popular worldwide. MMA is not.

More people know who Canelo is than UFC’s Alex Pereira.

I respect the UFC fighters. They put in hard work and battle injuries throughout their careers. But MMA is simply not as big as boxing. The purses of MMA fighters at the top level don’t come close to boxing’s top money earners.

Why did Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz and others quickly switch to boxing when called?

The money in boxing is much bigger.

Follow the money.

NYC

A rumble is planned for Times Square in New York City.

Vatos from Southern California are fighting dudes from Nevada and Brooklyn. Sounds like a script from the Gangs of New York.

Where is Leonardo DiCaprio when you need him?

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) will meet Rollie Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) in a welterweight match set for May 2, on Times Square in mid-Manhattan. This is one of three marquee bouts planned to be streamed on DAZN.

Others matched will be Arnold Barboza (32-0, 11 KOs) versus super lightweight titlist Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs), and Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) against Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) in a welterweight contest.

This is the proposed match by The Ring magazine backed by Turki Alalshikh who, along with Golden Boy Promotions and Matchroom Boxing, is sponsoring this fight card.

It was also announced that Alalshikh, TKO Group Holdings, and Sela are forming a promotion company.

TKO owns UFC and WWE.

SoCal Fights

Southern California will be busy with boxing cards this weekend.

This Thursday, March 6, is Golden Boy Promotions with a boxing card featuring Manny Flores (19-1, 15 KOs) versus Jorge Leyva (18-3, 13 KOs) in a super bantamweight match at Fantasy Springs Casino. DAZN will stream the boxing card from Indio, California.

On Saturday, March 8, the Fox Theater in Pomona, California hosts a boxing card featuring super middleweights Ruben Cazales (10-0) vs Adam Diu Abdulhamid (18-16). Also, super featherweights Michael Bracamontes (10-2-1) meets Eugene Lagos (16-9-3) at the historic venue promoted by House of Pain Boxing.

On Saturday March 8, Elite Boxing hosts a boxing card at Salesian High in East Los Angeles featuring East L.A. native Merari Vivar (8-0) against Sarah Click (2-8-1) and several other fights.

On Saturday, March 8, an event hosted by House of Champions features top contenders Joet Gonzalez (26-4) vs Arnold Khegai (22-1-1) in a featherweight main event at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, Calif.

A Big All-Female Card in London

On Friday, March 7, the historic Royal Albert Hall in the Kensington borough of London will host an all-female card with two world title fights including a unification fight in the welterweight division.

Natasha Jonas (16-2-1) and Lauren Price (8-0) meet 10 rounds for the IBF, WBC, and WBA belts.

Jonas, 40, the current WBC and IBF titlist, recently defeated Ivana Habazin and before that edged past Mikaela Mayer in a win that could have gone the other way very easily. She will be facing Price, an Olympic gold medalist and current WBA and IBO titlist.

Price, 30, hails from Wales and has an aggressive pressure style that saw her win a battle between punchers with a third-round knockout of Colombia’s Bexcy Mateus this past December in Liverpool. Before that she defeated the always tough Jessica McCaskill.

In the co-main event, lightweights Caroline Dubois (10-0-1) and Bo Mi Re Shin (18-2-3) meet for the WBC world title.

Me Re Shin, 30, fights out of South Korea and has knockout power. She was one of only two fighters to stop Venezuela’s Ana Maria Lozano who has 38 pro fights. That says something. She lost a split decision to Delfine Persoon in Belgium. That really says something.

Dubois had two competitive fights, first, against Jessica Camara that ended in a technical draw due to a clash of heads. Before that she defeated Maira Moneo. Dubois has very good talent and is still young at 24. Is she ready for Mi Re Shin?

Times Square photo credit: JP Yim

Fights to watch:

Thurs., March 6: DAZN, Manny Flores (19-1) vs. Jorge Leyva (18-3)

Fri., March 7: free on DAZN, Lucas Bahdi (18-0) vs. Ryan James Racaza (15-0)

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