Three Punch Combo: Digging Deeper Into the Alvarez-Kovalev Upset and More

Published

6 years ago

August 13, 2018

THREE PUNCH COMBO — My background is in economics. When studying economics, we often look to the past to attempt to predict future outcomes. For example, when the last recession occurred we compile what the data said prior to the start of that recession and look for future similarities to predict when the economy may be headed toward another downturn. This is all done after the fact with the goal being to use what we learned to hopefully better predict and maybe even prevent future economic downturns.

Well those principles of economics can also be used in boxing. Specifically, when upsets occur there are often mitigating factors. Such is the case when explaining why Eleider Alvarez was able to pull off a pretty shocking upset last week when he stopped Sergey Kovalev in round seven of their light heavyweight title fight.

Looking back at the resume of Alvarez leading into the fight, one can see that he was prepared for the moment. Some of this preparedness was by accident (more on this in a moment) and some by design. But regardless, Alvarez was more than ready for his moment under the bright lights.

Many resumes of fighters that are climbing the ladder contain soft opposition meant to pad their record. These fights do nothing in terms of developing the fighter. Yes, Alvarez does have some of these type opponents on his resume. But by and large he fine-tuned his craft by facing quality opponents.

In his ninth professional fight, Alvarez faced 23-1-1 Shawn Hawk in a fight scheduled for twelve rounds. Alvarez, who had not been past the sixth round as a pro, won a decision going the full twelve at this very early stage in his career. A year later, Alvarez faced the always tough Edison Miranda and defeated Miranda by decision.

More quality opponents followed and Alvarez kept grinding out wins. Then in November of 2015, Alvarez faced tricky veteran Isaac Chilemba. Alvarez found Chilemba a tough foe but in the end prevailed via a twelve round majority decision. Though not his best performance, this fight proved to be a great learning experience. The win also put Alvarez in position as the mandatory challenger for WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson.

Despite Alvarez’s mandatory status, Stevenson was able to slip out of ever getting in the ring with him. Instead, Alvarez received a few bucks for agreeing to not pursue the mandatory and had a few other fights to help build him toward something bigger. He faced and defeated former world champions Lucian Bute and Jean Pascal during this time frame. These valuable experiences sort of happened by accident due to the Stevenson situation but further prepared Alvarez for that moment when the big name would finally get in the ring with him.

That big name, of course, was Kovalev and we know what happened. Alvarez was more than prepared for this moment due to not being spoon-fed weak opponents in the first 23 fights of his career. He faced all different types of fighters and styles. He did not always look great but always learned and grew as a fighter. In looking backward, as I often do when studying the economy, the reasons for Alvarez winning now seem very apparent. It’s a lesson from which others can learn.

USA Tuesday Night Fights

This August marks the 20^th anniversary of the final airing of the long running weekly boxing series on USA Network titled USA Tuesday Night Fights. The series ran for nearly 16 years and was really boxing’s last consistent weekly television series (as a note, ESPN’s Friday Night Fights Series often went dormant from September to December due to college football).

The series helped develop some of boxing’s biggest stars of the 80’s and 90’s as well as provide many memorable moments. The welterweight contest between Derrell Coley (29-1-2, 21 KO’s) and Kip Diggs (27-2, 19 KO’s) in March of 1997 produced my personal favorite memory from the series.

Derrell Coley vs. Kip Diggs: 03/25/1997

This fight, slated for twelve rounds for the vacant NABF welterweight belt, was a shoot-out from the opening bell. In the first couple of rounds, Coley and Diggs exchanged big shots with each hurting the other on a few occasions. Diggs dropped Coley in the third round with a right down the middle followed by a left hook. Coley had to be helped to his corner at the end of the round but came back firing in the fourth, wobbling Diggs. But Diggs would quickly respond, putting Coley down in round five and then again in round seven with a left hook that put Coley flat on his back.

Coley appeared ready to go in round eight but somehow managed to stage a rally to get back in the fight. The two exchanged big shots again in rounds nine and ten with momentum swinging back and forth.

Toward the end of round ten, a blistering uppercut from Coley put Diggs on the canvas. Diggs was visibly hurt but made it to his feet and to the bell. Coley jumped on Diggs immediately to open round eleven and an overhand right followed by another flush right sent Diggs sprawling to the canvas. Diggs was out and referee Marty Denkin wisely waived an end to the contest.

It was a dramatic win for Coley in a fight that seemingly flipped back and forth in momentum on dozens of occasions. It is a forgotten classic and in my opinion the best fight from the 16-year run of the Tuesday Night Fight series on the old USA network.

Under The Radar Fight

For those of us in the United States that still have time left on their KlowdTV subscription from the Usyk-Gassiev event last month, there will be another international card available on that platform this coming Sunday. This card takes place in Russia and is headlined by a 130-pound contest between Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (12-0, 9 KO’s) and Robinson Castellanos (24-13, 14 KO’s).

Rakhimov, 23, is an aggressive southpaw who likes to work behind the right jab and use that punch to close the distance on his opposition. Once inside, Rakhimov is a very good body puncher and he will look to work both sides of his opponent’s ribcage. From the video I have seen, his best punch is the straight left though he can be described as more of a heavy handed type fighter than a one punch knockout type guy. Though he usually carries a high guard, Rakhimov has shown some defensive vulnerability.

Castellanos may have the most deceiving record in boxing. At first glance, he appears to be a journeyman type opponent brought in to pad Rakhimov’s record. But Castellanos is no journeyman. He has scored his share of upsets in recent years including handing Ronny Rios his first defeat and stunning one time Cuban amateur star Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Castellanos is a tricky guy to fight as he will throw lots of punches and from all sorts of angles. He will jump in and out, giving opponents all sorts of different looks. He has perfected his awkward style in recent years and given plenty of world class opponents plenty of fits.

I see this fight as an absolute toss-up. Rakhimov is going to see plenty of openings with Castellanos and with his aggressive nature will probably be more than willing to open up. But that may play right into the hands of his Mexican opponent. Castellanos has a good overhand right and I think he lands the punch with frequency. These two are going to land often on each other and I think we are going to get a nice competitive scrap.

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Matt Andrzejewski

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

Published

1 day ago

November 3, 2024

David A. Avila

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

LAS VEGAS-Shades of Henry Armstrong and Baby Arizmendi. If you don’t know those names, look them up.

Floyd Schofield battled his way past Mexico’s super tough Rene Tellez Giron who walked through every blow the Texan could fire but lost by decision on Saturday.

It was a severe test and perfect matchmaking for Schofield who yearns for the big bouts against the lightweight giants roaming the world.

Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) remains undefeated and won the war over thick-necked Mexican Tellez Giron (20-4, 13 KOs) who has never been knocked out and proved to be immune to big punches.

In the opening rounds, the Texas fighter came out firing rapid combinations from the southpaw and orthodox stances. Meanwhile the shorter Tellez Giron studied and fired back an occasional counter for two rounds.

Tellez Giron had seen enough and took his stand in the third stanza. Both unleashed blazing bombs with Schofield turning his back to the Mexican. At that moment referee Tom Taylor could have waved the fight over.

You never turn your back.

The fight resumed and Schofield was damaged. He tried to open up with even more deadly fire but was rebuked by the strong chin of Tellez Giron who fired back in the mad frenzy.

For the remainder of the fight Schofield tried every trick in his arsenal to inflict damage on the thick-necked Mexican. He could not be wobbled. In the 11^th round both opened up with serious swing-from-the-heels combinations and suddenly Schofield was looking up. He beat the count easily and the two remained slugging it out.

“He hit me with a good shot,” Schofield said of the knockdown. “I just had to get up. I’m not going to quit.”

In the final round Schofield moved around looking for the proper moment to engage. The Mexican looked like a cat ready to pounce and the two fired furious blows. Neither was hit with the big bombs in the last seconds.

There was Tellez Giron standing defiantly like Baby Arizmendi must have stood in those five ferocious meetings against the incomparable Henry Armstrong. Three of their wars took place in Los Angeles, two at the Olympic Auditorium in the late 1930s as the U.S. was emerging from the Great Depression.

In this fight, Schofield took the win by unanimous decision by scores 118-109 twice and 116-111. It was well-deserved.

“I tried to bang it out,” said Schofield. “Today I learned you can’t always get the knockout.”

Fundora

IBF flyweight titlist Gabriela Fundora needed seven rounds to figure out the darting style of Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz before firing a laser left cross down the middle to end the battle and become the undisputed flyweight world champion.

Fundora now holds all four titles including the WBO, WBA and WBC titles that Alaniz brought in the ring.

Fundora knocked down Alaniz midway through the seventh round. She complained it was due to a tangle of the legs. Several seconds later Fundora blasted the Argentine to the floor again with a single left blast. This time there was no doubt. Her corner wisely waved a white towel to stop the fight at 1:40 of the seventh round.

No one argued the stoppage.

Other Bouts

Bektemir Melikuziev (15-1, 10 KOs) didn’t make weight in a title bout but managed to out-fight David Stevens (14-2, 10 KOs) in a super middleweight fight held at 12 rounds.

Melikuziev used his movement and southpaw stance to keep Pennsylvania’s Stevens from being able to connect with combinations. But Stevens did show he could handle “The Bully’s” punching power over the 12-round fight.

After 12 rounds one judge favored Stevens 116-112, while two others saw Melikuziev the winner by split decision 118-110 and 117-111.

Super middleweight WBA titlist Darius Fulghum (13-0, 11 KOs) pummeled his way to a technical knockout win over southpaw veteran Chris Pearson (17-5-1, 12 KOs) who attempted the rope-a-dope strategy to no avail.

Fulghum floored Pearson in the first round with a four-punch combination and after that just belted Pearson who covered up and fired an occasional blow. Referee Mike Perez stopped the fight at 1:02 of the third round when Pearson did not fire back after a blazing combination.

Young welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte (5-0, 5 KOs) blasted away at the three-inch shorter Xavier Madrid (5-6, 2 KOs) who hung tough for as long as possible. At 2:50 of the first round a one-two delivered Madrid to the floor and referee Thomas Taylor called off the beating.

Iriarte, from Bakersfield, Calif., could not miss with left uppercuts and short rights as New Mexico’s Madrid absorbed every blow but would not quit. It was just too much firepower from Iriarte that forced the stoppage.

Photos credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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Results and Recaps from Turning Stone where O’Shaquie Foster Nipped Robson Conceicao

Published

2 days ago

November 2, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Top Rank was at the Turning Stone casino-resort in Verona, New York, tonight with an 8-bout card topped by a rematch between Robson Conceicao and O’Shaquie Foster with the victor retaining or recapturing his IBF world junior lightweight title. When the smoke cleared, the operative word was “recapturing” as Foster became a two-time title-holder, avenging his controversial setback to the Brazilian in Newark on July 6.

This was a somewhat better fight than their initial encounter and once again the verdict was split. Foster prevailed by 115-113 on two of the cards with the dissenting judge favoring Conceicao by the same margin. Conceicao seemingly had the edge after nine frames, but Foster, a 4/1 favorite, landed the harder shots in the championship rounds.

It was the thirteenth victory in the last 14 starts for Foster who fights out of Houston. A two-time Olympian and 2016 gold medalist, the 36-year-old Conceicao is 19-3-1 overall and 1-3-1 in world title fights.

Semi-wind-up

SoCal lightweight Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) made a big jump in public esteem and moved one step closer to a world title fight with a second-round blast-out of Jose Antonio Perez who was on the canvas twice but on his feet when the fight was stopped at the 1:24 mark of round two. Muratalla, a product of Robert Garcia’s boxing academy, is ranked #2 by the WBC and WBO. A Tijuana native, Perez (25-6) earned this assignment with an upset of former Olympian and former 130-pound world titlist Jojo Diaz,

Other Bouts

Syracuse junior welterweight Bryce Mills, a high-pressure fighter with a strong local following, stopped scrawny Mike O’Han Jr whose trainer Mark DeLuca pulled him out after five one-sided rounds. Mills improved to 17-1 (6 KOs). It was another rough day at the office for Massachusetts house painting contractor O’’Han (19-4) who had the misfortune of meeting Abdullah Mason in his previous bout.

In a junior lightweight fight that didn’t heat up until late in the final round, Albany’s Abraham Nova (23-3-1) and Tijuana native Humberto Galindo (14-3-3) fought to a 10-round draw. It was another close-but-no- cigar for the likeable Nova who at least stemmed a two-fight losing streak. The judges had it 97-93 (Galindo), 96-94 (Nova) and 95-95.

Twenty-one-year-old Long Island middleweight Jahi Tucker advanced to 13-1-1 (6 KOs) with an eighth-round stoppage of Stockton’s teak-tough but outclassed Quilisto Madera (14-6). Madera was on a short leash after five rounds, but almost took it to the final bell with the referee intervening with barely a minute remaining in the contest. Madera was on his feet when the match was halted. Earlier in the round, Tucker had a point deducted for hitting on the break.

Danbury, Connecticut heavyweight Ali Feliz, one of two fighting sons of journeyman heavyweight Fernely Feliz, improved to 4-0 (3) with a second-round stoppage of beefy Rashad Coulter (5-5). Feliz had Coulter pinned against the ropes and was flailing away when the bout was halted at the 1:34 mark. The 42-year-old Coulter, a competitor in all manner of combat sports, hadn’t previously been stopped when competing as a boxer.

Featherweight Yan Santana dominated and stopped Mexico’s Eduardo Baez who was rescued by referee Charlie Fitch at the 1:57 mark of round four. It was the 12^th knockout in 13 starts for Santana, a 24-year-old Dominican father of three A former world title challenger, Mexicali’s Baez declines to 23-7-2 but has lost six of his last eight.

In his most impressive showing to date, Damian Knyba, a six-foot-seven Pole, knocked out paunchy Richard Lartey at the 2:10 mark of round three. A right-left combination knocked Lartey into dreamland, but it was the right did the damage and this was of the nature of a one-punch knockout. Referee Ricky Gonzalez waived the fight off without starting a count.

Knyba, 28, improved to 14-0 (8 KOs). A native of Ghana coming off his career-best win, a fourth-round stoppage of Polish veteran Andrzej Wawrzyk, Lartey declined to 16-7 with his sixth loss inside the distance.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 303: Spotlights on Lightweights and More

Published

3 days ago

November 1, 2024

David A. Avila

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Those lightweights.

Whether junior lights, super lights or lightweights, it’s the 130-140 divisions where most of boxing’s young stars are found now or in the past.

Think Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd Schofield (17-0, 12 KOs) a Texas product, hungers to be a star and takes on Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron (20-3, 13 KOs) in a 12-round lightweight bout on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotion card that includes a female undisputed flyweight championship match pitting Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz and Gabriela Fundora.

Like a young lion looking to flex, Schofield (pictured on the left) is eager to meet all the other young lions and prove they’re not equal.

“I’ve been in the room with Shakur, Tank. I want to give everyone a good fight. I feel like my preparation is getting better, I work hard, I’ve dedicated my whole life to this sport,” said Schofield naming fellow lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

Now he meets Mexico’s Tellez who has never been stopped.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” said Tellez.

Even in Las Vegas.

Verona, New York

Meanwhile, in upstate New York, a WBC junior lightweight title rematch finds Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) looking to prove superior to former titlist O’Shaquie Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank fight card.

Last July, Conceicao and Foster clashed and after 12 rounds the title changed hands from Foster to the Brazilian by split decision.

“I feel that a champion is a fighter who goes out there and doesn’t run around, who looks for the fight, who tries to win, and doesn’t just throw one or two punches and then moves away,” said Conceicao.

Foster disagrees.

“I hope he knows the name of the game is to hit and not get hit. That’s the name of the game,” said Foster.

Also on the same card is lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) who fights Mexico’s Jesus Perez Campos (25-5, 18 KOs).

Perez recently defeated former world champion Jojo Diaz last February in California.

“We’re made for challenges. I like challenges,” said Perez.

Muratalla likes challenges too.

“I think these fights are the types of fights I need to show my skills and to prove I deserve those title fights,” said Fontana’s Muratalla.

Female Undisputed Flyweight Championship

WBA, WBC and WBO flyweight titlist Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs meets IBF titlist Gabriela Fundora (14-0, 6 KOs) on Saturday Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. DAZN will stream the clash for the undisputed flyweight championship.

Argentina’s Alaniz clashed twice against former WBA, WBC champ Marlen Esparza with their first encounter ending in a dubious win for the Texas fighter. In fact, three of Esparza’s last title fights were scored controversially.

But against Alaniz, though they fought on equal terms, Esparza was given a 99-91 score by one of the judges though the world saw a much closer contest. So, they fought again, but the rematch took place in California. Two judges deemed Alaniz the winner and one Esparza for a split-decision win.

“I’m really happy to be here representing Argentina. We are ready to fight. Nothing about this fight has to do with Marlen. So, I hope she (Fundora) is ready. I am ready to prepare myself for the great fight of my life,” said Alaniz.

In the case of Fundora, the extremely tall American fighter at 5’9” in height defeated decent competition including Maria Santizo. She was awarded a match with IBF flyweight titlist Arely Mucino who opted for the tall youngster over the dangerous Kenia Enriquez of Mexico.

Bad choice for Mucino.

Fundora pummeled the champion incessantly for five rounds at the Inglewood Forum a year ago. Twice she battered her down and the fight was mercifully stopped. Fundora’s arm was raised as the new champion.

Since that win Fundora has defeated Christina Cruz and Chile’s Daniela Asenjo in defense of the IBF title. In an interesting side bit: Asenjo was ranked as a flyweight contender though she had not fought in that weight class for seven years.

Still, Fundora used her reach and power to easily handle the rugged fighter from Chile.

Immediately after the fight she clamored for a chance to become undisputed.

“It doesn’t get better than this, especially being in Las Vegas. This is the greatest opportunity that we can have,” said Fundora.

It should be exciting.

Fights to Watch

Sat. ESPN+ 2:50 p.m. Robson Conceicao (19-2-1) vs O’Shaquie Foster (22-3).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Floyd Schofield (17-0) vs Rene Tellez Giron (20-3); Gabriela Alaniz (15-1) vs Gabriela Fundora (14-0).

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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