Three Punch Combo: Wilder-Fury, Barrera-Hamed, Cabrera-Macias and More

Published

5 years ago

August 27, 2018

After Deontay Wilder stopped Luis Ortiz in round ten this past March, I wrote a story comparing Wilder to Naseem Hamed. The unorthodox manner in which Wilder fights where he makes so many obvious errors inside the ring but yet makes that style effective in part because of his one punch power reminded me of the way Hamed fought during his heyday. Now, Wilder will soon be facing an even bigger test than Ortiz in that of Tyson Fury. In continuing with the Hamed comparison, I am wondering if Fury can do to Wilder what Marco Antonio Barrera did to Hamed.

When Hamed fought Barrera in 2001, Hamed had just as many critics as Wilder does today. Experts were convinced that at some point Hamed would pay for all the mistakes he made in the ring. He did so many things fundamentally wrong like lunging forward with his hands down with his chin exposed or pulling straight back with his chin high in the air. Most who followed boxing figured eventually he’d run into someone skilled enough to expose those mistakes.

However, that opponent was not thought to be Barrera. Remember, Barrera had been beaten twice by Junior Jones a few years earlier and since then, with the exception of Erik Morales, had not fought a high level of opposition. As a matter of fact, a few months prior to facing Hamed, Barrera struggled mightily against an obscure opponent named Jose Luis Valbuena. Many people who watched that fight thought Barrera was fortunate to get the decision. Ironically, that poor performance helped Barrera land the fight with Hamed.

As we know, the rest is history. Barrera took the fight to Hamed from the opening bell and for the most part dominated the action. It took an elite level fighter to do so, but ultimately the many flaws of Hamed were exposed.

So this brings me to Fury-Wilder. Obviously, Fury and Barrera are stylistically two entirely different fighters. Fury relies on movement, ring skill and defensive prowess. He is not easy to hit clean. Often times, he frustrates his opponents into making mistakes and then quickly counters before either tying up or retreating out of harm’s way.

Fury gets this opportunity with Wilder in part because Wilder’s team feels Fury is vulnerable. And why wouldn’t they? After his signature win over Wladimir Klitschko, Fury was out of the ring for over two years and dealt with a myriad of issues. In his two comeback fights since the layoff, Fury has shown some of the old skills that made him champion but it is hard to decipher what he has left in the tank due to the level of opposition he faced.

However, based on his past, Fury does have the skill to expose Wilder who makes a ton of mistakes and can get easily frustrated. Remember him swinging wildly and missing often against Gerald Washington all the while being out-boxed for four rounds? Of course, Wilder rescued that fight with his power, knocking Washington out in round five. But Fury does have the defensive ability to make Wilder miss all night.

It is going to take a very skilled upper level fighter to defeat Deontay Wilder just as it once did to defeat Naseem Hamed. Wilder’s unorthodox style and his power make him a difficult matchup for most heavyweights. But at some point Wilder will be exposed much like Hamed was at the highest level and for my money I think that will happen when he steps in the ring with Tyson Fury.

Another USA Tuesday Night Fights Memory

In my last column, I alluded to this month being the 20 year anniversary of the end of the long run of the popular USA Tuesday Night Fights series. Reminiscing about the series that provided so many great memories for fight fans, I looked back on the 1997 welterweight slugfest between Derrell Coley and Kip Diggs. A few months after that memorable fight, another unforgettable slugfest took place, this time at the Blue Horizon in Philadelphia between heavyweights Courage Tshabalala (20-1, 17 KO’s) and Darroll Wilson (18-1-2, 12 KO’s).

On paper, this fight had the potential for fireworks. Both fighters liked to mix it up and both had shown a questionable set of whiskers. Tshabalala was considered a top heavyweight prospect but was entering the ring coming off a recent stunning knockout loss to journeyman Brian Scott. Wilson was best known for his shocking upset win against Shannon Briggs but was coming in off a recent early knockout loss to David Tua. Both Tshabalala and Wilson had a lot on the line in what was a classic Tuesday Night Fights crossroads tilt.

Thirty seconds into the fight, Tshabalala dropped Wilson with a stiff left jab. Tshabalala would dominate Wilson for the remainder of the round with power shots. Near the end of the stanza, he rocked Wilson with a left hook to the jaw.

The next two rounds were also controlled by Tshabalala. His power shots were seemingly taking a toll on Wilson who was fighting primarily going backwards. Near the end of the third, a thunderous overhand right put Wilson on the canvas. Wilson tried to get up but fell backward. With referee Rudy Battle beginning to waive the fight off, Wilson got to his feet and Battle signalled the timekeeper to ring the bell to end the round.

Lou Duva, one of Tshabalala’s cornermen, tore into Battle between rounds, screaming that Battle had signified initially that the fight had ended. But the fight would continue despite Duva’s pleas.

Wilson was still on shaky legs when round four began as Tshabalala came out looking to end the fight. Though Tshabalala landed some good shots, Wilson seemed to be regaining his legs as seconds ticked by and then started landing some big counters of his own. A slugfest was now underway with both launching big shots at one another. With the crowd in a frenzy, Wilson turned the tide, landing sharper harder punches and now hurting Tshabalala. With under a minute to go in the round, a fusillade of clean power shots from Wilson put Tshabalala on the canvas. Tshabalala wasn’t able to beat the count, giving Wilson an improbable come-from-behind win in a forgotten Tuesday Night Fights classic.

Under The Radar Fight

The Golden Boy on Facebook series continues next Saturday with a card headlined by rising 130-pound star prospect Ryan Garcia (15-0, 13 KO’s) taking a step up in class facing Carlos Morales (17-2-3. 6 KO’s). While the development of Garcia piques my interest, it is the co-feature between undefeated 154-pound prospects Marvin Cabrera (8-0, 6 KO’s) and Neeco Macias (16-0, 9 KO’s) that I think steals the show.

Cabrera and Macias are both southpaws but by no means would either be considered a “cutie.” Instead, both are very aggressive. Given their respective styles, we should see plenty of action.

Cabrera is the more polished fighter of the two. He is also the bigger puncher. He will press forward behind the right jab and look to get in range to work combinations to the head and body of Macias. Cabrera is a very good body puncher but does leave his chin exposed when he throws downstairs.

Macias is a volume puncher who is going to look to outwork Cabrera. Macias will throw a lot of punches per round and from all sorts of angles. However, by doing so, he often leaves many openings for his opposition to counter.

In Cabrera and Macias, we have two aggressive offensive-minded fighters who on paper are evenly matched. They each also have some major defensive holes in their respective games. I expect we see an all-out brawl in what should be a very entertaining fight.

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Matt Andrzejewski

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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

Published

3 days ago

March 19, 2023

David A. Avila

Mercito-Gesta-Victorious-Over-Jojo-Diaz-at-the-Long-Beach-Pyramid

LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.

Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.

Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.

The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.

In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.

Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.

Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.

From the seventh until the 10^th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.

“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”

Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.

Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”

Other Bouts

Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.

A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.

The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.

San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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Jojo Diaz’s Slump Continues; Mercito Gesta Prevails on a Split Decision

Published

4 days ago

March 18, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Jojo-Diaz's-Slump-Continues-Mercito-Gestra-Prevails-on-a-Split-Decision

At age 30, Jojo Diaz’s career is on the skids. The 2012 U.S. Olympian, a former world title holder at 126 and 130 pounds and an interim title holder at 135, Diaz suffered his third straight loss tonight, upset by Mercito Gesta who won a split decision at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.. The scoring was strange with Gesta winning nine of the 10 rounds on one of the cards and only three rounds on another. The tie-breaker, as it were, was a 98-92 tally for Gesta and even that didn’t capture the flavor of what was a closely-contested fight.

Originally listed as a 12-rounder, the match was reduced to 10 and that, it turned out, did Diaz no favors. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for the former Olympian as he came in overweight once again, having lost his 130-pound title on the scales in February of 2021.

Diaz also has issues outside the ropes. Best elucidated by prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, they include a cluster of legal problems stemming from an arrest for drunk driving on Feb. 27 in the LA suburb of Claremont.

With the defeat, Diaz’s ledger declined to 32-4-1. His prior losses came at the hands of Gary Russell Jr, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda, boxers who are collectively 83-2. Mercito Gesta, a 35-year-old San Diego-based Filipino, improved to 34-3-3.

Co-Feature

Chihuahua, Mexico super lightweight Oscar Duarte has now won nine straight inside the distance after stopping 33-year-old Chicago southpaw Alex Martin in the eighth frame. Duarte, the busier fighter, had Martin on the deck twice in round eight before the fight was waived off.

Duarte improved to 25-1-1 (20). Martin, who reportedly won six national titles as an amateur and was once looked upon as a promising prospect, declined to 18-5.

Other Bouts of Note

New Golden Boy signee Eric Tudor, a 21-year-old super welterweight from Fort Lauderdale, overcame a bad laceration over his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads in round four, to stay unbeaten, advancing to 8-0 (6) with a hard-fought unanimous 8-round decision over Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain. The judges had it 80-72 and 78-74 twice. It was the first pro loss for Cato-Cain (7-1-1) who had his first five fights in Tijuana.

In the DAZN opener, lanky Hawaian lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu went the distance for the first time in his young career, improving to 4-0 (3) with a unanimous decision over 36-year-old Colombian trial horse Jonathan Perez (40-35). The scores were 60-52 across the board. There were no knockdowns, but Perez, who gave up almost six inches in height, had a point deducted for a rabbit punch and another point for deducted for holding.

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‘Big Baby’ Wins the Battle of Behemoths; TKOs ‘Big Daddy’ in 6

Published

4 days ago

March 18, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Big-Baby-Wins-the-Battle-of-Behemoths-TKOs-Big-Daddy-in-6

Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne weighed in at a career-high 277 pounds for today’s battle in Dubai with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he was the lighter man by 56 pounds. It figured that one or both would gas out if the bout lasted more than a few stanzas.

It was a war of attrition with both men looking exhausted at times, and when the end came it was Miller, at age 34 the younger man by nine years, who had his hand raised.

Browne was the busier man, but Miller, whose physique invites comparison with a rhinoceros, hardly blinked as he was tattooed with an assortment of punches. He hurt ‘Bid Daddy’ in round four, but the Aussie held his own in the next frame, perhaps even forging ahead on the cards, but only postponing the inevitable.

In round six, a succession of right hands knocked Browne on the seat of his pants. He beat the count, but another barrage from Miller impelled the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:33. It was the 21^st straight win for Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). Browne declined to 31-4 and, for his own sake, ought not fight again. All four of his losses have come inside the distance, some brutally.

The consensus of those that caught the livestream was that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s commentary was an annoying distraction that marred what was otherwise an entertaining show.

As for what’s next for “Big Baby” Miller, that’s hard to decipher as he has burned his bridges with the sport’s most powerful promoters. One possibility is Mahmoud Charr who, like Miller, has a big gap in his boxing timeline. Now 38 years old, Charr – who has a tenuous claim on a WBA world title (don’t we all?) — has reportedly taken up residence in Dubai.

Other Bouts of Note

In a 10-round cruiserweight affair, Suslan Asbarov, a 30-year-old Russian, advanced to 4-0 (1) with a hard-fought majority decision over Brandon Glanton. The judges had it 98-92, 97-93, and a more reasonable 95-95.

Asbarov was 12-9 in documented amateur fights and 1-0 in a sanctioned bare-knuckle fight, all in Moscow, entering this match. He bears watching, however, as Glanton (18-2) would be a tough out for almost anyone in his weight class. In his previous fight, at Plant City, Florida, Glanton lost a controversial decision to David Light, an undefeated Australian who challenges WBO world title-holder Lawrence Okolie at Manchester, England next week.

A 10-round super featherweight match between former world title challengers Jono Carroll and Miguel Marriaga preceded the semi-windup. Carroll, a 30-year-old Dublin southpaw, overcame a cut over his left eye suffered in the second round to win a wide unanimous decision in a fairly entertaining fight.

It was the sixth straight win for Carroll (24-2-1, 7 KOs) who elevated his game after serving as a sparring partner for Devin Haney. Marriaga, a 36-year-old Colombian, lost for the fourth time in his last five outings, declining to 30-7.

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