Three Punch Combo – An Under the Radar Fight Certain to Entertain and More

This is a busy week in the sweet science. There is the big rematch on Saturday night (more on that later). In addition, Top Rank has a very big card

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Published

7 years ago

September 10, 2018

Matt Andrzejewski

THREE PUNCH COMBO — This is a busy week in the sweet science. There is the big rematch on Saturday night (more on that later). In addition, Top Rank has a very big card of its own on ESPN on Friday night. I love all these events but there is another card on Thursday in Las Vegas that really piques my interest. And that is because I think the main event in the 140-pound division between Ruslan Madiev (12-0, 5 KO’s) and Pablo Cesar Cano (30-7-1, 21 KO’s) is going to be a scorcher.

Cano (pictured) is one of my favorite action fighters. He is a relentless pressure fighter who is more than willing to abandon all defense and eat leather just to create openings to land one or two power shots of his own. He is heavy handed with his best punch being the classic Mexican left hook to the body. Essentially, his strategy is to look to break down his opposition with constant pressure and body punching. Regardless of whether he is successful or not, his style always leads to entertaining scraps.

Madiev is also an aggressive fighter by nature and a volume puncher. Though he may not have the power of Cano, Madiev will be the much busier fighter. Similar to Cano, defense is not one of his strong suits. He lacks head movement and often stands in the pocket too long after hurling off combinations making him an inviting target to be countered.

Matchmaking is key to making fan-friendly fights and this is an example of excellent matchmaking. Madiev, with his volume, will be landing frequently on the defensively challenged Cano. But Madiev’s weaknesses of his own on defense will create opportunities for Cano to counter. I don’t see Madiev being able to hurt Cano either, or even get Cano’s respect to where he will slow down his aggressiveness. Essentially, this is going to be a high contact war for the duration of the fight and could, when all is said and done, be a sleeper candidate for fight of the year.

Subtle Factors To Keep In Mind For Canelo-Golovkin II

The much anticipated rematch for the middleweight championship between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KO’s) and Gennady Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KO’s) is finally here. There has already been plenty of talk and plenty written about this fight. Instead of focusing on the obvious, I want to dig in a little deeper and look at a few subtle factors that may factor into the outcome.

Golovkin turned pro in 2006 as a middleweight. For 12 years, he has fought in the same weight division. Granted, he is a fitness machine, but he is now 36 years old and making 160 can’t be as easy as it once was. And he has been doing it for such a long time that it has to be taking some kind of toll on his body. Again, he is a fitness freak but Father Time catches up on all of us and our bodies. There will come a day when making 160 becomes a very difficult endeavor that zaps quite a bit of energy from Golovkin. Could that be for the rematch with Alvarez? I don’t know, but it needs to at least be mentioned.

Canelo will be coming off nearly a one year layoff, the longest layoff of his career. As such, there is certain to be some ring rust. Remember in the first fight, Canelo was sharp early, landing some eye popping combinations. The first couple rounds seemed to play in favor of Canelo before Golovkin started to come on with his pressure. In a fight that could be close, if Canelo does not come out sharp and loses the early rounds this could play a telling tale on the scorecards.

Speaking of the scorecards, the three judges for the rematch — Dave Moretti, Glenn Feldman and Steve Weisfeld — are three of the best boxing judges in the world and I would go as far as saying if these three worked more bouts together that we would see far fewer controversies. Check out their work and with the exception of one or two anomalies they are generally on the button with their scores. I am 100 percent confident that if this fight goes to the scorecards that we will get the correct result.

But will it go to the cards? Golovkin and his trainer Abel Sanchez are sure trying their very best to get under the skin of Canelo, challenging his manhood and questioning his “Mexican” style. This is a ploy in my opinion to get Canelo to stand in front of Golovkin and exchange more than he did in their first fight.

Have Sanchez and Golovkin in fact gotten under the skin of Canelo? Have they goaded Canelo into standing still and trading more than he did in the first fight? If so, it is not only to Golovkin’s advantage but will more than likely take the fight out of the hands of the judges.

PBC, Matchroom Boxing and Top Rank – My Excitement and My Concerns

2018 in boxing will be known for landmark broadcasting deals. Just this week, PBC announced its own landmark deal with Fox on top of its previously announced deal with Showtime. Matchroom Boxing is launching DAZN this week in the United States which is an online streaming platform promising to deliver marquee fights. And Top Rank has recently announced a new expanded partnership with ESPN to bring even more live boxing to their various platforms.

Fans will have access to more live boxing than ever before in the history of the sport. For a diehard fan like myself, I can’t help but be very excited. Not only will live events in the United States increase but we will now have access to worldwide fights that previously could be only be found on illegal and choppy streams.

This is all good for boxing, right? Well it should be but problems can also arise with the way these deals are structured.

The first big potential problem is that fighters aligned with these entities may only fight on the platform on which their entity is aligned. We have seen this before with television deals in boxing and it can get ugly. Crossover fights involving different entities become nearly impossible to make. One side usually has an edge (meaning their fighter is favored to win) and the other side is leery to make a deal. Plus, working out which platform the fight occurs on gets complicated. The only exceptions tend to be when a sanctioning body orders a fight or a fight becomes so big that the parties are motivated to work out a joint deal.

The other problem is that with the abundance of fights there will be many times where big events run concurrently. When two big fights take place on the same date and at the same time, eyeballs get split and everybody ultimately loses — the fans because they can only watch one event live, the promoters because interest is split, and the sport because marquee fights can only be seen by half the audience.

I am very excited about the abundance of live boxing that is about to be available in the United States. But it won’t be all positive unless those involved can find a way to work with one another and history suggests this probably won’t happen.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

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Matt Andrzejewski

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

2 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside-at-the-Fontainebleau-where-Mikaela-Mayer-won-her-Rematch-with-Sandy-Ryan

LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

2 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More

Published

3 days ago

March 28, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-319-Rematches-in-Las-Vegas-Cancun-and-More

Rematches are the bedrock for prizefighting.

Return battles between rival boxers always means their first encounter was riveting and successful at the box office.

Six months after their first brutal battle Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) will slug it out again for the WBO welterweight world title this time on Saturday, March 29, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

ESPN will show the Top Rank card live.

“It’s important for women’s boxing to have these rivalries and this is definitely up there as one of the top ones,” Mayer told the BBC.

If you follow Mayer’s career you know that somehow drama follows. Whether its back-and-forth beefs with fellow American fighters or controversial judging due to nationalism in countries abroad. The Southern California native who now trains in Las Vegas knows how to create the drama.

For female fighters self-promotion is a necessity.

Most boxing promoters refuse to step out of the usual process set for male boxers, not for female boxers. Things remain the same and have been for the last 70 years. Social media has brought changes but that has made promoters do even less.

No longer are there press conferences, instead announcements are made on social media to be drowned among the billions of other posts. It is not killing but diluting interest in the sport.

Women innately present a different advantage that few if any promoters are recognizing. So far in the past 25 years I have only seen two or three promoters actually ignite interest in female fighters. They saw the advantages and properly boosted interest in the women.

The fight breakdown

Mayer has won world titles in the super featherweight and now the welterweight division. Those are two vastly different weight classes and prove her fighting abilities are based on skill not power or size.

Coaching Mayer since amateurs remains Al Mitchell and now Kofi Jantuah who replaced Kay Koroma the current trainer for Sandy Ryan.

That was the reason drama ignited during their first battle. Then came someone tossing paint at Ryan the day of their first fight.

More drama.

During their first fight both battled to control the initiative with Mayer out-punching the British fighter by a slender margin. It was a back-and-forth struggle with each absorbing blows and retaliating immediately.

New York City got its money’s worth.

Ryan had risen to the elite level rapidly since losing to Erica Farias three years ago. Though she was physically bigger and younger, she was out-maneuvered and defeated by the wily veteran from Argentina. In the rematch, however, Ryan made adjustments and won convincingly.

Can she make adjustments from her defeat to Mayer?

“I wanted the rematch straight away,” said Ryan on social media. “I’ve come to America again.”

Both fighters have size and reach. In their first clash it was evident that conditioning was not a concern as blows were fired nonstop in bunches. Mayer had the number of punches landed advantage and it unfolded with the judges giving her a majority decision win.

That was six months ago. Can she repeat the outcome?

Mayer has always had boiler-oven intensity. It’s not fake. Since her amateur days the slender Southern California blonde changes disposition all the way to red when lacing up the gloves. It’s something that can’t be taught.

Can she draw enough of that fire out again?

“I didn’t have to give her this rematch. I could have just sat it out, waited for Lauren Price to unify and fought for undisputed or faced someone else,” said Mayer to BBC. “That’s not the fighter I am though.”

Co-Main in Las Vegas

The co-main event pits Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) facing Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in a contest for the WBO welterweight title.

Norman, 24, was last seen a year ago dissecting a very good welterweight in Giovani Santillan for a knockout win in San Diego. He showed speed, skill and power in defeating Santillan in his hometown.

Cuevas has beaten some solid veteran talent but this will be his big test against Norman and his first attempt at winning a world title.

Also on the Top Rank card will be Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Emiliano Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, in separate bouts.

Golden Boy in Cancun

A rematch between undefeated William “Camaron” Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) and ex-champ Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) headlines the lightweight match on Saturday March 29, at Cancun, Mexico.

In their first encounter Zepeda was knocked down in the fourth round but rallied to win a split-decision over Farmer. It showed the flaws in Zepeda’s tornado style.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also includes a clash between Yokasta Valle the WBC minimumweight world titlist who is moving up to flyweight to face former flyweight champion Marlen Esparza.

Both Valle and Esparza have fast hands.

Valle is excellent darting in and out while Esparza has learned how to fight inside. It’s a toss-up fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 12 p.m. Cameron Vuong (7-0) vs Jordan Flynn (11-0-1); Pat Brown (0-0) vs Federico Grandone (7-4-2).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (32-0) vs Tevin Farmer (33-7-1); Yokasta Valle (32-3) vs Marlen Esparza (15-2).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Mikaela Mayer (20-2) vs Sandy Ryan (7-2-1); Brian Norman Jr. (26-0) vs Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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