Three Punch Combo: Under the Radar Fights, Potential December Upsets and More

Published

6 years ago

November 26, 2018

THREE PUNCH COMBO — While events on Showtime Championship Boxing and Showtime Pay-Per-View will dominate headlines this coming week, there are other fight cards on the docket. Here is a look at some of the under the radar events taking place this week.

On Friday night, former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri (21-3, 8 KO’s) will return to the ring to face journeyman Angel Hernandez (14-11-2, 9 KO’s) at the Paramount Theater in Huntington, NY. This will mark the first fight for now 34-year-old Algieri (pictured) since April of 2016 when he was stopped in five rounds by Errol Spence Jr., but he shouldn’t have too many problems shaking off the rust. Hernandez is tough and has never been stopped but is very limited.

Algieri’s return is significant and needs to be monitored in that opponents are needed for the many big names in both the 140-pound and welterweight divisions. With a win on Friday, Algieri is right in the mix to get a big opportunity in 2019.

For those wanting to watch live boxing on Saturday night but not wanting to shell over the PPV dollars for Wilder-Fury, there will be a free show streamed live on Facebook via FIGHTNIGHT LIVE from San Antonio, TX. The main event of this Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions card features a pair of undefeated 140-pound fighters in Kendo Castaneda (14-0, 7 KO’s) and Gilbert Venegas Jr. (10-0, 6 KO’s).

There is not a lot of video available for these fighters but what I have been able to view suggests this should be a competitive, good action fight. Castaneda is considered more of the prospect and appears to stylistically be a classic boxer-puncher. He has decent hand speed and has scored some pretty spectacular knockouts although against very limited opposition. He scored his best win in August when he decisioned 14-2-1 Jesus Gutierrez.

Venegas actually appeared on a PBC on FS1 card a few years ago when he defeated then undefeated Deonte Wilson. In a four-round fight, Venegas used smart pressure to get the win. He out jabbed the taller Wilson and worked his way inside to throw combinations to the head and body outworking the more athletic Wilson.

Castaneda-Venegas is a solid fight that should be competitive and fan friendly. Kudos to FIGHTNIGHT LIVE for making this event available for free on Facebook.

Possible December Surprises

We are closing out the year in boxing with a loaded schedule in December. With so many events, there are bound to be at least a few surprising results. Here are a couple of upset possibilities.

As the chief support to the Canelo Alvarez-Rocky Fielding main event on DAZN December 15th, middleweight David Lemieux (40-4, 34 KO’s) returns fresh off his September first round knockout win against Gary O’ Sullivan to face Tureano Johnson (20-2, 14 KO’s). A win for Lemieux could mean a crack at Alvarez in 2019. However, Johnson could pose a real threat to Lemieux getting that big money fight.

I will make this very simple. Assuming Johnson is healthy – he’s had some injury issues in the past – this is not a good matchup for Lemieux.

Lemieux looks great against fighters who come at him. His knockout wins against Curtis Stevens and O’Sullivan are such examples. But fighters with foot speed who can box give Lemieux issues. Johnson has good speed and good boxing ability. He won’t come forward bringing the fight to Lemieux. Instead, he will rely on his legs and movement to out-box Lemieux from the outside. And Johnson has the tools to out-box Lemieux.

A week later, Josh Warrington (27-0, 6 KO’s) will make the first defense of his featherweight title when he faces former two division champion Carl Frampton (26-1, 15 KO’s). This bout will be broadcast on ESPN+ in the United States. Frampton is a solid favorite in the sports books, but I like Warrington’s chances.

In my opinion, Warrington’s style is going to give Frampton fits. Warrington, who will be constantly moving, is shifty and very adept at setting up angles to land clean effective punches. In addition, he has a high work rate and has shown he can keep up a high output of punches through the course of a long fight. And coming off his best win against Lee Selby in May, he appears to be peaking.

I have not liked what I have seen recently from Frampton. I think Warrington will out-hustle him.

Remembering Tszyu-Hurtado

HBO’s Boxing After Dark series routinely produced classics in its early years in the mid-to-late 90’s. As a matter of fact, there were so many great fights on the series that some classics have gone forgotten. One such forgotten classic took place twenty years ago on November 28^th, 1998 at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA, when Kostya Tszyu (21-1-1, 17 KO’s) met Diosbelys Hurtado (28-1, 19 KO’s) in a 140 pound contest.

Tszyu was originally slated to face Miguel Angel Gonzalez but Gonzalez pulled out about two weeks prior due to an injury. Those involved in the event wanted to keep Tszyu on the card. Scrambling to find a suitable replacement, they quickly located Hurtado who was just coming off a fight of his own.

Tszyu had won three straight since suffering a stunning loss to Vince Phillips in May of 1997. Hurtado had fought once previously on HBO, giving Pernell Whitaker a tough test before getting stopped in the 11^th round, and was riding an eight fight winning streak since suffering that defeat.

Tszyu came out aggressively and put Hurtado down with a vicious right hand followed by hard left hook less than one minute into the fight. Hurtado appeared badly hurt but as Tszyu charged in for the finish, Hurtado landed a counter right that floored Tszyu. Tszyu would get to his feet and come back firing but would get clipped with another counter right that planted him on the canvas for a second time. The two would then slug it out to close the round but Tszyu seemed to turn the tide having Hurtado a bit wobbly as the wild first round ended. However, as Tszyu walked back to his corner there was visible swelling around his right eye.

The next three rounds saw some blistering action. Tszyu continued to press forward landing hard shots both to the head and body, but Hurtado stood his ground and found Tszyu an easy target to counter. Hurtado couldn’t miss with the counter right in particular which caught Tszyu clean on several occasions.

Tszyu started the fifth round strong, seemingly making a more conscientious effort to work behind the jab. He hit Hurtado clean on several occasions with that powerful left jab, freezing Hurtado, which allowed him to then pound away to the head and body. Hurtado was clearly getting broken down as the round progressed and eventually would get dropped by a clean left hook to his liver. He got up but Tszyu landed another left hook, this time to his midsection, and that put Hurtado down for good.

HBO’s Boxing After Dark produced some memorable wars during its run. Tszyu-Hurtado hasn’t gotten the press of some others on the series, but was another classic.

Photo credit: Esther Lin / SHOWTIME

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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

Floyd-Schofield-Wins-a-Banger-and Gabriella-Fundora-Wins-by-KO

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

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

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

Avila-Perspective-Chap-303-Spotlights-on-Lightweights-and-More

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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