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Three Punch Combo: Results and Previews of Under the Radar Fights and More
THREE PUNCH COMBO – With the attention of the boxing world riveted on the big heavyweight title fight in Los Angeles, several fights last week went under the radar. At Huntington, Long Island, former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri (22-3, 8 KO’s) made a successful return to the ring after more than a two year layoff and won a lopsided ten round decision over Angel Hernandez (14-12-2, 9 KO’s). The win helps put Algieri (pictured on the left) back on the map in the junior welterweight division. He made it clear afterwards that he’d like to receive a title shot sometime in 2019 and he may get that opportunity. Maurice Hooker currently holds the WBO title that Algieri once held and may find Algieri – a name fighter who lacks punching power — an enticing opponent if Algieri finds himself cracking the rankings with another comeback victory.
In a battle of undefeated junior welterweights, Kendo Castaneda (15-0, 7 KO’s) scored an impressive ten round unanimous decision over Gilbert Venegas Jr. (10-1, 6 KO’s). The bout took place this past Saturday in San Antonio, TX, and was streamed live on Facebook via FIGHTNIGHT LIVE.
The first three rounds were nip and tuck. Castaneda was the busier fighter working combinations behind his left jab but Venegas had his moments on the inside landing some hard shots of his own.
In round four, Castaneda seized control. He stunned Venegas with a right and picked up the pace while the output of Venegas slowed considerably. The next six rounds played out pretty much the same with Castaneda dominating the action with his fluid movement and combination punching. He consistently beat Venegas to the punch during these rounds and countered effectively, displaying good hand speed if Venegas attempted to throw anything of his own.
This was an impressive performance by Castaneda who took a nice step forward in what is becoming a pretty deep 140-pound weight division.
Looking Ahead
This week’s boxing schedule is headlined by an ESPN card featuring the return of Vasyl Lomachenko as well as the final boxing card on HBO. With those cards grabbing most of the headlines, some other important and intriguing bouts are falling deep under the radar. Here is a look at a pair of contests that won’t receive as much coverage.
Golden Boy Promotions will be live streaming a card on Saturday night from the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA, on Facebook Watch. The event is headlined by an important fight in the 130- pound division between Rene Alvarado (29-8, 20 KO’s) and Carlos Morales (17-3-3, 6 KO’s). This contest is being billed as a WBA world title eliminator.
Simply put, Alvarado-Morales is a well matched fight. Alvarado is an action fighter who is not afraid to take a few punches just to create opportunities to land his own. He relies on constant pressure and a consistent body attack to wear down his opposition. He has won five straight since losing to Yuriorkis Gamboa in March of 2017. This includes wins against then undefeated Roger Gutierrez as well as former world title challenger Denis Shafikov in a bloody war. Alvarado seems to be getting better and better as his career moves forward.
Morales is a grinder who will press forward from the opening bell. He throws a high volume of punches and mixes up his attack by constantly changing angles. Given his consistent high motor and shifty style, he has sprung some upsets in recent years as well as given some top level talent harder than expected tests. In his last fight, Morales pushed highly rated prospect Ryan Garcia to the limit in dropping a ten round majority decision. Similar to Alvarado, Morales is getting better and better as his career progresses.
Given their respective styles, we should be in for treat. Expect the action to be crisp throughout the course of this bout. I think this will be the most entertaining fight of the upcoming week.
Also on Saturday, DAZN will broadcast a card headlined by the return of Kell Brook. On that card, top welterweight prospect Josh Kelly (8-0, 6 KO’s) faces his toughest test as a pro when he faces David Avanesyan (23-3-1, 11 KO’s).
Many are high on Kelly, a former amateur standout who competed in the 2016 Olympic Games. Kelly is well schooled given the deep amateur background and very fluid inside the ring. He possesses above average hand speed for the division and is an extremely effective combination puncher. And though he may not be a one punch knockout puncher, he has shown the ability to break down his opponent with his heavy hands.
Avanesyan, a boxer-puncher with solid skills and some slickness to his game, represents a step up in class. It took highly touted welterweight Egidijus Kavaliauskas some time to figure out the Avanesyan puzzle when they fought this past February. This is a good test for Kelly and an impressive showing could propel him into the mix in what is already a loaded welterweight division.
Remembering The Very First “Boxing After Dark” Fight
The final live televised HBO boxing event will be this Saturday night with women in two of the three featured bouts. This iconic series has produced many classics and memorable moments for boxing fans, but it didn’t get off to a rousing start on its maiden telecast from the Great Western Forum on February 3rd, 1996.
While many remember the main event between future Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera and Kennedy McKinney, many have forgotten the opening bout, a WBO 115-pound title fight between champion Johnny Tapia who entered with a record of 33-0-2 and challenger Giovanni Andrade of Brazil who was 17-2.
Tapia, of course, was known as an all-action fighter and seemed to be a great fit for this newly launched series. He was rarely in bad fights regardless of the opponent. Andrade was totally unknown and had no recognizable names on his resume. Frankly, this was meant to be a showcase for Tapia and his all-action style.
Tapia came out as the aggressor in round one and landed some solid combinations. Sensing little resistance from his opponent, Tapia let his hands go even more in round two, looking for an early knockout. About halfway through the round, Tapia landed a low left with not much behind it as the two were tangled up on the inside. Andrade went down in a heap and appeared to be in a lot of pain, but he quickly jumped back to his feet and the round commenced.
Moments later, a sharp right by Tapia to Andrade’s forehead put Andrade on the canvas. Andrade would beat the count and Tapia would be right back on top of him when the action resumed. Going for the finish, Tapia landed a borderline left to Andrade’s belt line. Andrade went down claiming a low blow and flailed his arms to signify he was in tremendous pain. However, referee Raul Caiz Sr. ruled it a knockdown and quickly waived the fight off with Andrade displaying so much apparent discomfort.
This was an awkward start for the new series. Not only was the fight a mismatch from the opening bell but it ended in a bizarre manner with many believing that Andrade gave it his best acting in an attempt to steal a win.
While it didn’t start out on the right foot, HBO’s Boxing After Dark would soon provide us with many memorable fights and hopefully we get a proper send-off on Saturday.
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Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing
Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.
As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.
This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.
A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”
Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.
Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.
Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)
Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.
When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.
Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.
Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).
For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.
“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.
As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.
As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”
Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.
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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce
Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.
Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.
The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.
In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.
It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.
For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.
Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.
It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.
“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”
Trinidad Wins Too
Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.
Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.
“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”
After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.
Other Bouts
Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.
Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.
Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.
More Winners
Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More
Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More
Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.
Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.
Hopefully the worst is over.
Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.
“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.
UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.
Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.
“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.
He knows talent.
Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.
Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.
Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.
Can Trinidad reach world title status?
Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.
It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.
Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.
Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.
Doors open at 4:30 p.m.
Boxing and the Media
The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.
Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.
Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.
Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.
MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.
Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.
Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.
It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.
Photos credit: Lina Baker
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