Three Punch Combo: Results and Previews of Under the Radar Fights and More

Published

6 years ago

December 3, 2018

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 3^rd, 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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Matt Andrzejewski

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

Published

2 days 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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