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Caleb Plant Takes Title from Jose Uzcategui in LA
LOS ANGELES-No more doubt about Caleb Plant who floored Jose Uzcategui twice early in the super middleweight world title fight, then hung on to win by unanimous decision with some clever moves and a lot of heart on Sunday evening.
Plant is the new IBF super middleweight world titlist.
After 12 tense and hard fought rounds Plant (18-0, 10 KOs) took some blows and took the IBF super middleweight title from Mexico’s Uzcategui (28-3, 23 KOs) at the Microsoft Theater. A crowd numbering more than 5,000 fans saw a good one.
It was the super quick Plant that jumped out to a big lead with some nifty counter punching early in the fight. In the second and fourth round Plant connected with some left hooks that sent Uzcategui to the floor each time. Though knocked down, the belt holder was never hurt except on the score cards as time would reveal.
“I knew I caught him clean during those knockdowns, but I knew he wasn’t all the way out so I took my time,” said Plant. “I stayed relaxed, I stuck to the game plan, and I got it done just the way I said I would.”
For the first half of the fight Plant was able to use his clever footwork and sharp counter-punching skills to keep Uzcategui off balance. But that was in the first half of the fight. The second half told a different story.
Uzcategui was very patient stalking Plant and seemed to figure out the Tennessee fighter’s strategy and technique. By the seventh round he began pounding away at the body and head with increased pressure. Some big shots were landed but Plant’s chin stood the test especially in the seventh round. Plant shook but did not fall.
Uzcategui tried to position Plant into his powerful punching range but whenever it was attempted, the challenger would grab and hold until it was safe to get out of range. It was a tactic he used for most of the second half of the fight.
Plant was bloodied early in the fight by a blow and it left some blood on his face, but he still proved very durable whenever Uzcategui connected.
The ninth and 10th rounds proved very effective for Uzcategui but he could never find Plant where he wanted him. Instead the clever Plant kept the fight at his distance and avoided the big blows.
It was a battle of tempo and Plant seemed to have it his way. Uzcategui was determined but not enough to corral the challenger into a position where he could land a big combination. It was evident that one blow would not be enough to severely hurt Plant.
“He started to tire around the sixth round, which was the plan,” said Uzcategui. “Caleb knew how to clench and hold. He was smart.”
The final two rounds saw Uzcategui try and deliver the knockout blow but never came close. All three judges scored the fight in favor of Plant 116-110 twice and 115-111.
“This is overwhelming. I am a kid who came from nothing. I believed in myself and now I’ve been crowned king,” said Plant.
Other Bouts
Rugged Texas super bantamweight Brandon Figueroa (18-0, 13 KOs) beat up Mexico’s Moises Flores (25-2, 17 KOs) for three rounds while switching from southpaw to orthodox in a fight that took place mostly on the inside. Figueroa floored Flores with a left cross in the third round but the Mexican fighter beat the count. When the fight resumed Figueroa blasted Flores with a three-punch combination for the knockout at 1:35 of the third round and was counted out by referee Jack Reiss.
Figueroa said he feels ready for a world title shot. Flores had only one loss and that was to current WBA super bantamweight titlist Danny Roman of Los Angeles.
“I knew he wasn’t going to be able to handle those body shots,” said Figueroa. “My message to Danny Roman is I’m going to go home and prepare.”
Ahmed Elbiali (18-1, 15 KOs) walked through former contender pf a decade ago Allan Green (33-6, 22 KOs) with little trouble. Elbiali knocked down Green in every round until a series of blows dropped Green for a third and final time at 1:16 of the third round of a light heavyweight fight.
Former world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (18-1, 12 KOs) returned to the boxing ring after a more than one year layoff and knocked out Giovanni Delgado (16-9, 9 KOs) at 3:00 of the first round. A long left cross ended the night for Delgado who was counted out by referee Jack Reiss in the super bantamweight clash.
“This is my division. This is my time,” said Rigondeaux whose last fight was at super featherweight against champion Vasyl Lomachenko in 2017. “Whoever has a belt I am taking it.”
Former Mexican Olympian Lindolfo Delgado (8-0, 8 KOs) looked sharp and dropped Sergio Lopez (22-13-1, 15 KOs) with a left hook to the body in the third round for the knockout win at super lightweight. Delgado works with trainer Robert Garcia. The end came at 2:48 of round three as referee Tom Taylor counted out Lopez.
“I’ve been practicing so long with Robert Garcia in the gym,” said Delgado who trains in Riverside, Calif but is originally from Linares, Mexico. “I am in this for the long haul.”
Philippine fighter Michael Plania (18-1, 10 KOs) won by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Dallas fighter Juan A. Lopez (12-5, 4 KOs) in a super bantamweight fight. Plania showcased flashy but ineffective combinations and tired in the last three rounds. Lopez was able to pin down Plania in the last three rounds but it was not enough to offset the slow start. The scores were 79-73, 77-75, 78-74 for Plania who knocked down Lopez in the first round but it was ruled a low blow.
Michigan’s Joey Spencer (6-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Brandon Harder (2-2) at 1:27 of the second round. Spencer floored Harder in the first round with a body shot. In the second round Spencer knocked down Harder with a one-two combination then finished him with a left hook for the knockout in the super welterweight match.
Photo credit: Luis Mejia / TGB Promotions
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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.
The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.
Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.
The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.
An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.
Moses Itauma
Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.
His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.
Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.
Bohachuk-Davis
In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.
Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.
Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.
Fisher-Allen
In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.
Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.
In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.
He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Other Bouts of Note
In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.
A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.
In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.
McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.
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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.
The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.
Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.
The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.
That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.
The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)
Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)
Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.
Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).
Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.
The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.
Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.
Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.
We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”
The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.
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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.
Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.
Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.
Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.
There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.
It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.
Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.
At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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