A Bevy of Tarnished Heavyweights Vie to Become the Next Bermane Stiverne

Published

4 years ago

February 26, 2019

In the murky shadows of heavyweight boxing, several fighters with recognizable names are jockeying to become the next Bermane Stiverne, by which we mean the next pawn in the career of a well-connected up-and-comer, someone such as Filip Hrgovic who recently linked up with powerful promoter Eddie Hearn. Hrgovic and other talented fighters at his stage of development are in search of opponents, more specifically sacrificial lambs, the most alluring of whom are those with recognizable names. And the chosen few get a nice paycheck to assuage their hurt and keep their creditors at bay.

Leading candidates to be the next pawn include former titlist Charles Martin and two-time world title challenger Chris Arreola (pictured), who will both be in action on the Spence-Garcia pay-per-view card. Martin (25-2-1) opposes Gregory Corbin (15-0) and Arreola (37-5-1) meets Jean Pierre Augustin (17-0-1). And then there’s Samuel Peter who appeared on a show this past weekend in Tijuana, thereby sending a message that if the money is right he would welcome an opportunity to go overseas and serve as a building block for someone like Hrgovic, a role for which Sam Peter is well-practiced.

Arreola

Chris Arreola, who turns 38 in a few days, is a three-time world title challenger, succumbing inside the distance to Vitali Klitschko, Bermane Stiverne, and Deontay Wilder. His best win was a first round stoppage of Eric Molina, but that was long ago. In his most recent bout against a noted opponent, he out-pointed Travis Kaufman by split decision, a verdict that was changed to “ND” when his post-fight urine exam showed traces of marijuana.

This was the second time that Arreola was exposed as a consumer of the “evil weed.” Back in 2011, his victory over Friday Ahunanya, a wide 10-round decision, was also voided. Take away those two no-decisions and Arreola’s ledger improves to 39-5-1.

Arreola’s opponent on March 16, Jean Pierre Augustin, is a 31-year-old Haitian currently residing in Louisville. A part-time actor with a few movie credits to his name, Augustin’s last fight was in the Mexican/Arizona border town of Agua Prieta where he defeated a no-name fighter who reportedly carried 334 ½ pounds on a six-foot-two frame.

Arreola says that he will retire if he loses this fight. In an interview with a writer from East Side Boxing, Chris acknowledged that he felt soreness in the mornings after a session in the gym, soreness that he did not feel in his younger days. We have no clue what Augustin will bring to the table, but Arreola will be favored and if he wins, as expected, a substantially richer payday likely awaits him around the next corner.

Arreola has a lot of mileage on his odometer, however, and is a strong candidate for pugilistic dementia if he keeps fighting.

Martin

Charles Martin won the vacant IBF title in January of 2016 with a third round stoppage of Vyacheslav Glazkov and gave it up in his first defense when he was demolished by Anthony Joshua who stopped him in the second round. His tenure as a heavyweight title-holder lasted 85 days, the shortest on record.

Martin’s win over Glazkov was tainted. Glazkov slipped as his feet got tangled with Martin’s and he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee as he fell to the canvas. To that point, the fight was shaping up as a dreary affair.

In his last start, Martin and undefeated Adam Kownacki engaged in an entertaining slugfest. Martin came out on the short end of a close decision, but regained some of his lost stature.

Gregory Corbin, his next opponent, is 38 years old. We have never seen Corbin fight but we suspect he will be competitive. Before he went off to prison for seven-and-a-half years on a cocaine trafficking conviction, Corbin was a national Golden Gloves champion.

Partly because his tenure as a title-holder was so short, Charles Martin is widely considered the worst heavyweight champion of the four-belt era. Bermane Stiverne also warrants consideration for that dubious honor and perhaps also Oliver McCall.

We mention McCall, now 53 years old, only because, sad but true, he’s still active. The erstwhile Atomic Bull has a fight scheduled on the last Saturday of March against a tub of lard named Ronald Baca in Robstown, Texas.

Samuel Peter

Peter brought a record of 36-6 (29 KOs) into his match this past Friday with Gerardo Escobar at Cheer’s Bar in Tijuana. We don’t know the result of that fight — it’s not up on BoxRec and a google search came up empty — but we’ll take it on faith that Peter prevailed and likely without working up much of a sweat. In documented fights, Escobar was 2-21 and had been stopped 15 times.

Peter had previously used Tijuana as a steppingstone. In October of 2016, he defeated a boxer from Mexicali named Juan Carlos Salas in this hardscrabble city. Salas, who was mired in a 7-fight losing streak, quit after three rounds. That triumph propelled Samuel Peter into a match with Kubrat Pulev in Bulgaria where it was he who quit on his stool after three rounds. He was undoubtedly well compensated.

There was a day when Peter was being touted as the next big thing in the heavyweight division. His vicious one-punch knockout of Jeremy Williams stamped him as the division’s hardest hitter since Mike Tyson. There was a lot of smart money on the Nigerian Nightmare when he opposed Wladimir Klitschko in 2005 in Atlantic City in Peter’s first stab at a heavyweight title. He knocked Klitschko down three times but lost most of the rounds and lost by three points on all three scorecards.

Six fights later, Peter won the WBC title with a sixth round stoppage of Oleg Maskaev, but he lost the belt in his first defense, falling to Vitali Klitschko. This was Vitali’s first start after sitting out almost four years while rehabbing an assortment of injuries, but Peter was the one that looked rusty. He retired on his stool after eight lopsided rounds.

Peter went on to secure a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko. In 2010, Wladimir stopped him in the 10^th round at Frankfurt. Peter then became an opponent for rising contenders like Finland’s 14-0 Robert Helenius, who stopped him in nine frames, and the aforementioned Pulev. He came in at 271 pounds for Pulev, 20 pounds less than in a 2014 bout with a no-name opponent in Oklahoma City, but 28 pounds more than he carried in his first meeting with Wladimir Klitschko when he was at his peak.

Samuel Peter has seemingly been around forever, but he’s “only” 38 years old, younger than Luis Ortiz or Alexander Povetkin, or several others in his pod, soiled fighters with marketable names chasing one last stab at fistic glory or at least one more big paycheck to cushion their transition into the next phase of their lives.

We’re quite certain we haven’t seen the last of Samuel Peter. He just may be the next Bermane Stiverne.

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Arne K. Lang

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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

Published

3 days ago

March 19, 2023

David A. Avila

Mercito-Gesta-Victorious-Over-Jojo-Diaz-at-the-Long-Beach-Pyramid

LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.

Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.

Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.

The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.

In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.

Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.

Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.

From the seventh until the 10^th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.

“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”

Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.

Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”

Other Bouts

Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.

A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.

The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.

San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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Jojo Diaz’s Slump Continues; Mercito Gesta Prevails on a Split Decision

Published

4 days ago

March 18, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Jojo-Diaz's-Slump-Continues-Mercito-Gestra-Prevails-on-a-Split-Decision

At age 30, Jojo Diaz’s career is on the skids. The 2012 U.S. Olympian, a former world title holder at 126 and 130 pounds and an interim title holder at 135, Diaz suffered his third straight loss tonight, upset by Mercito Gesta who won a split decision at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.. The scoring was strange with Gesta winning nine of the 10 rounds on one of the cards and only three rounds on another. The tie-breaker, as it were, was a 98-92 tally for Gesta and even that didn’t capture the flavor of what was a closely-contested fight.

Originally listed as a 12-rounder, the match was reduced to 10 and that, it turned out, did Diaz no favors. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for the former Olympian as he came in overweight once again, having lost his 130-pound title on the scales in February of 2021.

Diaz also has issues outside the ropes. Best elucidated by prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, they include a cluster of legal problems stemming from an arrest for drunk driving on Feb. 27 in the LA suburb of Claremont.

With the defeat, Diaz’s ledger declined to 32-4-1. His prior losses came at the hands of Gary Russell Jr, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda, boxers who are collectively 83-2. Mercito Gesta, a 35-year-old San Diego-based Filipino, improved to 34-3-3.

Co-Feature

Chihuahua, Mexico super lightweight Oscar Duarte has now won nine straight inside the distance after stopping 33-year-old Chicago southpaw Alex Martin in the eighth frame. Duarte, the busier fighter, had Martin on the deck twice in round eight before the fight was waived off.

Duarte improved to 25-1-1 (20). Martin, who reportedly won six national titles as an amateur and was once looked upon as a promising prospect, declined to 18-5.

Other Bouts of Note

New Golden Boy signee Eric Tudor, a 21-year-old super welterweight from Fort Lauderdale, overcame a bad laceration over his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads in round four, to stay unbeaten, advancing to 8-0 (6) with a hard-fought unanimous 8-round decision over Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain. The judges had it 80-72 and 78-74 twice. It was the first pro loss for Cato-Cain (7-1-1) who had his first five fights in Tijuana.

In the DAZN opener, lanky Hawaian lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu went the distance for the first time in his young career, improving to 4-0 (3) with a unanimous decision over 36-year-old Colombian trial horse Jonathan Perez (40-35). The scores were 60-52 across the board. There were no knockdowns, but Perez, who gave up almost six inches in height, had a point deducted for a rabbit punch and another point for deducted for holding.

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‘Big Baby’ Wins the Battle of Behemoths; TKOs ‘Big Daddy’ in 6

Published

4 days ago

March 18, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Big-Baby-Wins-the-Battle-of-Behemoths-TKOs-Big-Daddy-in-6

Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne weighed in at a career-high 277 pounds for today’s battle in Dubai with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he was the lighter man by 56 pounds. It figured that one or both would gas out if the bout lasted more than a few stanzas.

It was a war of attrition with both men looking exhausted at times, and when the end came it was Miller, at age 34 the younger man by nine years, who had his hand raised.

Browne was the busier man, but Miller, whose physique invites comparison with a rhinoceros, hardly blinked as he was tattooed with an assortment of punches. He hurt ‘Bid Daddy’ in round four, but the Aussie held his own in the next frame, perhaps even forging ahead on the cards, but only postponing the inevitable.

In round six, a succession of right hands knocked Browne on the seat of his pants. He beat the count, but another barrage from Miller impelled the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:33. It was the 21^st straight win for Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). Browne declined to 31-4 and, for his own sake, ought not fight again. All four of his losses have come inside the distance, some brutally.

The consensus of those that caught the livestream was that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s commentary was an annoying distraction that marred what was otherwise an entertaining show.

As for what’s next for “Big Baby” Miller, that’s hard to decipher as he has burned his bridges with the sport’s most powerful promoters. One possibility is Mahmoud Charr who, like Miller, has a big gap in his boxing timeline. Now 38 years old, Charr – who has a tenuous claim on a WBA world title (don’t we all?) — has reportedly taken up residence in Dubai.

Other Bouts of Note

In a 10-round cruiserweight affair, Suslan Asbarov, a 30-year-old Russian, advanced to 4-0 (1) with a hard-fought majority decision over Brandon Glanton. The judges had it 98-92, 97-93, and a more reasonable 95-95.

Asbarov was 12-9 in documented amateur fights and 1-0 in a sanctioned bare-knuckle fight, all in Moscow, entering this match. He bears watching, however, as Glanton (18-2) would be a tough out for almost anyone in his weight class. In his previous fight, at Plant City, Florida, Glanton lost a controversial decision to David Light, an undefeated Australian who challenges WBO world title-holder Lawrence Okolie at Manchester, England next week.

A 10-round super featherweight match between former world title challengers Jono Carroll and Miguel Marriaga preceded the semi-windup. Carroll, a 30-year-old Dublin southpaw, overcame a cut over his left eye suffered in the second round to win a wide unanimous decision in a fairly entertaining fight.

It was the sixth straight win for Carroll (24-2-1, 7 KOs) who elevated his game after serving as a sparring partner for Devin Haney. Marriaga, a 36-year-old Colombian, lost for the fourth time in his last five outings, declining to 30-7.

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