With One Devastating Punch, Sam Maxwell Became an Overnight Sensation

Published

4 years ago

March 26, 2019

Speaking to reporters after his most recent show, veteran British promoter Frank Warren dusted off a saying most often attributed to former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and ABC Monday Night Football color commentator Don Meredith. “It’s not over until the fat lady sings,” said Warren.

The promoter was reacting to Sam Maxwell’s stunning knockout of Sabri Sediri on Saturday night in Leicester. The video of it went viral, attracting more than two million views within the first 24 hours.

By now you have probably seen it too, but to refresh your memory, Maxwell’s opponent, Sabri Sediri, a Frenchman, was comfortably ahead when he started showboating with about 30 seconds to go in the final round of this 10-round bout in the 140-pound weight class. Moments before Maxwell clipped him, Sediri had his hands at his side and was wiggling his behind in a little dance with a sly smile on his face.

Sediri had knocked Maxwell to the canvas in each of the first two rounds. Maxwell was wobbled earlier in the 10^th and his bruised face gave evidence that he had been taking the worst of it. But he responded to Sediri’s indignity with a one-two, a straight left followed by a devastating right that landed just under Sediri’s ear, and the Frenchman went down in a heap. Sediri somehow made it to his feet but his legs were spaghetti and the referee properly waved the fight off. Had the fight lasted just a few more seconds, Sediri would have made it to the final bell and had his hand raised in triumph.

Each year in late December, TSS and other publications bestow awards in such categories as Knockout of the Year and Round of the Year. With the final punch that Maxwell threw, Maxwell-Sediri became the early favorite to cop both of these honors. As for Fight of the Year, well, tradition dictates that this goes to a fight of greater import. Maxwell-Sediri was on the undercard of show headlined by rising heavyweight contender Nathan Gorman who engaged trial horse Kevin Johnson in a predictably lackluster affair. Frank Warren’s show in Leicester went head-to-head on TV with a more compelling show promoted by his arch-rival Eddie Hearn in London.

Sam Maxwell was born in the ethnically diverse London borough of Hackney. At age eight his family moved to a town on the outskirts of Liverpool. He currently spends much of his time in Glasgow where his trainer Danny Vaughan took over the management of a new state-of-the-art gym.

As an amateur, Maxwell defeated Albert Selimov, the only man to defeat Vasyl Lomachenko as an amateur, and competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he lost a close decision to Josh Taylor. Many rate Taylor the best 140-pound boxer in the world, albeit fans of Regis Prograis would vehemently disagree.

Maxwell also represented Great Britain in the World Series of Boxing where he twice met Lomachenko in 5-round bouts, the first in Kiev and the second in London. He lost both, but was competitive in their second meeting.

Maxwell’s observations of Lomachenko parrot what has been written about Loma by an awestruck press corps, but are interesting in that they come from a man that has actually been in the ring with him. “He’s just an unbelievable talent,” says Maxwell of the brilliant Ukrainian. “His feints, his angles, his intelligence; he’s always a few steps ahead of you, knows your movements before you do. He just destroys opponents mentally.”

That being said, Maxwell notes that his second meeting with Lomachenko, in which he wasn’t overwhelmed, was a pivotal moment for him, alleviating his qualms about whether he had a future at the next level.

Maxwell, now 30 years old, made his pro debut in October of 2017 at Liverpool, opposing the infamous Ibrar Riyaz who at last glance had won only six of his 162 pro fights. Fighters of Riyaz’s stripe undoubtedly list their occupation as boxer but they have more in common with pantomime artists. In his last fight before facing Sabri Sediri, Maxwell again faced a professional loser, Jamie Quinn (4-74-2 going in). While Quinn’s probability of winning was approximately the same as the sun rising in the west, it’s notable that Maxwell dismissed him in the opening round, caving him in with a couple of body punches. This was out of character for Quinn who had been stopped only once previously.

Maxwell was scheduled to fight Spain’s Kelvin Dotel on Feb. 23, but that fight fell out when the entire card was scrapped. That opened the door to Sediri who was undefeated (10-0-1) and at a similar stage of development. This would be Sam Maxwell’s first televised fight.

When Maxwell (now 11-0, 9 KOs) clocked the Frenchman, it wasn’t the actual punch that elicited so much glee, but rather what it symbolized. “Sudden Sam” marched the entire universe of showboating athletes off to the woodshed for a good spanking, including those American football players whose self-serving end zone celebrations ruffle the feathers of so many long-time fans.

Before the fight, there was talk that Maxwell, if victorious, would go on to fight countryman Ohara Davies. The fight that he covets, however, is a third encounter with Lomachenko, a fight that could set him up financially for life. True, he would have scant chance of winning, but stranger things have happened, just ask poor Sabri Sediri.

Should that fight ever transpire, Maxwell, who took up boxing at age 12, could claim that he had paid his dues, but in reality it would have been a showboating Frenchman that propelled him there, a boxer who failed to heed the admonition “protect yourself at all times” and learned a hard lesson.

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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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