Three Punch Combo: Scenarios for Daniel Jacobs and More

Published

6 years ago

May 13, 2019

THREE PUNCH COMBO — A lot of speculation this past week has been on the future of Canelo Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KO’s) following his big middleweight title unification win against Daniel Jacobs (35-3, 29 KO’s). But what about the future of Jacobs? First, it is clear that a move to 168 seems likely. With that said, here is a look at three possible options for Jacobs’ eventual return to the ring.

Rocky Fielding (27-2, 15 KO’s)

Fielding, who is also coming off a loss to Canelo, is probably the ideal foe for Jacobs to test the waters at 168. Not only does he have a name but he’s a tough gritty competitor with an aggressive style that is well suited for Jacobs plus he’s somewhat limited inside the ring and he doesn’t carry a big punch. Jacobs won’t have to search to find him and won’t have to fear Fielding’s power. Assuming Canelo does fight again in September, a fight between Jacobs and Fielding may be the ideal co-feature.

John Ryder (28-4, 16 KO’s)

Ryder won a 168-pound belt on the undercard of Canelo-Jacobs with an impressive third round TKO of the previously unbeaten Bilal Akkawy. That seemed to set up a fight between him and another 168-pound belt holder in Callum Smith. But what if Smith gets the call to face Canelo in September? Well a natural fall back option for Ryder would be a fight with Jacobs.

Assuming this scenario, Jacobs-Ryder would also be an ideal co-feature. Ryder is a southpaw but aggressive in nature and he would bring the fight to Jacobs. Much like Fielding, his style would be ideal for Jacobs. As an added plus, if Jacobs were to win he would immediately pick up a 168-pound belt and thus become a little more marketable as he seeks bigger opportunities down the road.

David Lemieux (40-4, 34 KO’s)

Lemieux’s career is clearly in flux at the moment and he needs a signature win now more than ever. He pulled out of his last two fights for various reasons and, like Jacobs, is seemingly headed north to 168 after a long career at middleweight. And as such, he may be willing to roll the dice with a high risk showdown with Jacobs.

As for Jacobs, if he wants a bigger name in his return then Lemieux is the most logical option. He’s a much riskier opponent then Fielding or Ryder, but Jacobs would still be favored and a win over Lemieux would vault him quickly up the rankings in the 168-pound division.

Under The Radar Fight

Saturday brings us another big day of boxing with the return of the World Boxing Super Series as well as the big heavyweight championship fight on Showtime between Deontay Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KO’s) and Dominic Breazeale (20-1, 18 KO’s). As part of that Showtime televised card, there is an intriguing 140-pound fight between Juan Heraldez (16-0, 10 KO’s) and Argenis Mendez (25-5-2, 12 KO’s) that has fallen almost entirely under the radar.

Heraldez, who turned pro in 2009, needs to make a move in his career. To say his career has moved along slowly would be an understatement. That stated, he has always shown promise and is coming off a career best win in February against Eddie Ramirez. In facing Mendez, Heraldez, 28, is taking another step up in competition.

Mendez, 32, has been a pro since 2006 and is a former 130-pound world champion. After losing consecutive fights in 2016 to Robert Easter Jr. and Luke Campbell, Mendez’s career seemed to be tilting downward. But he bounced back with two solid wins and is coming off a split draw in March with 140-pound contender Anthony Peterson. In that fight, Mendez seemed to seize control in the second half of the bout and hopes to keep that momentum going when he faces Heraldez.

Heraldez-Mendez is an evenly matched fight on paper featuring a nice contrast of styles. Heraldez will certainly be the aggressor and press the fight behind his jab looking to land power shots. Mendez is a boxer-puncher who looks to counter. And he will have plenty of opportunities to counter against the aggressive Heraldez. I expect we see an entertaining fight in what could be the most competitive fight of the entire weekend.

I Will Miss My Friend

Two years ago on the Saturday of Boxing Hall of Fame weekend in Canastota, NY, my wife and I headed to the nearby Dunkin’ Donuts. The festivities on the Hall of Fame grounds had just concluded for the day and we wanted to give the crowd a little time to filter out before heading out to dinner.

I was seated facing the door when someone I recognized entering the building. However, I couldn’t immediately put a name to the face. The person who entered must have seen me staring as he walked toward me and took a seat right next to my wife and I and immediately struck up a conversation with me. It was when I heard his voice that I realized this was Bert Cooper.

Bert was willing to share any and all experiences in his life with me that day. We talked in length about his boxing career. The Holyfield fight of course came up and he expressed deep regret for not being better prepared for that fight despite getting it on such short notice. Bert also shared with me his battles with drugs and alcohol. He was very detailed when talking about this to the point where my wife was a bit taken aback.

After talking for nearly an hour (and making Bert a little late for his next engagement), we parted our separate ways. Before we did, I told Bert he was a personal favorite of mine and I always looked forward to watching him fight. And that he also had given me an unforgettable memory. He gave me a great big smile and shook my hand saying he really enjoyed hanging out with me.

I figured I’d never see him again, but as fate would have it I bumped into Bert again last year, once again during Hall of Fame weekend. This time, I was at the nearby hotel where several boxers had come out to sign autographs and interact with fans. Much to my amazement, Bert remembered me from the previous year. He greeted me with that great big smile of his and insisted on signing a photo. He whispered to me that he usually charges for these but not for his friends.

We got to talking again and literally picked up our conversation right where it ended the previous year. Later on that day, my wife and I joined Bert and the person who brought him to Canastota, Sam, for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Much like the prior year, Bert talked in depth with me about specific fights from his career and once again gave this boxing fan a memory that will be forever cherished.

At lunch, Bert told us that nowadays he was only eating healthy foods. And, of course, after lunch Bert wanted to head for ice cream. So we headed to a small local ice cream stand.

With it being a fairly hot day, the ice cream shop was well populated. Bert greeted everyone there proudly handing out his boxing card to anyone who would take it. And of course, gleefully boasting to anyone who would listen how he nearly defeated Holyfield to win the heavyweight title. He captured the crowd that afternoon at the ice cream shop.

I was very much looking forward to seeing Bert Cooper again in Canastota next month. RIP my friend, you will be missed.

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Matt Andrzejewski

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Friday Boxing Recaps: Observations on Conlan, Eubank, Bahdi, and David Jimenez

Published

3 days ago

March 8, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Friday Boxing Recaps: Observations on Conlan, Eubank, Bahdi, and David Jimenez

March 7 was an unusually heavy Friday for professional boxing. The show that warranted the most ink was the all-female card in London, a tour-de-force for the super-talented Lauren Price, but there were important fights on other continents.

Brighton

Michael Conlan, who sat out all of 2024 on the heels of being stopped in three of his previous five, returned to the ring in the British seaside resort city of Brighton in a shake-off-the-rust, 8-rounder against Asad Asif Khan, a 31-year-old Indian from Calcutta making his first appearance in a British ring.

Conlan, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist who famously signed with Top Rank coming out of the amateur ranks, is now 33 years old. Against Khan, he was far from impressive, but did enough to win by a 78-74 score and lock in a match with Spain’s Cristobal Lorente, the European featherweight champion.

Conlan, who improved to 19-3 (9), absorbed a lot of punishment in those three matches that he lost. With his deep amateur background, Michael has a lot of mileage on him and he would have been smart to call it quits after his embarrassingly one-sided defeat to Luis Alberto Lopez. His frayed reflexes speak to something more than ring rust. Heading in, Khan brought a 19-5-1 record but had scored only five wins inside the distance.

Conlan vs Khan was the co-feature. In the main event, Brighton welterweight Harlem Eubank, the cousin of Chris Eubank Jr, improved to 21-0 (9 KOs) with a dominant performance over Conlan’s Belfast homie Tyrone McKenna. Eubank was credited with three knockdowns, all the result of body punches, before referee John Latham had seen enough and pulled the plug at the 2:09 mark of round 10. It was the fourth loss in his last six outings for the 35-year-old McKenna (24-6-1).

Harlem Eubank wants to fight Conor Benn next and says he is willing to wait until after his cousin “wipes Benn out.” Chris Eubank Jr vs Benn is slated for April 26 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The North London facility, which has a retractable roof, is the third-largest soccer stadium in England.

Toronto

Local fan favorite Lucas Bahdi and his stablemate Sara Bailey were the headliners on last night’s card at the Great Canadian Casino Resort in Toronto. The event marked the first incursion of Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions into Canada.

Bahdi, who is from Niagara Falls but trains in Toronto, burst out of obscurity in July of last year in Tampa, Florida, with a spectacular one-punch knockout of heavily-hyped Ashton “H2O” Sylva. His next fight, on the undercard of Jake Paul’s match with Mike Tyson, was less “noisy” and the same could be said of his homecoming fight with Ryan James Racaza, an undefeated (15-0) but obscure southpaw from the Philippines who was making his North American debut.

Bahdi vs Racaza was a technical fight that didn’t warm up until Bahdi produced a knockdown in round seven with a sweeping left hook, a glancing blow that appeared to land behind Racaza’s ear. The Filipino was up in a jiff, looking at the referee as if to say, “this dude just hit me with a rabbit punch.”

The judges had it 99-90, 97-92, and 96-93 for the victorious Bahdi (19-0) who was the subject of a recent profile on these pages.

Sara Bailey, a decorated amateur who competed around the world under her maiden name Sara Haghighat Joo and now holds the WBA light flyweight title, successfully defended that trinket with a lopsided decision over Cristina Navarro (6-3), a 35-year-old Spaniard who “earned” this assignment by winning a 6-round decision over an opponent with a 1-4-3 record. The judges scored the monotonous fight 99-91 across the board for Bailey who improved to 6-0 and then returned to the ring to assist her husband in Lucas Bahdi’s corner.

Also

Twenty-two-year-old super bantamweight Angel Barrientes, a Las Vegas-based Hawaii native, delivered the best performance of the night with a one-sided beatdown of Alexander Castellano whose corner mercifully stopped the contest after the seventh round as the ring doctor stood in a neutral corner chatting with the referee.

The gritty Castellano, who hails from Tonawanda, New York, brought an 11-1-2 record and hadn’t previously been stopped. A glutton for punishment, he appeared to suffer a broken orbital bone. Barrientes improved to 13-1 (8 KOs).

The show was marred by an excessive amount of fluffy gobbledygook by the TV talking heads which slowed down the action and made the promotion almost unwatchable.

Cartago, Costa Rica

Fighting in his hometown, super flyweight David Jimenez scored a lopsided 12-round decision over Nicaragua’s Keyvin Lara. The judges had it 120-108, 119-109, and 116-112.

Jimenez, now 17-1, came to the fore in July of 2022 when he upset Ricardo Sandoval in Los Angeles, winning a well-earned majority decision over a 20/1 favorite riding a 16-fight winning streak. That boosted him into a title fight with the formidable Artem Dalakian who saddled him with his lone defeat.

Jimenez’s victory over Lara was his fifth since that setback. It sets up the Costa Rican for another title fight, this time against Argentina’s Fernando Martinez who acquired the WBA 115-pound title in July with an upset of Kazuto Ioka in Japan. Lara, who unsuccessfully challenged Ioka for a belt in 2016, falls to 32-7-1.

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Price Conquers Jonas on an All-Female Card at Royal Albert Hall

Published

4 days ago

March 7, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Price-Conquers-Jonas-on-an-All-Female-Card-at-Royal-Albert-Hall

Ben Shalom’s BOXXER Promotions was at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall tonight with an all-female card topped by a welterweight unification fight between WBC/IBF belt-holder Natasha Jonas and WBA champion Lauren Price.

Liverpool’s Jonas, who turns 41 in June, has had a sterling career, but Father Time has caught up with her. The 30-year-old Price, an Olympic gold medalist, had faster hands, faster feet, and hit harder. The classy Jonas (16-3-1) acknowledged as much in her post-fight interview: “She beat me to the punch every time.”

The scores were 100-90, 98-92, and 98-93.

In advancing her record to 9-0 (2), Price built a strong case that she is the best fighter to come down the pike from Wales since Joe Calzaghe. As for her next bout, she hopes to fight the winner of the March 29 rematch in Las Vegas between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan. That match, with all of the meaningful welterweight hardware at stake, would be a hot ticket item if potted in Cardiff.

Semi-wind-up

Caroline Dubois staved off a late rally to successfully defend her WBC lightweight title with a majority decision over South Korea’s spunky Bo Mi Re Shin. The judges had it 98-92, 98-93, and 95-95. Although the 95-95 tally by the Korean judge was quite a stretch, Shin performed far better than the odds – Dubois was a consensus 35/1 favorite — portended.

Dubois, a 24-year-old Londoner trained by Shane McGuigan, is the sister of IBF heavyweight title-holder Daniel Dubois. Reportedly 36-3 as an amateur, she advanced her pro record to 11-0-1 (5). Heading in, Shin (18-3-3) had won nine of her previous 10 with the lone setback coming via split decision in a robust fight with Belgium’s Delfine Persoon in Belgium.

Other Bouts of Note

Kariss Artingstall returned to the ring after a 14-month absence and scored a unanimous decision over former amateur rival Raven Chapman. The scores were 98-91, 97-92, 96-93.

The prize for Artingstall, who happens to be Lauren Price’s partner, was the inaugural British female featherweight title and a potential rematch with Skye Nicolson who would relish the chance to avenge her last defeat, a loss by split decision to Attingstall in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics. Nicolson, who was part of tonight’s broadcast team, defends her title later this month in Sydney against Florida’s Tiara Brown.

It was the first 10-rounder for Artingstall (7-0). Chapman (9-2) had an uphill battle after Artingstall decked her in the second round with a straight left hand.

In a mild upset, Jasmina Zopotoczna, a UK-based Pole, won a split decision over Chloe Watson, adding Watson’s European flyweight title to her own regional trinket. One of the judges favored Watson 97-93, but each of his colleagues had it 96-95 for the Pole. Although there was no great furor, the verdict was unpopular.

Zapotoczna, who fought off her back foot, improved to 9-1. It was the first pro loss for Watson who is trained by Ricky Hatton.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 316: Art of the Deal in Boxing and More

Published

5 days ago

March 6, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-316-Art-of-the-Deal-in-Boxing-and-More

So, they want to save boxing?

A group of guys with recent ties to the sport of boxing and bags of money suddenly believe they can save a sport that is older than any other sport since the dawn of mankind.

Boxing is the oldest sport.

When cavemen roamed the planet, you can believe one tribe bet another tribe their guy could whip the other guy. Thus began the sport of boxing. There was no baseball, soccer or horse racing.

Even the invention of the wheel was still a few generations away when men were duking it out with other men for sport.

Throughout history mentions of one man fighting another man without arms are written in the Tales of Ulysses and other literary references.

Boxing will never die. Period.

Here is the reason why.

Boxing requires only two men in their underwear with no weapons and no requirement of classes in jujitsu, kickboxing, wrestling or advance training facilities. You can prepare in your backyard with one heavy bag and a pair of boxing gloves. It’s simple.

MMA, on the other hand, requires money.

Boxing is for the poor. Any kid can walk into a gym and begin training. When they become adults, then they start paying to use the gym.

Don’t let people fool you and tell you “boxing is dying.”

People have been saying those same words since John L. Sullivan in the late 1800s. You can look it up.

The phrase “boxing is dying,” is said by people who want you to pay them money to save it. Kind of sounds like the guy currently sitting in the White House who is going to save America by firing Americans from their jobs and allowing Russia to take over Ukraine.

Don’t believe these people.

Boxing does not need saving.

Why would Dana White, who has stated for decades that MMA is bigger than boxing, though no MMA fighter can equal the purses of a Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Tyson Fury, why is he involved in boxing?

There is big money to be made in boxing, especially with internet gambling sites being allowed all over the world. And boxing is popular worldwide. MMA is not.

More people know who Canelo is than UFC’s Alex Pereira.

I respect the UFC fighters. They put in hard work and battle injuries throughout their careers. But MMA is simply not as big as boxing. The purses of MMA fighters at the top level don’t come close to boxing’s top money earners.

Why did Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz and others quickly switch to boxing when called?

The money in boxing is much bigger.

Follow the money.

NYC

A rumble is planned for Times Square in New York City.

Vatos from Southern California are fighting dudes from Nevada and Brooklyn. Sounds like a script from the Gangs of New York.

Where is Leonardo DiCaprio when you need him?

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) will meet Rollie Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) in a welterweight match set for May 2, on Times Square in mid-Manhattan. This is one of three marquee bouts planned to be streamed on DAZN.

Others matched will be Arnold Barboza (32-0, 11 KOs) versus super lightweight titlist Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs), and Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) against Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) in a welterweight contest.

This is the proposed match by The Ring magazine backed by Turki Alalshikh who, along with Golden Boy Promotions and Matchroom Boxing, is sponsoring this fight card.

It was also announced that Alalshikh, TKO Group Holdings, and Sela are forming a promotion company.

TKO owns UFC and WWE.

SoCal Fights

Southern California will be busy with boxing cards this weekend.

This Thursday, March 6, is Golden Boy Promotions with a boxing card featuring Manny Flores (19-1, 15 KOs) versus Jorge Leyva (18-3, 13 KOs) in a super bantamweight match at Fantasy Springs Casino. DAZN will stream the boxing card from Indio, California.

On Saturday, March 8, the Fox Theater in Pomona, California hosts a boxing card featuring super middleweights Ruben Cazales (10-0) vs Adam Diu Abdulhamid (18-16). Also, super featherweights Michael Bracamontes (10-2-1) meets Eugene Lagos (16-9-3) at the historic venue promoted by House of Pain Boxing.

On Saturday March 8, Elite Boxing hosts a boxing card at Salesian High in East Los Angeles featuring East L.A. native Merari Vivar (8-0) against Sarah Click (2-8-1) and several other fights.

On Saturday, March 8, an event hosted by House of Champions features top contenders Joet Gonzalez (26-4) vs Arnold Khegai (22-1-1) in a featherweight main event at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, Calif.

A Big All-Female Card in London

On Friday, March 7, the historic Royal Albert Hall in the Kensington borough of London will host an all-female card with two world title fights including a unification fight in the welterweight division.

Natasha Jonas (16-2-1) and Lauren Price (8-0) meet 10 rounds for the IBF, WBC, and WBA belts.

Jonas, 40, the current WBC and IBF titlist, recently defeated Ivana Habazin and before that edged past Mikaela Mayer in a win that could have gone the other way very easily. She will be facing Price, an Olympic gold medalist and current WBA and IBO titlist.

Price, 30, hails from Wales and has an aggressive pressure style that saw her win a battle between punchers with a third-round knockout of Colombia’s Bexcy Mateus this past December in Liverpool. Before that she defeated the always tough Jessica McCaskill.

In the co-main event, lightweights Caroline Dubois (10-0-1) and Bo Mi Re Shin (18-2-3) meet for the WBC world title.

Me Re Shin, 30, fights out of South Korea and has knockout power. She was one of only two fighters to stop Venezuela’s Ana Maria Lozano who has 38 pro fights. That says something. She lost a split decision to Delfine Persoon in Belgium. That really says something.

Dubois had two competitive fights, first, against Jessica Camara that ended in a technical draw due to a clash of heads. Before that she defeated Maira Moneo. Dubois has very good talent and is still young at 24. Is she ready for Mi Re Shin?

Times Square photo credit: JP Yim

Fights to watch:

Thurs., March 6: DAZN, Manny Flores (19-1) vs. Jorge Leyva (18-3)

Fri., March 7: free on DAZN, Lucas Bahdi (18-0) vs. Ryan James Racaza (15-0)

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