Hits and Misses from a Huge Boxing Weekend

Published

5 years ago

October 28, 2019

Hits-and-Misses-from-a-Huge-Boxing-Weekend

Boxing fans were treated to some very important fights over the last weekend in October.

The riveting action included the final of the 140-pound tournament in the World Boxing Super Series between Josh Taylor and Regis Prograis, a battle between unbeaten 126-pounders Shakur Stevenson and Joet Gonzalez for the vacant WBO title, the continued rebuilding of 154-pound prospect Erickson Lubin, and a slew of other significant matchups.

But with three massive fight cards spread across DAZN, ESPN+ and SHOWTIME on Saturday, who among the many fighters in action scored the weekend’s biggest hits? And which ones ended up with the biggest misses?

Behold, here were the biggest hits and misses.

HIT: The Coronation of Josh Taylor

Josh Taylor’s coronation as the best junior welterweight in the world didn’t come easy.

In fact, Taylor had to use every ounce of his ability and pour himself out completely to seize the 140-pound throne by defeating Regis Prograis on Saturday night in London. Among the many spoils Taylor earned from outworking Prograis over 12 grueling rounds, perhaps the most important one (to go along with retaining his IBF title and nabbing the American’s WBA belt) was the Muhammad Ali trophy awarded to all WBSS tournament winners.

It’s not so much the hardware. Sure, the trophy is beautiful and also aptly named for one of the most accomplished fighters ever. But the most important aspect of the thing through one-and-a- half seasons of WBSS tournaments is how each trophy winner has gone on to experience amazing leaps in terms of career trajectories after winning it.

Both Callum Smith and Oleksandr Usyk have enjoyed the better parts of their professional fighting careers after winning the WBSS. Now Taylor has the chance to do the same thing.

MISS: DAZN’s Production Quality of Otherwise Great Content

There’s just something off about the production quality of DAZN’s WBSS presentations.

Without knowing the inner workings, the disjointedness of its production—especially in regards to the digital assets used between fights—seems to point to DAZN having been given those highlight reels by the entity that runs the tournament, Comosa AG.

The problem with that model, or whatever process actually exists, is that there’s been a steep drop in quality from standard DAZN boxing shows to the WBSS shows. It really shouldn’t be that way. In fact, the WBSS has proven itself to be so vitally important in the sport in such a short amount of time, that it’s almost as if the opposite should be true: the production of a WBSS event should be among the best in the sport.

But that’s not what’s happening. Instead, it has the appearance of one of those second-rate cards that have become the norm in this age of unlimited over-the-top streaming platforms showing fights that would have otherwise gone unseen under the previous model.

Whatever has to happen to get that corrected needs to happen now. There’s no reason such a huge event should look so paltry on fight night.

HIT: Shakur Stevenson’s Status as Future Pound-for-Pound King

Shakur Stevenson was supposedly in a blood-feud with Joet Gonzalez over having dated that fighter’s sister for the last three years without the approval of the Gonzalez family. That was the promotional angle for the Stevenson-Gonzalez bout in Reno, though on paper it didn’t really need that kind of WWE-type treatment because both Stevenson and Gonzalez were undefeated prospects who many envisioned having stalwart professional careers.

But Stevenson completely dismantled Gonzalez in such a way that it didn’t just prove he was one of the better young fighters in all of boxing. Rather, by the end of the fight, it was clear that Stevenson was on his way to perennially appearing on pound-for-pound lists. Just 22 years old, the former Olympic medalist is now the WBO featherweight champion and is already calling out the likes of IBF titleholder Josh Warrington for unification.

While Stevenson is still a work in progress, it’s not hard to envision him growing into a generational talent. His stalwart defense is reminiscent of a young Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his ice-cold ability to keep his emotions in check over the course of 12 full rounds in the face of a pretty strange circumstance indicates he has all the tools to become something really special.

MISS: The Exploitation of the Gonzalez Family Feud

Admittedly, I hit the full range of judgments and emotions when I was first presented with the promotional angle used for Stevenson-Gonzalez. Perhaps it was just me, but the first idea I had about the whole thing was that it was silly, exploitive and the type of thing that I understand makes sense from a promotional perspective but still hate anyway.

But then I noticed I was thinking about the fight a lot more than I did before I learned that the two fighters hated each other over Stevenson dating Gonzalez’s sister. So, by the time the fight was about to start on Saturday night on ESPN+, I was all about completely immersing myself in the presented storyline.

But as the event unfolded, I couldn’t help but feel icky inside. Here was a real family locked in some serious turmoil by events that began long before these two fighters were ever in the position to face each other for a world title. Whatever happened in the ring wasn’t going to change any of that. This wasn’t just some storyline that’s sole purpose was my entertainment. These were broken relationships that no one outside the people involved ever really needed to know about.

To that end, let’s hope we don’t get any more of these type promotions in the future. There’s no need to exploit life’s harder parts in a sport that’s already filled to the brim of numerous heartbreaks and tragedies.

HIT: Dereck’s Chisora’s Plan to Fight Oleksandr Usyk

Dereck Chisora scored a highlight-reel knockout over David Price in the fourth round in the co-main of the Prograis-Taylor card in London.

Chisora never made it to the top of the heavyweight heap, but it’s been a joy to see him keep trying to scale the mountain anyway. The 35-year-old is a mainstay on the British boxing scene, and he’s really upped his game in recent years after linking up with former rival turned promoter David Haye.

While he tends to go overboard with self-promotion antics outside the ring, inside the ring he’s a hustling big man who always brings the action and consistently throws bombs. There aren’t many of those types in the sport, and it’s a good bet that anyone hoping to climb to the top of heavyweight division would be wise in first testing their mettle against Chisora.

After the win, Chisora said he wanted to fight Oleksandr Usyk next. That would be the perfect test for the former undisputed cruiserweight champion who just scored his first win at heavyweight over Chazz Witherspoon last month.

And Chisora isn’t the type to show up for a paycheck. He’s the type who would do everything in his power to wreck Usyk’s plans and grab that long-awaited world title shot for himself instead.

MISS: Joshua Greer’s Lack of Urgency About Getting Better

Joshua Greer’s gimmick is to bring a pillow to his fights for when he puts his opponent to sleep, but over the last few outings, it seems more like he should bring pillows for everyone else in attendance.

The 24-year-old bantamweight prospect seems to have a lot of talent, but having talent only implies the potential to do great things. It’s one thing to be able to do something. It’s entirely another thing to actually do it.

Greer has a wonderful backstory. Like many in the sport, he came out of some really tough circumstances that he says helped him realize just how precarious life can be. It’s hard not to root for a guy like that to be successful.

But after seeing him struggle to earn a close decision win over part-time fighter Antonio Nieves on Saturday in Reno just a few months after escaping with a majority decision over Nikolai Potapov, one wonders if Greer fully understands how important it is to continually get better.

His post-fight comments to ESPN’s Mark Kriegel suggest he doesn’t.

“At the end of the day, all I do is win,” said Greer.

No, Mr. Greer. All you do right now is escape with wins against lackluster opponents that future world champions should dominate.

HIT: The Continued Resiliency of Erickson Lubin

Lubin came up in the sport as an amateur prodigy who skipped trying to make the 2016 Olympic team so he could sign a promotional deal with Mike Tyson’s quickly defunct Iron Mike Productions. That didn’t work out and Lubin ended up fighting under Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions banner where he quickly made a name for himself as a legitimate junior middleweight prospect.

But Lubin’s world title hopes were dashed by then WBC champion Jermell Charlo in 2017 via one-punch knockout. After suffering such a devastating loss in the first round of his first world title opportunity, it might have been easy for Lubin to slip into self-pity and despair. Instead, Lubin simply went back to work and has now won four straight fights including his unanimous decision win over the hard-hitting Nathaniel Gallimore on Saturday night in Reading. PA.

Now, Lubin is right back to where he was before the Charlo loss. He’s a young prospect with lots of potential, and one who is again eager for his chance to win a world title.

It takes a considerable amount of resiliency to be humiliated like Lubin was on the national stage against Charlo and not let it affect one’s personal belief. Congrats to Lubin for climbing out of a difficult circumstance to take another run at his dream.

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History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era

Published

8 hours ago

April 2, 2025

Arne K. Lang

History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era

This reporter was rummaging around the internet last week when he stumbled on a story in the May 1950 issue of Ebony under the byline of Mike Jacobs. Boxing was then in the doldrums (isn’t it always?) and Jacobs, the most powerful promoter in boxing during the era of Joe Louis, was lassoed by the editors of the magazine to address the question of whether the over-representation of black boxers was killing the sport at the box office.

This hoary allegation had been kicking around even before the heyday of Jack Johnson, bubbling forth whenever an important black-on-black fight played to a sea of empty seats as had happened the previous year when Chicago’s Comiskey Park hosted the world heavyweight title fight between Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott.

Jacobs ridiculed the hypothesis – as one could have expected considering the publication in which the story ran – and singled out three “colored” boxers as the best of the current crop of active pugilists: Sugar Ray Robinson, Ike Williams, and Freddie Dawson.

Sugar Ray Robinson? A no-brainer. Skill-wise the greatest of the great. Even those that didn’t follow boxing, would have recognized his name. Ike Williams? Nowhere near as well-known as Robinson, but he was then the reigning lightweight champion, a man destined to go into the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of 1990.

And Freddie Dawson? If the name doesn’t ring a bell, dear reader, you are not alone. I confess that I too drew a blank. And that triggered a search to learn more about him.

Freddie Dawson had four fights with Ike Williams. All four were staged on Ike’s turf in Philadelphia. Were this not the case, the history books would likely show that the series knotted 2-2. Late in his career, Dawson became greatly admired in Australia. But we are jumping ahead of ourselves.

Dawson was born in 1924 in Thomasville, Arkansas, an unincorporated town in the Arkansas Delta. Likely a descendent of slaves who worked in the cotton plantations, he grew up in the so-called Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, the heart of Chicago’s Black Belt.

The first mention of him in the newspapers came in 1941 when he won Chicago’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) featherweight title. In those days, amateur boxing was big in the Windy City, the birthplace of the Golden Gloves. The Catholic Archdiocese, which ran gyms in every parish, and the Chicago Parks Department, were the major incubators.

In his amateur days, he was known as simply Fred Dawson. As a pro, his name often appeared as Freddy Dawson, although Freddie gradually became the more common spelling.

Dawson, who stood five-foot-six and was often described as stocky, made his pro debut on Feb. 1, 1943, at Marigold Gardens. Before the year was out, he had 16 fights under his belt, all in Chicago and all but two at Marigold. (Currently the site of an interdenominational Christian church, Marigold Gardens, on the city’s north side, was Chicago’s most active boxing and wrestling arena from the mid-1930s through the early-1950s. Joe Louis had three of his early fights there and Tony Zale was a fixture there as he climbed the ladder to the world middleweight title.)

The last of these 16 fights was fatal for Dawson’s opponent who collapsed heading back to his corner after the fight was stopped in the 10^th round and died that night at a local hospital from the effects of a brain injury.

Dawson left town after this incident and spent most of the next year in New Orleans where energetic promoter Louis Messina ran twice-weekly shows (Mondays for whites and Fridays for blacks) at the Coliseum, a major stop on boxing’s so-called Chitlin’ Circuit.

That same year, on Sept. 19, 1944, Dawson had his first encounter with Ike Williams. He was winning the fight when Ike knocked him out with a body punch in the fourth round.

The first and last meetings between Dawson and Ike Williams were spaced five years apart. In the interim, Freddie scored his two best wins, stopping Vic Patrick in the twelfth round at Sydney, NSW, and Bernard Docusen in the sixth round in Chicago.

The long-reigning lightweight champion of Australia, Patrick (49-3, 43 KOs) gave the crowd a thrill when he knocked Dawson down for a count of “six” in the penultimate 11^th round, but Dawson returned the favor twice in the final stanza, ending the contest with a punch so harsh that the poor Aussie needed five minutes before he was fit to leave the ring and would spend the night in the hospital as a precaution.

Dawson fought Bernard Docusen before 10,000-plus at Chicago Stadium on Feb. 4, 1949. An 8/5 favorite, Docusen lacked a hard punch, but the New Orleans cutie had suffered only three losses in 66 fights, had never been stopped, and had extended Sugar Ray Robinson the 15-round distance the previous year.

Dawson dismantled him. Docusen managed to get back on his feet after Dawson knocked him down in the sixth, but he was in no condition to continue and the referee waived the fight off. Dawson was then vacillating between the lightweight and welterweight divisions and reporters wondered whether it would be Robinson or Ike Williams when Dawson finally got his well-earned title shot.

Sugar Ray wasn’t in his future. Here are the results of his other matches with Ike Williams:

Dawson-Williams II (Jan. 28, 1946) – The consensus on press row was 7-2-1 or 7-3 for Dawson, but the match was ruled a draw. “[The judges and referee] evidently saw [Williams] land punches that nobody else did,” said the ringside reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Dawson-Williams III (Jan. 26, 1948) – Dawson lost a majority decision. The scores were 6-4, 5-4-1, and 4-4-2. The decision was booed. Ike Williams then held the lightweight title, but this was a non-title fight. (It was tough for an outsider to get a fair shake in Philadelphia, home to Ike Williams’ co-manager Frank “Blinky” Palermo who would go to prison for his duplicitous dealings as a fight facilitator.)

Dawson-Williams IV (Dec. 5, 1949) – This would be Freddie Dawson’s only crack at a world title and he came up short. Ike Williams retained the belt, winning a unanimous decision. The fight was close – 8-7, 8-7, 9-6 – but there was no controversy.

Dawson made three more trips to Australia before his career was finished. On the first of these trips, he knocked out Jack Hassen, successor to Vic Patrick as the lightweight champion of Australia. A 1953 article in the Sydney Sunday Herald bore witness to the esteem in which Dawson was held by boxing fans in Australia: “None of our boxers could withstand his devastating attacks which not only knocked them out but also knocked years off their careers,” said the author. “It is doubtful whether any Australian boxer in any division could have beaten Dawson.”

Dawson had his final fights in the Land Down Under, finishing his career with a record of 103-14-4 while answering the bell for 962 rounds. Following what became his final fight, he had an eye operation in Sydney that was reportedly so intricate that it required a two-week hospital stay. He injured the eye again in Manila while sparring in preparation for a match with the welterweight champion of the Philippines, a match that had to be aborted because of the injury. Dawson then disappeared, by which we mean that he disappeared from the pages of the newspaper archives that allow us to construct these kinds of stories.

What about Freddie Dawson the man? A 1944 story about him said he was an outstanding all-around athlete, “a champion in all athletic undertakings – basketball, baseball, track and even jitterbugging.” A story in a Sydney paper as he was preparing to meet Vic Patrick informs us that he had two young children, ages 2 and 1, owned his own home in Chicago, and drove a two-year-old Cadillac. But beyond these flimsy snippets, Dawson the man remains elusive.

What we learned, however, is that he was one of the most underrated boxers to come down the pike in any era, a borderline Hall of Famer who ought not have fallen through the cracks. Inside the ring, this guy was one tough hombre.

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

4 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside-at-the-Fontainebleau-where-Mikaela-Mayer-won-her-Rematch-with-Sandy-Ryan

LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

4 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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