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Scoping Out the Heavyweight Undercard in Saudi Arabia

Promoter Eddie Hearn has been threatening an all-heavyweight card for some time now, and although this Saturday’s undercard to Andy Ruiz-Anthony Joshua out in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, doesn’t quite qualify it’s unlikely he will come closer this side of a Joshua-Tyson Fury superfight.
Working back from chief support we look here at the heavyweights in action and what they bring to the mouth-watering rematch of June’s monumental shock.
First and foremost is one of ring history’s great ring survivors and arguably one of the great heavyweight contenders, Alexander Povetkin. Povetkin, 35-2, has been a player in the heavyweight division since his 2007 knockout of Chris Byrd, an astonishing stretch during which he has dueled with and dusted contenders from three different heavyweight eras over the course of more than twelve years. He was unlucky enough to share his entire prime with one Wladimir Klitschko before falling in a worthy stab at Joshua last summer and this has doomed Povetkin to failure in achieving heavyweight pre-eminence; but the moment Wladimir called time on his career, Povetkin became the de facto old-man of the division with all the ambivalence that status imparts.
The forty-year old’s latest tilt at the divisional big dogs began with a fittingly plodding but wide decision victory over Hughie Fury in August and continues in Diriyah against 18-1 former cruiserweight Michael Hunter. Hunter, who boxes out of Las Vegas, made a minor name for himself in giving pound-for-pounder Oleksandr Usyk his toughest fight back in early 2017 and cemented his place as a heavyweight gatekeeper with an impressive twelve round decision over prospect Sergey Kuzmin in September. The step up here to take on a fabled but faded contender in Povetkin is an old-fashioned and well-reasoned trajectory and maybe Hunter has got his timing right.
“[Povetkin] is ruthless and a warrior,” the American recently told Boxing Scene. “He has everything it takes to beat a guy on the come up like me. People really don’t know what I have so this is a test. This is the perfect opportunity for me.”
It is. For an older fighter without a punch the swarmer is the living nightmare in the ring. Povetkin, though, has a punch, and so for him the nightmare is of a different sort. A mobile fighter with generalship, then, is the chief tormentor. Hunter has the mobility and if he has the generalship, Povetkin could be in for a long night. There is an appealing symmetry here: Povetkin gatecrashed the heavyweight rankings by beating Byrd, a quick-footed, quick-thinking fighter who by rights should have been boxing in a lower weight division. That description is probably very close to an optimum Hunter but Povetkin has some hard years on him.
If the old man doesn’t get control of the fight early look for him to drop a narrow decision to a fighter Eddie Hearn would love to feed to one of his primed big beasts – either way expect an absorbing contest.
Before Povetkin takes to the ring, his natural successor, the Croation Filip Hrgovic, now 9-0, takes his own step up against aging American Eric Molina (now 27-5). It was once said of James “Buster” Douglas that he “lost every fight Don King ever wanted him to lose.” With the exception of a victory over an ancient Tomasz Adamek the same can be said of Molina who has obliged for several different promoters against four different money fighters. This is once again the expectation on Saturday as the 2018 Sweet Science prospect of the year hops onto an undercard stacked with fighters he may look to match next year.
“It’s a big step up for me in terms of level of opponent and also the size of the event,” Hrgovic admitted to Croatia Week of his fight with Molina. “The whole world will be watching…I’m expecting a hard fight. Eric Molina fought two times for the world title…I am expecting the hardest fight of my career.”
Maybe, maybe not. If the world is watching Hrgovic at all, it is watching to see the fighter’s limitations tested. Questions about the Croat remain unanswered: can he hold a punch from a confirmed puncher and is he available for punches only because he believes himself equal to them or is his defense a legitimate issue? Until we see him pushed against a quality opponent we can’t know.
At the moment, however, Hrgovic, like Povetkin once did, gives the impression of a serious fighter who will one day hold a strap and will also have a say in which fighters make the very top and which do not. Whether or not he himself will summit is dependent upon the answer to these questions. It’s unlikely Molina will provide these answers. Look for Hrgovic to become the fifth money fighter Eric Molina obliges in suffering a ten count.
Still with me? Good. Prior to Hrgovic’s potential emergence from the shadows is a fascinating redux in the form of Londoner Dillian Whyte (26-1). Whyte enjoyed the sympathy of almost the entire boxing world during his six-hundred day wait for a title shot while ranked as the WBC’s number one contender but that sympathy came to a juddering end when he was revealed to have failed a drug test prior to his twelve-round encounter with the dangerous Oscar Rivas. Whyte, an entertaining and engaging speaker, was suddenly silent as the bizarre machinations of the UK Anti-Doping agency were laid bare for all to see. Somehow Whyte is cleared to fight, and promoter Eddie Hearn has delivered an inconsistent and vulnerable opponent who nevertheless holds some name recognition, Mariusz Wach. Former Povetkin victim Wach, who boxes out of Poland and holds a well-padded record of 35-5 has had his own problems with steroids, testing positive after making it through twelve one-sided rounds with Wladimir Klitschko in 2012. Perhaps only in boxing could two men who have traced positive for performance enhancing drugs compete as a part of a show awash with cash in a country where homosexuality and public displays of affection are illegal.
Unfortunately, this fight may be weirdly compelling. Whyte is a confirmed puncher but Wach did twelve with Wladimir and saw the twelfth, too, with Povetkin. He is clearly slipping but there is no future for the Pole if he succumbs early but Whyte, too, has reason to impress. I’ll pick the Brit to get the job done in the first half of the contest thereby inflicting the quickest stoppage of Wach’s career in what may be his last fight.
Finally, we get to meet Magomedrasul Majidov a fighter desperately in need of a nickname but one with a serious amateur pedigree that makes him much more interesting than his 1-0 record.
Also interesting is his age: 33. Turning professional in their thirties seems more and more the norm for crack amateurs hailing from Eurasia and this Azerbaijani is no different, which makes him a man in a hurry. 6’3” and 230 he will be the smaller man in the ring against the 6’6”, 250lb British journeyman Tom Little, who has been banged out in each of his last three fights against Hrgovic, Daniel Dubois and David Price. On paper then this should be meat and potatoes for three-time world amateur superheavyweight champion Majidov, but he received a minor scare in his first professional fight against an American journeyman named Ed Fountain. Majidov defeated one Anthony Joshua in the 2011 amateur championships but punching for pay has always been a different matter and I expect Little to charge his inexperienced opponent at bell. Brief fireworks may ensue. Hopefully they will continue right up to the main event.
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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 10th 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

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

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 21st 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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