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Avila Perspective. Chap. 107: El Flaco, the Charlo twins and More
Avila Perspective. Chap. 107: El Flaco, the Charlo twins and More
LOS ANGELES-Middleweights and light middleweights reigned supreme last week.
Ukrainian super welterweight Serhii Bohachuk led the way with a convincing performance in Merida, Mexico last Friday where he defeated Alejandro Davila by technical knockout.
It rained throughout the fight and Bohachuk rained blows just as feverishly to score his 18th consecutive knockout in 18 pro fights.
Can anyone stop El Flaco?
The Ukrainian super welterweight who was nicknamed “El Flaco” because of his thin frame, used his superior boxing skills to out-battle determined Mexican fighter Davila and force that fighter’s corner to end the fight on a slippery canvas.
Though no knockdowns were scored it was a smart move by Davila’s Mexican trainers. He was getting battered.
“Alejandro Davila was a really tough fighter. He didn’t want to quit,” said Tom Loeffler head of 360 Promotions that promotes Bohachuk. “His trainers were arguing with him and he didn’t want to stop. But Serhii had hurt him a lot. It was a good decision on their part.”
Bohachuk, 25, a thinly framed and long-armed 154-pounder, combines tireless and precise punching mixed with experience gained in more than 100 amateur fights. Plus, he has an acute sense of vision and the ability to see incoming fire.
“My style is Mexican style,” said Bohachuk on Thursday at a press conference in Los Angeles. “That’s how I like to fight.”
This last fight was of particular concern because it was Bohachuk’s first with new trainer Manny Robles Jr. after years with Abel Sanchez.
Before Robles accepted the new fighter as a pupil, he reached out to the former trainer Sanchez. Both conversed about the situation and Robles said Sanchez gave him his blessing.
Moving from one trainer known for teaching an aggressive style of fighting to another who practices a slightly more defensive flavor can have consequences. One important factor is the fighter’s work habits.
“He’s disciplined. He has integrity,” said Robles when describing Bohachuk. “Style-wise we’re more about controlled aggression. And learning how to fight backwards.”
Robles said he’s learned that even the most aggressive punchers need to learn how to fight going in reverse. Though it didn’t occur in this last fight, Bohachuk was prepared.
So how good is Bohachuk?
It’s difficult to argue against 18 consecutive knockout wins. It’s not like he’s facing the Charlo brothers. But is he good enough to compete with fighters near that caliber?
Against Davila, who had only tasted defeat once before against Canada’s Mikael Zewski, the slender Ukrainian showed a patient approach against the ultra-aggressive Mexican fighter who attacked like a souped-up windmill.
It was a telling performance.
Bohachuk looked like a contender with his careful but determined movement. He seemed to be able to watch the incoming fire and adjust smoothly without panicking. Slowly he began busting blows at whatever openings he saw. He never over-punched and with the TKO, he triumphed in his first defense of his WBC Continental Americas super welterweight title.
Looks like Loeffler (pictured in the red shirt) has another champion on the rise.
Charlos
Speaking of champions, the brothers Jermell and Jermall Charlo shared a Showtime pay-per-view fight card last Saturday and both defended their world titles successfully.
For years I’ve witnessed the rise of the Charlo brothers from their appearances on Golden Boy cards to their current performances with Premier Boxing Champions. Though each has a world title, I did not think they were ready for the monsters of their divisions: guys like Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs or Saul Alvarez.
Well, now they are more than ready.
Jermell Charlo, the WBC super welterweight titlist, added the WBA and IBF titles to his waist with an impressive performance. Yes, he knocked out Jeison Rosario with a solar plexus punch, but more than that, he showed an intelligent approach in dissecting the dangerous Dominican fighter.
Both brothers have always shown athleticism and skill, but their ring IQ has risen dramatically and they are at the top of the peak now.
Jermall Charlo did exactly what I thought he would do and skillfully defeated a contender who had tested both Golovkin and Jacobs.
It’s on to better things for the Charlos brothers.
Saturday Night Fights
A fan-less Los Angeles fight card at Microsoft Theater features another set of twins in the brothers Barrientes. The Premier Boxing Champions fight card will be shown on Fox Sports 1 on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 5 p.m. PT.
The main event showcases welterweights Paul Kroll (7-0, 6 KOs) versus Lucas Santamaria (11-1-1) in a 10-round fight.
Kroll fights out of Philadelphia and that almost always means he’s a fighter. A real fighter and not a slapper and holder. He meets Orange County’s Santamaria who upset Mykal Fox a month ago. Both guys can fight inside and that means lots of action.
It should be a very good fight.
In the preliminaries Angel Barrientes (2-0) meets Fernando De Anda (2-3) in a six round super bantamweight match. And Chavez Barrientes (2-0) meets Ivan Varela (3-2) in a six round featherweight fight. The Barrientes’ hail from Las Vegas, Nevada and they are pretty tall for their weight class at 5’10 in height.
“Me and my brother train together every day. We really learn well off each other. We’ve been running up at Mt. Charleston to help us with beast level conditioning. I have remained fight-ready all of quarantine. We are ready and excited to get into the ring and show the world what we are all about,” said Chavez Barrientes.
Super Lightweights
A battle between super lightweight contenders highlights the Top Rank boxing card on Saturday night Oct. 3, in Las Vegas. ESPN+ will stream the fight card at 7:30 p.m. PT.
Jose “Chon” Zepeda (32-2, 25 KOs) meets Ivan Baranchyk (20-1, 13 KOs) at the MGM Grand Bubble for a vacant title and more importantly a place supposedly in the front of line for the super lightweight world title.
It’s been known that current WBC and WBO titlist Jose Carlos Ramirez will be facing IBF titlist Josh Taylor in a unification clash. He has already decided to move up in weight whether he wins or loses.
For the past two years Zepeda has claimed he beat Ramirez when they fought in February 2019. He will need total concentration against the Belarussian Baranchyk who promises a knockout of the Mexican fighter.
Baranchyk has only one loss and that was against Taylor in Scotland a year ago. It went the entire 12 rounds.
The card also features some solid prospects including undefeated Gabriel Flores a flashy combination puncher and Duke Ragan an amateur standout in separate fights.
Sunday Morning in England
Tall undefeated light heavyweights are the flavor of the day for a Sunday morning boxing card from Milton Keynes, England, a town located about 50 miles from London. DAZN will stream the Sunday event beginning at 11 a.m. Pacific Time.
Croatia’s Marko Calic (11-0, 6 KOs) stands three inches above six feet in height and for a 175-pounder that is extremely tall.
Ghanaian-born Joshua Buatsi (12-0, 10 KOs) is one inch shorter than Calic but hits harder. We shall see who wins the battle of the tall light heavyweights. Buatsi knocked out Mexico’s Marco Periban and that’s not an easy feat.
The co-main event pits Chantelle Cameron (12-0) versus Brazil’s Adriana Dos Santos (6-0) in a 10-round bout for the vacant WBC female super lightweight world title.
“It’s a short career so I don’t want to be wasting my time, especially with everything that has happened this year,” said Cameron, 29, who fights out of Northampton, England. “I’m 12-0 but I feel like I’ve been waiting a long time for this opportunity. I’m not looking past Adriana at all.”
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Lucas Bahdi Forged the TSS 2024 Knockout of the Year
A Knockout of the Year doesn’t have to be a one-punch knockout, but it must arrive with the suddenness of a thunderclap on a clear day and the punch or punches must be so harsh as to obviate the need for a “10-count.” And, if rendered by an underdog, that makes the KO resonate more loudly.
Within these parameters, Lucas Bahdi’s knockout of Ashton “H2O” Sylva still jumped off the page. The thunderclap happened on July 20 in Tampa, Florida, on a show promoted by Jake Paul with Paul and the great Amanda Serrano sharing the bill against soft opponents in the featured bouts.
The 30-year-old Bahdi (16-0, 14 KOs) and the 20-year-old Sylva (11-0, 9 KOs) were both undefeated, but Bahdi was accorded scant chance of defeating Jake Paul’s house fighter.
Sylva was 18 years old and had seven pro fights under his belt, winning all inside the distance, when he signed with Paul’s company, Most Valuable Promotions, in 2022. “We believe that Ashton has that talent, that flashiness, that style, that knockout power, that charisma to really be a massive, massive, superstar…” said the “Problem Child” when announcing that Sylva had signed with his company.
Jake Paul was so confident that his protege would accomplish big things that he matched Sylva with Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield. Currently 18-0 and ranked #2 by the WBA, Schofield was further along than Sylva in the pantheon of hot lightweight prospects. But Schofield backed out, alleging an injury, opening the door to a substitute.
Enter Lucas Bahdi who despite his eye-catching record was a virtual unknown. This would be his first outing on U.S. soil. All of his previous bouts were staged in Mexico or in Canada, mostly in his native Ontario province. “My opponent may have changed,” said Sylva who hails from Long Beach, California, “but the result will be the same, I will get the W and continue my path to greatness.”
The first five rounds were all Sylva. The Canadian had no antidote for Sylva’s speed and quickness. He was outclassed.
Then, in round six, it all came unglued for the precocious California. Out of the blue, Bahdi stiffened him with a hard right hand. Another right quickly followed, knocking Sylva unconscious. A third punch, a sweeping left, was superfluous. Jake Paul’s phenom was already out cold.
Sylva landed face-first on the canvas. He lay still as his handlers and medics rushed to his aid. It was scarifying. “May God restore him,” said ring announcer Joe Martinez as he was being stretchered out of the ring.
The good news is that Ashton “H2O” Silva will be able to resume his career. He is expected back in the ring as early as February. As for Lucas Bahdi, architect of the Knockout of the Year, he has added one more win to his ledger, winning a 10-round decision on the undercard of the Paul vs Tyson spectacle, and we will presumably be hearing a lot more about him.
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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.
The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.
Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.
The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.
An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.
Moses Itauma
Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.
His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.
Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.
Bohachuk-Davis
In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.
Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.
Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.
Fisher-Allen
In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.
Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.
In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.
He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Other Bouts of Note
In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.
A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.
In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.
McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.
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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.
The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.
Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.
The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.
That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.
The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)
Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)
Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.
Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).
Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.
The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.
Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.
Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.
We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”
The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.
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