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Avila Perspective, Chap. 190: Beterbiev vs. Smith, the Honda Center and More
Madison Square Garden hosts yet another boxing showdown as Russia’s Artur Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs) meets America’s Joe Smith (28-3, 22 KOs) in a light heavyweight championship unification match on Saturday, June 18. ESPN will televise the Top Rank card.
Seems you have to be Russian to have a light heavyweight world title with Dmitry Bivol holding the WBA version.
European fighters dominate the super middleweight, light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions. They also don’t do too bad in the heavyweights.
Beterbiev, 37, now fights out of Canada and has yet to hear the final bell in any of his professional fights. Everyone he has ever laid his mitts on was unconscious before the last bell sounded. He also has double Olympic credentials. Nobody calls out Beterbiev.
Smith, 32, never fought in the Olympics but knows a thing or two about two-by-fours and construction. He’s Long Island blue collar all over and wearing a hard hat and using his hands are as natural as lacing up his construction boots. Nothing comes easy for Smith and that’s OK by him.
So far, Smith continues to surprise experts with a survival instinct that can’t be taught. The New York fighter scraped by with two close wins over Russia’s Max Vlasov by majority decision and a split decision over Jesse Hart. Can he survive Beterbiev?
Top Rank’s Bob Arum predicts a fight of the year candidate.
“Joe Smith is a tremendous fighter. He has a big heart. He has a lot of skills and a lot of punching power. And what can I say about Artur Beterbiev? He really epitomizes the ferocity that light heavyweights have been known for,” said Arum.
Honda Center
Anaheim was target zero for middleweights last weekend as Mexico’s Jaime Munguia and England’s Jimmy Kelly battled and it’s come to my realization that the Honda Center has become one of the best secrets in prizefighting.
Over the past three decades some historic events took place at the venue located on Katella Avenue that was formerly the Arrowhead Pond.
One boxing card in 1995 featured Marco Antonio Barrera, Alejandro “Cobrita” Gonzalez, Jorge “Maromero” Paez, Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez and Genaro “Chicanito” Hernandez. Three of those bouts were world title fights.
It was October 1996 at the Honda Center that I saw a bloody contest between Julio Cesar Chavez and Joey Gamache. It was the Mexican great’s first fight after losing to Oscar De La Hoya by technical stoppage due to a large gash opened in the first round. Gamache helped re-open that same cut with a butt and chaos ensued. It was quickly quelled.
Chavez won by knockout that night to appease his legion of fans who were still upset that he lost to De La Hoya.
Let’s not forget the women or MMA.
Ronda Rousey made her UFC splash at the Honda Center and the crowd was intense. Though MMA fights usually had a certain feel, when the blonde titan showed up it was more rock concert than fight as she delivered the win. Sitting on the floor were female boxers like Lucia Rijker and Mia St. John while Dodger pitcher Brad Penny sat front row.
Certain venues have a tint of magic to them and the Honda Center ranks among them. They also have the friendliest staff in Southern California. Last week’s fight card featuring Mexico’s Jaime Munguia versus England’s Jimmy Kelly had that home entertainment feel that ended with a knockout climax.
After the fight everyone headed to one of the local eateries. Fighters mingled with fans and CSAC officials waved welcome back to reporters and everyone shared beers and good food. Three hours passed quickly. Anaheim just had a good feel to it. Too bad the baseball team can’t say the same.
Boxing in Anaheim just fits.
Friday Fights in SoCal
Bantamweight contender Saul “the Beast” Sanchez faces Eros Correa in the main event on Friday in Southern California.
Sanchez (18-1, 11 KOs) meets Correa (11-1, 8 KOs) at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario on Friday June 17. The Thompson Boxing Promotions card will be streamed live on their web site www.Thompsonboxing.com
“I’ve seen Correa fight a few times and he’s a good fighter, but I’ve been in the ring with much better competition, and I see myself dominating this fight,” said Sanchez who is ranked number 2 in the USA and top 20 internationally. “I know he’s coming to fight, so I’ll be fully ready to counter anything he brings to the ring. I just believe I’m better than him in all areas, especially my power. I don’t think this fight goes the distance.”
Correa says this is a do or die fight.
“This will be my first main event and I’m going to leave everything in the ring because I know a fight like this doesn’t come around often,” said Correa. “Thompson Boxing is giving me this golden opportunity and I’m going to make the most of it. I have plans to upset Sanchez in front of all his hometown fans and move to the next level of my career.”
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information call (714) 935-0900.
Saturday Fights in SoCal
Three separate boxing cards load up the SoCal schedule on Saturday, June 18.
At noon, the WBC hosts their 6th annual amateur tournament. The finals take place on Saturday, June 18, at the Grinder,1060 Eastern Avenue in Los Angeles. Numerous amateur fights will take place. The event is free to the public.
At 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, the Influencer Fight League’s IFL 3, called “Worlds Collide,” takes place at Fearless LA, 1611 S. Hope Street in downtown L.A. Numerous influencers will be participating. One fight of interest pits pro fighters Sylvia Figueroa versus Mykalina Medina.
At 6 p.m., Elite Boxing Promotions and Red Boxing Promotions stage a lengthy boxing card at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif. Several interesting fights include Brandon Cruz (8-2) vs Oscar Guerrero (5-0); Aida Satybaldinova (5-2-1) vs Jaica Pavilus (3-5-1); Jesus Arce (18-4) vs Leonardo Torres (10-15-1).
Fights to Watch
Fri. ESPN+ 6 p.m. Yulihan Luna (23-3-1) vs Jessica Gonzalez (8-5-2).
Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Artur Beterbiev (17-0) vs Joe Smith (28-3).
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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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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.
Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.
Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.
Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.
There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.
It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.
Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.
At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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