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Avila Perspective, Chap. 202: Shields vs Marshall Tops a Blockbuster Week for Women
Shields vs Marshall Tops a Blockbuster Week for Women
It’s the Year of Women prizefighting and this week is dominated by several top female world champions from England to Central America.
American promoters Golden Boy Promotions and MarvNation Promotions team up to present a unification match between Yokasta Valle and Thi Thu Nguyen on Thursday, Sept. 8, at San Jose, Costa Rica. DAZN will stream the minimumweight world title match live at 5 p.m.
Two days later an all-female card led by American fighters Claressa Shields, Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner invade England to defend their world titles on Saturday, Sept. 10. ESPN+ and SKY television will provide media coverage at 11:30 a.m. PT.
First, let’s talk about the Thursday fight in Costa Rica.
IBF minimumweight titlist Valle (25-2, 9 KOs) meets Vietnam’s Thi Thu Ngyuen (5-0, 1 KO) who holds the WBO minimumweight title. It’s speed versus strength in this unification title fight.
Valle, 30, has the better athleticism and agility. Since she began fighting professionally in 2014, the swift-moving fighter has never shunned away from top opposition. Even though still learning the sport Valle fought Japan’s Naoko Fujioka for the WBO light flyweight world title in Tokyo. It was her first loss.
Next, Valle traveled to Germany and challenged Tina Rupprecht for an interim title and lost again. Many experts thought she was the winner. She was even willing to face Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada in Los Angeles but her trainer at the time was unable to make the trip, so she backed off. She did travel to Spain in August 2019 and challenged Joana Pastrana for the IBF title and won by split decision. She’s remained champion ever since.
Nguyen, 25, needed to wait many months because of Covid restrictions before she was allowed to challenge Japan’s Etsuko Tada for the WBO title last October in South Korea. Though she won by unanimous decision over the taller southpaw, many felt she lost the fight. No rematch was given and here she is fighting Valle in a unification match.
She is a very strong fighter as her match with Tada displayed. The Japanese fighter had been named Knockout Puncher of the Year in 2020 with a one-punch destruction of Ayaka Miyao in their second clash on December 2020. Though she connected often on Nguyen, the Vietnamese fighter never was fazed and won by decision.
Valle remains a big favorite especially at home. But Nguyen is very strong.
The co-main event features Southern California’s undefeated Adelaida Ruiz (11-0-1, 6 KOs) meeting Mexico’s Sonia Osorio (15-7-2, 4 KOs) for the interim WBC super flyweight title.
Ruiz, 33, didn’t begin her pro career until age 28 because of motherhood. Though she was well known in the amateur circuit boxing took a back seat to raising her three children. For 10 years she was out of boxing until deciding she could re-enter the boxing world. She re-emerged still flaunting fast hands and knockout power.
Osorio, 29, hails from Mexico City and has never wavered in accepting fights against the best of the best. She’s engaged in bouts with champions Seniesa Estrada, Marlen Esparza and Isabel Millan. This is a rematch with Ruiz. Their first encounter ended in a technical draw due to a bloody gash on Osorio due to an accidental clash of heads.
The Golden Boy/MarvNation card will begin streaming on DAZN at 5 p.m. PT.
Blockbuster in London
The boxing world is in a buzz over a super featherweight unification clash between Americans Alycia Baumgardner and Mikaela Mayer. And when you add America’s Claressa Shields versus England’s Savannah Marshall in a middleweight clash, well, that spells blockbuster fight card.
WBC titlist Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs) and WBO and IBF titlist Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs) finally meet on Saturday Sept. 10, at the O2 Arena in London, England. ESPN+ and SKY television will show the Top Rank and Boxxer Promotions card.
Both fights are tinged with animosity and fire.
Baumgardner seems the more emotional about her match with Mayer and admits to having a personal vendetta with the Southern California native.
“I’m knocking Mikaela out Sept. 10, that’s all I know. I’m a dog walk you,” said Baumgardner while being interviewed. “I’m going to make you do what I want you to do. You are going to see something. Just watch Mikaela.”
Mayer admits to purposely engaging in social media wars mainly to convince promoters to make the fight happen. Pushing the envelope to advance women’s boxing has always been a goal.
“We’re both fighters. We’re both world champions and both competitors. Both willing to put our ass on the line,” said Mayer a 2016 Olympian. “I don’t want to let my team down. And, also, to show we’re one of the few women able to fight on this platform and show that we can box and be in this stage and have that skill and ability.”
The same goes for Shields, one of the most decorated female prizefighters ever in the history of the sport.
“It means a lot to be a role model. I just want to give people hope. It doesn’t matter who your parents were. Or if you were born into poverty, your choices and your decisions are what dictate your life,” said Shields during an interview on social media.
Shields (12-0, 2 KOs), the WBA, WBC, IBF titlist seeks to become undisputed middleweight champion again and to avenge her only career loss to WBO titlist Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs) when they fought as amateurs 10 years ago. She was also undisputed super welterweight champion.
Marshall has dominated almost every fight she’s been involved in and expects to win again. She has George Foreman like power and height over Shields and feels that gives her the advantage over the American fighter considered the best female boxer pound for pound.
“I think (Shields) improved definitely since when we boxed in the amateurs. She boxes more as a pro now. She boxes better than she did in 2012,” said Marshall. “I am a star and I’ll be an even bigger star on Sept. 10 when I beat her.”
More than a half dozen female bouts are included in the fight card from London. It’s comprised of Americans, British and other European fighters from flyweight to super welterweight.
“It’s a big fight especially for female boxing,” said John David Jackson, the trainer for Shields.
Tension between the main event fighters has been ongoing for years, but they all agree on the importance of this fight card.
“It’s going to be huge for women’s boxing and boxing period,” Baumgardner says.
The show will be streamed at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time on Saturday.
Influencers Fight in LA
A boxing card mixed with NFL, NBA and TicTok stars takes place on Saturday, Sept. 10, at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. It will also be available to watch on pay-per-view.
Several pro boxers are on the card such as Marco Deckmann, Jalan Walker and Moises Gomez.
Athletes competing are LeVeon Bell, Adrian Peterson and Nick “Swaggy P” Young.
Influencers are AnEason Gib, Blueface and Landon McBoom. Doors for the event open at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 6 p.m. It can be seen live at www.socialgloves.tv on pay-per-view.
All Star Boxing in SoCal
Ed Holmes has returned from a brief sabbatical with an All Star Boxing show at Commerce Casino on Saturday, Sept. 10. The doors open at 6 p.m.
All Star Boxing has been around for decades and always has an array of celebrity guests like Frank Stallone, Gennady Golovkin, and NFL stars. This card features all prospects, but you never know who will emerge to become a world champion. Some of those who fought on Holmes’ cards were Sergio Mora, Mikey Garcia and recently Murat Gassiev the former cruiserweight world champion.
Fights to Watch
Thurs. DAZN 5 p.m. Yokasta Valle (25-2 vs Thi Thu Nguyen (5-0); Adelaida Ruiz (11-0-1) vs Sonia Osorio (15-7-2)
Sat. ESPN+ 11:30 a.m. Claressa Shields (12-0) vs Savannah Marshall (12-0); Mikaela Mayer (17-0) vs Alycia Baumgardner (12-1).
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 303: Spotlights on Lightweights and More
Those lightweights.
Whether junior lights, super lights or lightweights, it’s the 130-140 divisions where most of boxing’s young stars are found now or in the past.
Think Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather.
Floyd Schofield (17-0, 12 KOs) a Texas product, hungers to be a star and takes on Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron (20-3, 13 KOs) in a 12-round lightweight bout on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.
DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotion card that includes a female undisputed flyweight championship match pitting Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz and Gabriela Fundora.
Like a young lion looking to flex, Schofield (pictured on the left) is eager to meet all the other young lions and prove they’re not equal.
“I’ve been in the room with Shakur, Tank. I want to give everyone a good fight. I feel like my preparation is getting better, I work hard, I’ve dedicated my whole life to this sport,” said Schofield naming fellow lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Now he meets Mexico’s Tellez who has never been stopped.
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” said Tellez.
Even in Las Vegas.
Verona, New York
Meanwhile, in upstate New York, a WBC junior lightweight title rematch finds Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) looking to prove superior to former titlist O’Shaquie Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank fight card.
Last July, Conceicao and Foster clashed and after 12 rounds the title changed hands from Foster to the Brazilian by split decision.
“I feel that a champion is a fighter who goes out there and doesn’t run around, who looks for the fight, who tries to win, and doesn’t just throw one or two punches and then moves away,” said Conceicao.
Foster disagrees.
“I hope he knows the name of the game is to hit and not get hit. That’s the name of the game,” said Foster.
Also on the same card is lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) who fights Mexico’s Jesus Perez Campos (25-5, 18 KOs).
Perez recently defeated former world champion Jojo Diaz last February in California.
“We’re made for challenges. I like challenges,” said Perez.
Muratalla likes challenges too.
“I think these fights are the types of fights I need to show my skills and to prove I deserve those title fights,” said Fontana’s Muratalla.
Female Undisputed Flyweight Championship
WBA, WBC and WBO flyweight titlist Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs meets IBF titlist Gabriela Fundora (14-0, 6 KOs) on Saturday Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. DAZN will stream the clash for the undisputed flyweight championship.
Argentina’s Alaniz clashed twice against former WBA, WBC champ Marlen Esparza with their first encounter ending in a dubious win for the Texas fighter. In fact, three of Esparza’s last title fights were scored controversially.
But against Alaniz, though they fought on equal terms, Esparza was given a 99-91 score by one of the judges though the world saw a much closer contest. So, they fought again, but the rematch took place in California. Two judges deemed Alaniz the winner and one Esparza for a split-decision win.
“I’m really happy to be here representing Argentina. We are ready to fight. Nothing about this fight has to do with Marlen. So, I hope she (Fundora) is ready. I am ready to prepare myself for the great fight of my life,” said Alaniz.
In the case of Fundora, the extremely tall American fighter at 5’9” in height defeated decent competition including Maria Santizo. She was awarded a match with IBF flyweight titlist Arely Mucino who opted for the tall youngster over the dangerous Kenia Enriquez of Mexico.
Bad choice for Mucino.
Fundora pummeled the champion incessantly for five rounds at the Inglewood Forum a year ago. Twice she battered her down and the fight was mercifully stopped. Fundora’s arm was raised as the new champion.
Since that win Fundora has defeated Christina Cruz and Chile’s Daniela Asenjo in defense of the IBF title. In an interesting side bit: Asenjo was ranked as a flyweight contender though she had not fought in that weight class for seven years.
Still, Fundora used her reach and power to easily handle the rugged fighter from Chile.
Immediately after the fight she clamored for a chance to become undisputed.
“It doesn’t get better than this, especially being in Las Vegas. This is the greatest opportunity that we can have,” said Fundora.
It should be exciting.
Fights to Watch
Sat. ESPN+ 2:50 p.m. Robson Conceicao (19-2-1) vs O’Shaquie Foster (22-3).
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Floyd Schofield (17-0) vs Rene Tellez Giron (20-3); Gabriela Alaniz (15-1) vs Gabriela Fundora (14-0).
Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
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Bakhram Murtalaziev was the Fighter of the Month in October
As we close the book on October, let’s look back at the month’s stellar performances. Kenshiro Teraji added another exclamation point to his brilliant career with an 11th-round stoppage of Cristofer Rosales. England’s Jack Catterall, considered no more than a decent domestic-level talent for most of his career, showed that he had been underrated with a comprehensive 12-round decision over declining Regis Prograis. But the top performance, by a landslide, was delivered by Bakhram Murtalaziev who annihilated Tim Tszyu on Oct. 19 in Orlando, Florida.
Murtalaziev was undefeated (22-0, 16 KOs) and the reigning IBF junior middleweight champion, but he was the underdog and the “B” side. As champions go, and there are roughly five dozen across the 17 weight divisions, the California-based Russian ranked among the least well-known. He had won his title in Berlin with an 11th-round stoppage of an unexceptional 38-year-old German-Ecuadorian campaigner, Jack Culcay, and he would be making his first defense.
Managed by Egis Klimas who also handles Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko, among others, Bakhram Murtalaziev came from a good barn in the vernacular of a horseplayer, but on paper that alone was insufficient to get him over the hump against Tim Tszyu who a few short months earlier was widely considered the best 154-pound boxer in the world.
That was before he met up with Sebastian Fundora who blemished his record, but that setback could have been written off as a fluke.
As we recall, Tszyu was scheduled to fight Keith Thurman in the initial PBC offering on Amazon Prime Video, but Thurman suffered a biceps injury in training and Fundora was bumped up from the undercard to fill the breach. With only 12 days’ notice, Tim Tszyu went from fighting a five-foot-seven fighter who fights out of an orthodox stance to fighting a southpaw who stood almost a full foot taller. The “Towering Inferno” has his limitations, but poses a special problem to anyone, let alone an opponent with little time to formulate a good game plan.
Tszyu was hampered in the Fundora fight by a gash on his hairline that hampered his vision. The injury happened in the second round when he ducked under Fundora and walked into an elbow. The gash bled copiously throughout the fight and yet the best that Fundora could do was win a split (albeit fair) decision.
To say that Tszyu failed to rebound from the Fundora misadventure would be putting it mildly. Murtalaziev steamrolled him, knocking him to the canvas four times in all before Tszyu’s corner tossed in the towel at the 1:55 mark of the third stanza. It was painful to watch. Referee Chris Young was faulted for allowing the match to continue as long as it did. Compounding Tszyu’s misery, his celebrated father, a first ballot Hall of Famer, was ringside. Kostya Tszyu hadn’t seen his oldest son fight in the flesh since Tim’s pro debut in 2016.
Although the dichotomy is imperfect, Tim Tszyu, who turns 30 on Saturday, is more of a puncher than a boxer. That may work against him so far as clawing his way back to a position of prominence. The noted boxing coach Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, a keen student of the history of boxing in the modern era, expressed this sentiment in a Q and A story for Boxing Scene. “Destructive fighters usually don’t come back to full capacity after bad KO losses,” he said, citing John Mugabi, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Sonny Liston, and Naseem Hamed to illustrate his point. Moreover, added Edwards, “No one will ever be afraid of him again.”
But there were two stories that emerged from the Murtalaziev-Tszyu fight. Tim Tszyu crashed, but Bakhram Murtalaziev emerged from obscurity, announcing his presence (pardon the cliché) as a force to be reckoned with. As for his next assignment, the best guess is that it will come against Sebastian Fundora or Errol Spence Jr. who are expected to meet early next year. And based on Murtalaziev’s stunning performance in Orlando, it will be impossible to bet against him.
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Foreman-Moorer: 30 Years Later
Foreman-Moorer: 30 Years Later
By TSS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT JAMIE REBNER — In sports, middle-aged athletes are not supposed to beat opponents who are half their age and in their athletic primes. Only the greatest ones can use guile, technique, and experience to compensate for the dulling of speed, reflexes, and athleticism that have unavoidably eroded with time.
That is why George Foreman’s feat of reclaiming the heavyweight title at 45 is so impressive. It was thirty years ago this coming Tuesday, Nov 5, 1994, that Foreman scored a monumental upset in knocking out Michael Moorer to win back the title he had lost twenty years prior against Muhammad Ali in The Rumble in the Jungle. In doing so, Big George became the oldest heavyweight champion, breaking the record previously held by Jersey Joe Walcott, who had won the title at 38.
When Foreman beat Moorer, he was in the twilight of his second career, a comeback that began in 1987. George had retired in 1977 after losing to Jimmy Young and experiencing a spiritual awakening in his locker room. That led him to become a minister and devote himself to his family and congregation. During his retirement, he opened a youth center in Houston, which required much financial support, prompting him to return to the ring.
After winning 24 straight fights from 1987-1990, Foreman lost his first title shot by decision to Evander Holyfield in 1991. He rebounded from that loss with three more wins before getting a crack at the WBO title against Tommy Morrison in 1993. But his performance against Morrison was disappointing and he lost another decision. After that, Foreman was out of the ring for 17 months before he was gifted another title shot against Moorer.
Foreman got that gift because Moorer, due to his sullen demeanor and curtness with the media, was not a draw with the fans. He was also an unproven champion, having beaten Holyfield for two belts only seven months prior. So. Moorer needed a name opponent who could bring in the crowds for his first title defense. And the other top heavyweights like Oliver McCall (WBC champ), Lennox Lewis, and Riddick Bowe didn’t have close to Foreman’s drawing power. So. deserving or not, Foreman was chosen as the challenger to make a fight that would be worth the public’s attention and pockets.
Even Foreman was surprised by getting selected to fight Moorer. “I never in my wildest imagination thought I’d get a title shot again,” he told Associated Press sports columnist Tim Dahlberg. Still, George was determined to make his third time a charm.
But as motivated as George was, there was an irrefutable gap in speed between himself and the much younger champion. From the opening bell, Moorer used his superior quickness and reflexes to make Foreman look stiff and slow. And although George landed punches early on, he fired them one at a time while Moorer countered with multiple shots. But despite Moorer’s advantage in connects, his trainer Teddy Atlas advised him from the get-go not to stand in front of Foreman and make himself a stationary target for a right-hand bomb.
But Moorer failed to heed that advice as he continued to outwork Foreman in the middle rounds. Although he was winning, Moorer’s overconfidence kept him at close quarters, and he continued to circle unwisely to his left and into Foreman’s dangerous right hand. And despite absorbing many quality shots, Foreman never appeared hurt or discouraged thanks to his granite chin and unyielding resolve. He was determined to win and he was willing to walk through as many flush shots as he needed to do so.
With Moorer content to stay in range, Foreman gladly returned his firepower and he landed some telling right crosses, uppercuts, and plenty of thudding body blows during the battle. And while Moorer continued to pile up points and rounds, as long as George was marching forward and throwing shots, he had a puncher’s chance.
And with a minute to go in round ten, that punch came. After missing a three-punch combination, Foreman scored with a one-two, with the right hand landing on the forehead. He immediately repeated that combination but this time aimed the right hand lower on Moorer’s jaw. That slight adjustment caused his bulldozer right to collide perfectly with Moorer’s chin, sending the champion crashing to the canvas and sprawled onto his back. The champion couldn’t beat the count, and just like that, the fight was over, Moorer’s short-lived title run ending before it ever truly began.
With a single, shattering blow, Foreman etched his name into boxing history. Wearing the same trunks from Zaire 20 years before, he was now heavyweight champion of the world once again. It was a shocking result that defied conventional wisdom since seldom do 45-year-old boxers score knockouts over champions in their athletic primes. But Foreman reminded us that he was anything but your typical quadragenarian. He was special, and he had two distinct heavyweight championship reigns to prove it.
—
About the author:
Jamie Rebner lives in Toronto, Canada. He has been a freelance boxing writer since 2016 and his writing has appeared in The Fight City, Boxing News Online, The Ring, and Ringside Seat magazine. His Substack blog is Fight Fundamental, and he is currently writing a book about George Foreman’s comeback. He is also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @J_NReb.
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