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Why Tapales vs Akhmadaliev Promises Fireworks This Saturday

When Marlon Tapales (36-3) out of The Philippines, and Murodjon Akhmadaliev (11-0) out of Uzbekistan meet atop a deep card in the Boeing Center at Tech Port at San Antonio this Saturday, boxing will be treated to the kind of fight that has been delivering consistent excellence in the first part of 2023.
In Luis Nery versus Azat Hovhannisyan, Brandon Figueroa versus Mark Magsayo and Artem Dalakian versus David Jiminez, we got solid, exciting, competitive and often vicious fights where the fistic public didn’t have to be plugged into social media to follow fight negotiations because the negotiations were carried out in private, as is right and proper. Boxing fans did not have to dig through a series of profane-laden videos straight to camera to try to decipher clues as to the state of negotiations between the two millionaire alpha male superstars and their huge teams of accountants, lawyers and agents but could, instead, trust that the two men would turn up and fight it out at the time stated in the TV guide.
January through March, just under or just over the radar depending upon the weight class, boxing has been delivering good to great fights at a high rate across the continents for one of the best beginnings to the year in my time as a fan. Tapales-Akhmadaliev is the latest of these.
Most importantly in trying to pick these jewels out ahead of time is the relative rankings of the two fighters in question. All the examples in paragraph two were fights contested between fighters who were closely ranked in any decent appraisal of their given division. The importance of this cannot be overstated, and the phrase “decent appraisal” is doing a lot of heavy lifting. You can’t trust the ABCs, for example. The WBA are usually the worst offenders in this regard, and as an example their heavyweight rankings would promise a scintillating contest between their number four, a man named Lenier Peno and their number eight, Jonathan Guidry – honest professionals, I’m sure, but minor players to put it politely.
Tapales and Akhmadaliev can be found ranked near the top of the pack in both print and digital media and in specialist independent ratings organisations such as TBRB who rank Akhmadaliev as the number two 122lb contender in the world, and Tapales, the number six (for the record I have them at 3 and 5 respectively). This is not a guarantee of competitiveness – ranked fighters stumble past their primes and achieve underserved spots based upon careful matchmaking all the time, that’s boxing – but it is close.
Akhmadaliev’s rise to 122lb eminence has been swift and violent. After a five-year amateur career which included some impressive moments, he turned professional strapped to a rocket more commonly associated with Olympic gold medal winners. He was first scheduled to fight over ten in just his fourth fight although nobody was able to carry him that far as he strung together knockouts to carry him into the 2020s and his first fight over the twelve-round distance.
His opponent was to be Daniel Roman, highly ranked, big, fast, and much more experienced. It is this fight that confirmed Akhmadaliev as special. His bulldog frame belied his grace and quickness in getting his punches into range – his sizzling inverted one-two was more impressive than Roman’s jab/uppercut combination. He outfought Roman in the first half and even more impressively out-lasted and out-monstered him down the stretch, sweeping eight through eleven on my card to pick up an inexplicably close decision on the official scorecards.
This was a big moment for Akhmadaliev who had never boxed more than nine rounds in his career but was clearly ready to do a difficult twelve and throw enough punches to win late rounds. Engine checked and in possession of two belts, he blasted out an overmatched Ryosuke Iwasa in his ninth fight – an important match we shall return to – before all but shutting out Jose Velasquez in twelve rounds in his tenth.
His most recent fight was a twelve-round knockout of Ronny Rios and there was a feeling watching this fight unfold that Rios was summitting. Azat Hovhannisyan got Rios out of there more quickly, but the systemic breakdown Akhmadaliev put forth was in many ways more impressive. His southpaw jab triggered three and four punch combinations, his footwork brought Rios on before taking Akhmadaliev out of harm’s way; he threw an uppercut through the middle and he hurt Rios to the body as early as the fourth, also the round in which he took near complete control over the fight, losing only one more round on my card. Mixing counterpunches with leads, if a fighter can do it competently, makes the fighting environment as hostile for the opponent as any boxing execution other than perhaps a barracked pressure-stalk. Akhmadaliev showed both and that he understood the detail of both against Rios.
He also proved he carries power late. The single power punches he elected to deploy when he had Rios hurt in the twelfth and final round were chilling, the crippling body shot to the solar plexus he used to break Rios a thing of horror. Akhmadaliev loaded up only at the very end when things were essentially already decided, though it might be noted that he started missing when he did.
Tapales will also have noted though that Akhmadaliev was there throughout for an uppercut to the body and might perhaps offer a thought on Ronny’s reluctance to throw the punch he had success with, such was his fear of Akhmadaliev’s counter left. Tapales had a more circumspect rise to the top, turning professional as a teenager and suffering excusable setbacks as he moved through the distances and into new classes. These “setbacks” must have seemed easy to him compared to life’s alternative; Tapales, one of eight children, worked on a pig-farm even before he was a fifteen-year-old professional.
Either way, post 2014, Tapales seemed to have found the formula to cohabiting learning and winning. He went 12-0 between then and his 2019 contest with Ryosuke Iwasa. We ran into Iwasa above when he succumbed to Akhmadaliev in five. Iwasa, for whatever reason, just did not have the hands to keep Akhmadaliev honest or off him. Akhmadaliev cruised into him in the second and dispatched him in the fifth, uppercuts doing the damage before many straight punches in tandem prompted a slightly premature intervention by the referee.
Tapales meanwhile, lost to Iwasa, his last loss, posted right at the end of the last decade, but there were circumstances. Tapales, who won the first two rounds clearly, incorrectly had a headbutt ruled as a knockdown in the third – worse, his right eye suffered serious damage in the clash and left him hampered. He won perhaps as few as two rounds in the remainder of the fight before succumbing in the eleventh, mainly to the Iwasa left, which he may have struggled to see coming.
Interpreting this fight may be key to understanding how Saturday night will unfold, but I don’t think so. Tapales may have learned his final lesson that night, and since then he has been ruthless in deploying his offence and controlling the fight rhythms. Indeed, he has actually become a victim of his own success, a new problem being inactivity – Tapales staged his comeback fight against the limited Eden Sonsona who he blasted out in two; he then moved back to the sharper end of the division against Hiroaki Teshigawara, who he also knocked out in two; another soft touch in Jose Estrella resulted in another KO2 and Tapales had managed to post just six rounds for the decade.
But he has clearly found the third punch in his combinations and has never looked a better, more complete fighter. Whatever the detail of his contest against Iwasa, Tapales is better now. Nevertheless, Akhmadaliev will start as the favourite as the higher ranked man, the beltholder, based upon the Iwasa result and finally that propensity for targeted body punching. It does all add up to Akhmadaliev being the right pick in a possible thriller that I’ll look to see finished by body punching perhaps late in the fight. Tapales will look to take control early while Akhmadaliev is appraising him, but the jab coming the other way plus the shots Akhmadaliev builds off it will prove to be just a little too much. The stakes are high. The winner is positioned to joust with Luis Nery in determining the next opponent for the victor of the Naoya Inoue-Stephen Fulton fight later this year.
Sharing top billing on this card, Jesse Rodriguez seeks to pick up a 112lb strap against the overmatched Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez. This will probably feel like something of a procession but with Hernandez on a short streak of quick knockouts, we may be treated to early fireworks.
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Bakhodir Jalolov Returns on Thursday in Another Disgraceful Mismatch

How good is Bakhodir Jalolov? Some would argue that in terms of pure talent, the six-foot-seven southpaw from Uzbekistan who has knocked out all 14 of his opponents since turning pro, is better than any heavyweight you can name. Others say that this can’t possibly be true or his braintrust wouldn’t keep feeding him junk food. Jalolov has been brought along as gingerly as Christopher Lovejoy who was exposed as a fraud after running up a skein of 19 straight fast knockouts,
One thing that’s indisputable is that Jalolov was one of the best amateurs to come down the pike in recent memory. A three-time Olympian and two-time gold medalist, Jalolov won 58 of his last 59 amateur bouts. The exception was a match in which he did not compete which translated into a win by walkover for his opponent, countryman Lazizbek Mullojonov.
The circumstances are vague. Was Jalolov a no-show because of an injury or illness or a technicality? Amateur boxing, save in a few places or in an Olympic year, is the quintessential niche sport. The mainstream media does not cover it.
What we do know, thanks to boxrec, is that Jalolov caught up with Mullojonov in May of last year in the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk and won a split decision. And Mollojonov was no slouch. He too won a gold medal at the Paris Games, winning the heavyweight division to give the powerful Uzbekistan contingent the championship in the two heaviest weight classes.
Jalolov, whose late father was a champion free-style wrestler, has answered the bell as a pro for only 35 rounds. The Belgian-Congolese campaigner Jack Mulowayi came closest to taking the big Uzbek the distance, lasting into the eighth round of an 8-round fight. But when Jalolov closed the show, he did it with a highlight reel knockout, knocking Mulowayi into dreamland with a vicious left hook.
The KO was reminiscent of Jalolov’s most talked-about win as an amateur, his first-round blast-out of Richard Torrez Jr at a tournament in Ekaterinburg, Russia, in 2019. Torrez, knocked out cold with a left hook, left the ring on a stretcher and was removed to a hospital for evaluation.
This was the first AIBA-sanctioned international tournament in which pros were allowed to compete and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman was incensed, calling the match-up “criminal” in a tweet that was widely circulated. (Jalolov then had six pro fights under his belt.) They would meet again in the finals of the Tokyo Olympiad with the Uzbek winning a unanimous decision.
Perhaps there will be a third meeting down the road. When Jared Anderson was roughed-up and stopped by Martin Bakole, Torrez Jr (currently 12-0, 11 KOs) vaulted ahead of him on the list of the top home-grown American heavyweights. But Torrez Jr, a short-armed heavyweight who overcomes his physical limitations with a windmill offense, would be a heavy underdog should they ever meet again.
Bakhodir Jalolov’s last bout before heading off to Paris was against the obscure South African Chris Thompson. His match on Thursday at the Montreal Casino in Montreal pits him against an obscure 33-year-old Frenchman, David Spilmont.
Spilmont’s last two opponents were the same guy, an undersized Lithuanian slug who has lost 36 of his 41 documented fights. It seems almost inevitable that Spilmont will suffer the same fate as Thompson who was KOed in the first round.
There’s talk that Jalolov doesn’t really care how far he advances at the professional level; that he has his sights set on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles where he would have an opportunity to become only the fourth boxer to win three Olympic gold medals, joining the immortal Teofilo Stevenson, Hungarian legend Laszlo Papp, and Cuban standout Felix Savon. Were he to accomplish the hat trick, they would build monuments to him in Uzbekistan. But, if that is his mindset, he’s skating on thin ice. There’s no guarantee that boxing will be on the docket at the Los Angeles Games and, if so, the powers-that-be may choose to roll back the calendar to the days when the competition was off-limits to anyone with professional experience.
While it’s true that Jalolov needs to work off some rust, a pox on promoter Camille Estephan and his enabler, the Quebec Boxing Commission, for not dredging up a more credible opponent than the grossly overmatched David Spilmont.
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Jalolov vs. Spilmont is ostensibly the co-feature. The main event is a 10-round junior welterweight clash between Movladdin “Arthur” Biyarslanov (17-0, 14 KOs) and Spilmont stablemate Mohamed Mimoune (24-6, 5 KOs). Undefeated light heavyweights Albert Ramirez and Mehmet Unal will appear in separate bouts on the undercard. The Feb. 6 event, currently consisting of seven bouts, will air in the U.S. on ESPN+ starting at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.
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Claressa Shields Powers to Undisputed Heavyweight Championship

Claressa Shields blasted her way to the undisputed heavyweight championship and nearly knocked out challenger Danielle Perkins in the final seconds, but settled for a win by unanimous decision on Sunday.
Yes, she can punch.
“I just feel overwhelmed and so happy.” Shields said.
Shields (16-0, 3 KOs) proved that even the super athletic Perkins (5-1, 2 KOs), a true heavyweight, could not stop her from becoming an undisputed world champion in a third weight division at Dort Arena in Flint, Michigan, her home town.
In the opening round it was easy to see the size difference. Shields calmly measured Perkins long right jabs then countered with rocket rights through the guard. The speed was evident in Shield’s punches. Perkins used jabs to work her way in but was caught with counters.
“That girl was strong as hell,” said Shields describing Perkins.
Perkins, a southpaw, was somewhat confident that she was the stronger puncher and the stronger fighter overall. But when Shields connected with 10 rocket overhand rights in the third round the power moved Perkins several feet backward.
Suddenly, Perkins realized that indeed Shields has power.
Perkins became more cautious with her approaches. Though the true heavyweight was not frozen in fear, she was wary about getting caught flush with Shields rights. But bullet jabs and lightning combinations still rained on Perkins.
Finding a way to nullify Shields speed was crucial for Perkins.
The former basketball player Perkins continually proved her athleticism with agile moves here and there, but Shields just was superior in every way.
When Perkins became focused too much on the right, a Shields left hook caught the New York native flush. Suddenly there was another Shields weapon to worry about.
Many critics of Shields had focused on her lack of knockouts. But in her previous fight against another heavyweight, the two-time Olympic gold medalist surprised Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse with knockout power. It’s the same power Shields showed Perkins as if firing a fast ball by powering her right with leverage by using her left leg to produce momentum and an explosive punch.
In the 10th and final round Shields and Perkins exchanged blows. Perkins was looking to connect with one of her power shots when suddenly Shields countered with a perfectly timed right to the chin and down went Perkins with about 10 seconds remaining. She beat the count to finish the round.
“I showed I was the bigger puncher and better boxer,” said Shields. “I knew I could do it because I’m really strong at heavyweight.”
All three judges favored Shields 100-89, 99-90 and 97-92.
It was another convincing performance by Shields. So what is next for the best female fighter pound for pound?
“I want to fight Franchon Crews, Hanna Gabriels,” said Shields also naming a few others. “Flint, (Michigan) I love you all so much.”
Other Bouts
A heavyweight clash saw why there is a rule against holding. Brandon Moore (17-1) and Skylar Lacy (8-1-2) punched and held throughout their eight rounds. Referee Steve Willis finally disqualified Lacy when he tackled Moore and took him through the ropes and on to table below.
No, holding and clinching is not part of the fight game. Now you know why.
Moore was ruled the winner by disqualification due to unsportsmanlike conduct by Lacy at 1:35 of the eighth. No need to describe the fight.
A battle between undefeated welterweights saw Joseph Hicks (12-0, 8 KOs) stop Keon Papillon (10-1-1, 7 KOs) at 1:35 of the seventh round. Hicks stunned Papillon at the end of the sixth, then unloaded in the seventh round to force a stoppage.
Joshua Pagan (12-0) out-battled Ronal Ron (16-8) over eight rounds to win the lightweight match by unanimous decision.
Samantha Worthington (11-0) defeated Vaida Masiokaite (10-27-6) by decision after eight rounds in a super lightweight bout.
Featherweight Caroline Veyre (9-1) out-boxed the shorter Carmen Vargas (5-3-1) to win by decision after six rounds.
Super bantamweight Asheleyann Lozada (1-0) won her pro debut by unanimous decision over Denise Moran (3-1) in a four-round fight.
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Benavidez Defeats Morrell; Cruz, Fulton, and Ramos also Victorious at Las Vegas

David Benavidez showed fans why they call him “El Monstro” as he plowed through Cuba’s heavy-punching David Morrell to retain a number one ranking in the light heavyweight division by unanimous decision on Saturday.
Not even a flash knockdown for Morrell could make a difference.
Phoenix native Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) gave Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) his first loss as a professional in front of more than 15,000 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. No one needed to hear the judge’s decision.
“I prepared for everything. I know he’s a great fighter,” said Benavidez. “I thought he was going to hit harder, but he didn’t.”
Before the fight, Morrell was almost an even bet according to oddsmakers, but that was not the case once the fight commenced.
Immediately Benavidez pounded the body and exposed the weaknesses of Morrell’s peek-a-boo defense by using his own left glove to push down the Cuban’s guard. Then immediately firing a crushing right to the jaw.
For the first four rounds Benavidez pounded away on the left and right side of Morrell’s body. And when the openings came the uppercuts caught Morrell’s chin. But he absorbed the blows.
Morrell didn’t waver in trying to find a solution. Though Benavidez connected often to the body and head, the Cuban fighter who moved up from super middleweight displayed a very solid chin.
In the fourth round during a furious exchange Morrell beat Benavidez to the punch that stunned him momentarily. But the blow seemed to spark outrage and a storm of blows followed from Benavidez.
It must have seemed like a nightmare for Morrell.
At times the Cuban fighter would connect perfectly with a right hook and pause. Then Benavidez would return fire with massive blows.
The look on Morrell’s face bore traces of disappointment.
As the rounds continued Benavidez became emboldened by his success. Soon the Mexican Monster began launching lead right uppercuts through Morrell’s guard especially in the sixth round.
“He was easier to hit than I expected,” Benavidez said.
During the breaks Morrell’s corner asked him to pressure Benavidez. It was a fruitless suggestion. How do you corner a Monster?
Benavidez continued to stalk Morrell who never stopped swinging but could not seem to hurt the Monster. In the 11th round Morrell managed to catch Benavidez perfectly with a right hook and down went Benavidez. He immediately got up and the two fighters unloaded on each other. Morrell fired one punch after the bell and was deducted a point by referee Thomas Taylor. That negated the extra point gained from the knockdown.
“I wasn’t really hurt,” said Benavidez. “That bullshit knockdown caught me off-balance.”
The final round saw both resume their efforts to knock the other out. Both showed great chins and the ability to trade. Benavidez was simply better. Even Morrell didn’t wait for the decision to be read as he raised the arm of the Monster at the final bell. All three judges scored in favor of Benavidez 115-111 twice and 118-108.
“He knows this is Monstro’s world. Big shout out for Morrell, he’s a tough fighter,” Benavidez said.
Other Bouts
In a fight dedicated to honor the late Israel Vazquez, the ultimate Aztec warrior, super lightweights Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (27-3-1) and Angel Fierro (23-3-2) battled like demons for 10 nonstop rounds. Cruz was ruled the winner by unanimous decision.
With little resemblance of defense, Cruz and Fierro whacked each other relentlessly with shots that might have stopped a moving car. Cruz was tagged by a right cross on the top of the head that staggered him momentarily. Fierro was driven back four feet by an overhand right to the chin early in the fight.
Both fighters took cruel and unusual punishment and never wavered more than a few seconds. It was brutal war and fans were the winners after 10 rounds of violent and savage action.
All three judges saw Cruz the winner 96-94, 97-93, 98-92.
“I’m so happy I gave the fans a great fight,” Cruz said.
Fulton Wins
Stephen Fulton (23-1, 8 KOs) defeated Brandon Figueroa (23-2-1, 19 KOs) again and took the WBC featherweight title by unanimous decision after 12 rounds. He had previously defeated Figueroa in 2021 for the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles.
Most of the action took place in nose-to-nose fashion where Fulton landed the cleaner shots especially with uppercuts. Figueroa had his moments but was unable to hurt the challenger who lost to Naoya Inoue by knockout 17 months ago.
Fulton landed clean shots but as his record shows he lacks the power with only eight knockouts on his record. But Figueroa was unable to hurt or knock down Fulton. After 12 rounds all three judges saw Fulton win by scores of 116-112 twice and 117-111,
“It feels good. I’m champion again,” said Fulton.
Ramos Wins
Jesus Ramos (22-1, 18 KOs) won by technical knockout over former world champion Jeison Rosario (24-5-2) in the eighth round of a middleweight fight. Both fighters attacked the body but by the sixth round Ramos was the busier fighter and began to dominate the fight. At 2:18 of the eighth round referee Robert Hoyle stopped the fight.
“I like to throw a lot of body punches. It’s kind of my style,” said Ramos.
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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