Two Fascinating Tussles Gird Saturday’s Lomachenko-Haney Showdown

Published

2 years ago

May 15, 2023

Two Fascinating Tussles Gird Saturday’s Lomachenko-Haney Showdown

For all that the big fights are the ones that anchor the sport, for me it is a good undercard that makes it breathe.

It is possible to spend the early hours of the morning here in the UK waiting for Tank Davis and Ryan Garcia to appear in the ring with only a series of mismatches and minor attractions for company. Not so this weekend when two genuinely attractive undercard matches will play out while we wait for Vasyl Lomachenko and Devin Haney to reach the squared circle.

First among these is the Andrew Moloney-Junto Nakatani match at 115lbs, a contest that infers bravery in the fighters who made it happen, a genuinely fascinating fight that will be sure to tug at the thinking of Sweet Science readers. Moloney’s twin brother Jason won himself a strap in a close, strange fight this past weekend against Vincent Astrolabio, an awkward puncher from the Philippines and a difficult assignment for anyone up at bantamweight. At superfly, Andrew (25-2), out of Australia, seems to have hunted down a similarly awkward opponent in the form of a tall, Japanese southpaw puncher with a 24-0 record, for his own pursuit of alphabet riches.

Nakatani has been a joy to behold as he’s moved into the 115lb top ten (currently ranked number nine to Moloney’s eight). Boxing out of a deep stance he forgoes what is generally a height advantage at five feet seven inches and instead positions himself for maximum return on his power-punches. That aggressive gamble has bought him a knockout in 75% of his fights, including a six-fight streak that stretched from 2022 back into the last decade.

Selecting a favourite from among these is difficult, but his stoppage of Filipino tough Giemel Magramo in 2020 was perhaps the most impressive. Magramo (now 28-3) has been beaten before and since, but never has he been stopped; Nakatani lashed him apart with long straights in eight rounds. Magramo crowded him until almost the last though and Nakatani, who is perhaps hampered a little by an absence of elite handspeed, used footwork to make room for himself and balance to take advantage of punching opportunities, hitting round the corner to the body and with uppercuts to Magramo’s dipping head. Not a technician in the most meaningful sense of the word, Nakatani is technically sure and can improvise.

He impressed, too, in what was his only fight outside Japan to this date, stopping Angel Costa, once a beltholder down at 108lbs, in four rounds at the Casino Del Sol, Tucson. After that victory in defence of the 112lbs strap he won against Magramo, Nakatani boxed once more at 112lbs then left for 115lbs, running into the first man to go the distance with him in years: teak tough Mexican Francisco Rodriguez Jr. Amongst the most durable fighters on earth, Rodriguez provided for Nakatani something of a final engine check. The Japanese stood toe-to-toe with his opponent in the tenth and final round, all but outfighting the Mexican on the inside where Rodriguez was meant to dominate. He won every other round on my card.

There is absolutely no shame in failing to break a chin or will like that of Rodriguez, but it does bring us to the edge of Nakatani’s limitations. Rodriguez is not big at 115lbs and has a lot of wear on him and a fighter of Nakatani’s freshness and offensive capabilities may have been expected to make a dent – now we know where the outer limit lies.

What this means for Andrew Moloney is now the question to hand. Andrew is durable, without question, but has been dropped several times in his career, most notably against another tough Filipino, Richard Claveras. Claveras bothered Andrew with a volume of long uppercuts and improvised punches from that family and although Andrew won the fight clean, Nakatani is a different machine – but one who can improvise with the same sort of punch to fine effect. It was improvised straight left hands, too, that saw Andrew decked by Joshua Franco in their June 2020 contest. This was also something of a flash knockdown, but it cost Andrew a majority draw. These small vulnerabilities matter and it seems that sudden, runaway attacks might be the key to getting Andrew off his feet.

That single point difference on two scorecards earned him a rematch with Franco, resulting in 2020s most controversial result. The woeful Russell Mora decreed a phantom “accidental headbutt” early in the fight as the cause of swelling to Franco’s right eye when repeated viewings of the fight film reveal no such thing. What should have been ruled a technical knockout victory was instead rendered a No Contest despite the use of replays to aid in these decisions being in play in Nevada at the time. Andrew, rightly, was furious and the irony could not have been lost upon him when an instant replay in the third fight of this unexpected trilogy corrected a badly called knockdown in his favour. He dropped a unanimous decision.

Most notable for me in that fight was Andrew’s late collapse. While his brother Jason demonstrates elite conditioning in every fight, Andrew dropped five of the six rounds in the second half of the third Franco fight by my card and the last four rounds all went to Franco on the official scorecards. Essentially, Franco outwaited him with a compact, economic style while Andrew burned through energy moving and hitting. More recently in dominating Norbelto Jimenez, Andrew boxed in a compact, jab-heavy, aggressive style possibly designed to address these shortcomings, but such a style will also have risks against Nakatani. Likely though it is a better bet than trying to outfight the version of Nakatani that turned up in the ninth and tenth rounds of his fight with Rodriguez.

Still, I favour Nakatani. Andrew Moloney will be the best technician the Japanese has faced, but he did wreck Milan Melindo back in 2019; even a past-prime Melindo presents some of the technical challenges Moloney will muster. I look for Nakatani to take over late after a rough start and win a decision in a more violent re-run of the third Franco fight.

Of secondary interest is the rematch between the world’s number two at 130lbs, Mexican Oscar Valdez (30-1), and unranked American featherweight Adam Lopez (16-4). Normally this is not a confrontation to whet the appetite but the circumstances surrounding the first fight fascinates. Originally scheduled to fight different opponents on the 2019 undercard for the Carlos Adames-Patrick Teixeira match, both seemed to have lost out on paydays when their respective fights fell through the day before the contest – boxing’s chaotic organisation for once paid off as the two were matched against one another instead and produced fireworks.

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In a chance of a lifetime, Lopez found himself unexpectedly fighting in an alphabet eliminator and he came within seconds of winning. In the second, a technically loose Valdez put his head where it probably should not have been, and Lopez chased him with a right then lashed against his movement with a hook going the other way. Valdez was down and this was not a flash; he seemed tangled in his own limbs as he fought his way to his feet. Lopez went after his man but in a controlled fashion that I suspect he may now regret, and Valdez boxed his way steadily back into the contest over the following two rounds, before our friend Russell Mora stepped in for yet another inappropriate intervention in stopping the fight with seconds remaining in the seventh.

Lopez deserves his rematch and although Valdez will be a favourite almost as prohibitive as he was in their first fight, I will be glued to this one. Valdez hasn’t boxed a round since his April 2022 thrashing at the hands of Shakur Stevenson and hasn’t won a fight since September of 2021. If winning is a habit, Valdez is not in it, and while he has boxed with mixed fortunes, Valdez has contested eighteen rounds in that time.

These two fascinating tussles will precede the Haney-Lomachenko showdown on a night of boxing which is not to be missed.

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Jorge Garcia is the TSS Fighter of the Month for April

Published

2 days ago

April 28, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Jorge-Garcia-is-the-TSS-Fighter-of-the-Month-for-April

Jorge Garcia has a lot in common with Mexican countrymen Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza. In common with those two, both reigning world title-holders, Garcia is big for his weight class and bubbled out of obscurity with a triumph forged as a heavy underdog in a match contested on American soil.

Garcia had his “coming of age party” on April 19 in the first boxing event at the new Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California (roughly 35 miles north of San Diego), a 7,500-seat facility whose primary tenant is an indoor soccer team. It was a Golden Boy Promotions event and in the opposite corner was a Golden Boy fighter, Charles Conwell.

A former U.S. Olympian, Conwell was undefeated (21-0, 16 KOs) and had won three straight inside the distance since hooking up with Golden Boy whose PR department ballyhooed him as the most avoided fighter in the super welterweight division. At prominent betting sites, Conwell was as high as a 12/1 favorite.

The lanky Garcia was 32-4 (26 KOs) heading in, but it was easy to underestimate him as he had fought extensively in Tijuana where the boxing commission is notoriously docile and in his home state of Sinaloa. This would be only his second fight in the U.S. However, it was noteworthy in hindsight that three of his four losses were by split decision.

Garcia vs. Conwell was a robust affair. He and Conwell were credited with throwing 1451 punches combined. In terms of punches landed, there was little to choose between them but the CompuBox operator saw Garcia landing more power punches in eight of the 12 rounds. At the end, the verdict was split but there was no controversy.

An interested observer was Sebastian Fundora who was there to see his sister Gabriela defend her world flyweight titles. Sebastian owns two pieces of the 154-pound world title where the #1 contender per the WBO is Xander Zayas who keeps winning, but not with the verve of his earlier triumphs.

With his upset of Charles Conwell, Jorge Garcia has been bumped into the WBO’s #2 slot. Regardless of who he fights next, Garcia will earn the biggest payday of his career.

Honorable mention: Aaron McKenna

McKenna was favored to beat veteran campaigner Liam Smith in the co-feature to the Eubank-Benn battle this past Saturday in London, but he was stepping up in class against a former world title-holder who had competed against some of the top dogs in the middleweight division and who had famously stopped Chris Eubank Jr in the first of their two encounters. Moreover, the venue, Tottenham Hotspur, the third-largest soccer stadium in England, favored the 36-year-old Liverpudlian who was accustomed to a big fight atmosphere having fought Canelo Alvarez before 50,000-plus at Arlington Stadium in Texas.

McKenna, from the small town of Monaghan, Ireland, wasn’t overwhelmed by the occasion. With his dad Feargal in his corner and his fighting brother Stephen McKenna cheering him on from ringside, Aaron won a wide decision in his first 12-round fight, punctuating his victory by knocking Smith to his knees with a body punch in the 12^th round. In fact, if he hadn’t had a point deducted for using his elbow, the Irishman would have pitched a shutout on one of the scorecards.

“There might not be a more impressive example of a fighter moving up in class,” wrote Tris Dixon of the 25-year-old “Silencer” who improved his ledger to 20-0 (10).

Photo credits: Garcia/Conwell photo compliments of Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy; McKenna-Smith provided by Mark Robinson/Matchroom

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Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Published

3 days ago

April 27, 2025

David A. Avila

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Feudal bragging rights belong to Chris Eubank Jr. who out-lasted Conor Benn to
emerge victorious by unanimous decision in a non-title middleweight match held in
London on Saturday.

Fighting for their family heritage Eubank (35-3, 26 KOs) and Benn (23-1, 14 KOs)
continued the battle between families started 35 years ago by their fathers at Tottenham
Hotspur Stadium.

More than 65,000 fans attended.

Though Eubank Jr. had a weight and height advantage and a record of smashing his
way to victory via knockout, he had problems hurting the quicker and more agile Benn.
And though Benn had the advantage of moving up two weight divisions and forcing
Eubank to fight under a catch weight, the move did not weaken him much.

Instead, British fans and boxing fans across the world saw the two family rivals pummel
each other for all 12 rounds. Neither was able to gain separation.

Eubank looked physically bigger and used a ramming left jab to connect early in the
fight. Benn immediately showed off his speed advantage and surprised many with his
ability to absorb a big blow.Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Benn scrambled around with his quickness and agility and scored often with bigcounters.

It took him a few rounds to stop overextending himself while delivering power shots.

In the third round Benn staggered Eubank with a left hook but was unable to follow up
against the dangerous middleweight who roared back with flurries of blows.

Eubank was methodic in his approach always moving forward, always using his weight
advantage via the shoulder to force Benn backward. The smaller Benn rocketed
overhand rights and was partly successful but not enough to force Eubank to retreat.
In the seventh round a right uppercut snapped Benn’s head violently but he was
undeterred from firing back. Benn’s chin stood firm despite Eubank’s vaunted power and
size advantage.

“I didn’t know he had that in him,” Eubank said.

Benn opened strong in the eighth round with furious blows. And though he connected
he was unable to seriously hurt Eubank. And despite being drained by the weight loss,
the middleweight fighter remained strong all 12 rounds.

There were surprises from both fighters.

Benn was effective targeting the body. Perhaps if he had worked the body earlier he
would have found a better result.

With only two rounds remaining Eubank snapped off a right uppercut again and followed
up with body shots. In the final stanza Eubank pressed forward and exchanged with the
smaller Benn until the final bell. He simply out-landed the fighter and impressed all three
judges who scored it 116-112 for Eubank.

Eubank admitted he expected a knockout win but was satisfied with the victory.
“I under-estimated him,” Eubank said.

Benn was upset by the loss but recognized the reasons.

“He worked harder toward the end,” said Benn.

McKenna Wins

In his first test in the elite level Aaron McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) showed his ability to fight
inside or out in soundly defeating former world champion Liam Smith (33-5-1, 20 KOs)
by unanimous decision to win a regional WBA middleweight title.

Smith has made a career out of upsetting young upstarts but discovered the Irish fighter
more than capable of mixing it up with the veteran. It was a rough fight throughout the
12 rounds but McKenna showed off his abilities to fight as a southpaw or right-hander
with nary a hiccup.

McKenna had trained in Southern California early in his career and since that time he’s
accrued a variety of ways to fight. He was smooth and relentless in using his longer
arms and agility against Smith on the outside or in close.

In the 12 th round, McKenna landed a perfectly timed left hook to the ribs and down went
Smith. The former champion got up and attempted to knock out the tall
Irish fighter but could not.

All three judges scored in favor of McKenna 119-108, 117-109, 118-108.

Other Bouts
Anthony Yarde (27-3) defeated Lyndon Arthur (24-3) by unanimous decision after 12 rounds. in a light heavyweight match. It was the third time they met. Yarde won the last two fights.

Chris Billam-Smith (21-2) defeated Brandon Glanton (20-3) by decision. It was his first
fight since losing the WBO cruiserweight world title to Gilberto Ramirez last November.

Viddal Riley (13-0) out-worked Cheavon Clarke (10-2) in a 12-round back-and-forth-contest to win a unanimous decision.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 323: Benn vs Eubank Family Feud and More

Published

6 days ago

April 24, 2025

David A. Avila

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Next generation rivals Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. carry on the family legacy of feudal warring in the prize ring on Saturday.

This is huge in British boxing.

Eubank (34-3, 25 KOs) holds the fringe IBO middleweight title but won’t be defending it against the smaller welterweight Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) on Saturday, April 26, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.

This is about family pride.

The parents of Eubank and Benn actually began the feud in the 1990s.

Papa Nigel Benn fought Papa Chris Eubank twice. Losing as a middleweight in November 1990 at Birmingham, England, then fighting to a draw as a super middleweight in October 1993 in Manchester. Both were world title fights.

Eubank was undefeated and won the WBO middleweight world title in 1990 against Nigel Benn by knockout. He defended it three times before moving up and winning the vacant WBO super middleweight title in September 1991. He defended the super middleweight title 14 times before suffering his first pro defeat in March 1995 against Steve Collins.

Benn won the WBO middleweight title in April 1990 against Doug DeWitt and defended it once before losing to Eubank in November 1990. He moved up in weight and took the WBC super middleweight title from Mauro Galvano in Italy by technical knockout in October 1992. He defended the title nine times until losing in March 1996. His last fight was in November 1996, a loss to Steve Collins.

Animosity between the two families continues this weekend in the boxing ring.

Conor Benn, the son of Nigel, has fought mostly as a welterweight but lately has participated in the super welterweight division. He is several inches shorter in height than Eubank but has power and speed. Kind of a British version of Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

“It’s always personal, every opponent I fight is personal. People want to say it’s strictly business, but it’s never business. If someone is trying to put their hands on me, trying to render me unconscious, it’s never business,” said Benn.

This fight was scheduled twice before and cut short twice due to failed PED tests by Benn. The weight limit agreed upon is 160 pounds.

Eubank, a natural middleweight, has exchanged taunts with Benn for years. He recently avenged a loss to Liam Smith with a knockout victory in September 2023.

“This fight isn’t about size or weight. It’s about skill. It’s about dedication. It’s about expertise and all those areas in which I excel in,” said Eubank. “I have many, many more years of experience over Conor Benn, and that will be the deciding factor of the night.”

Because this fight was postponed twice, the animosity between the two feuding fighters has increased the attention of their fans. Both fighters are anxious to flatten each other.

“He’s another opponent in my way trying to crush my dreams. trying to take food off my plate and trying to render me unconscious. That’s how I look at him,” said Benn.

Eubank smiles.

“Whether it’s boxing, whether it’s a gun fight. Defense, offense, foot movement, speed, power. I am the superior boxer in each of those departments and so many more – which is why I’m so confident,” he said.

Supporting Bout

Former world champion Liam Smith (33-4-1, 20 KOs) tangles with Ireland’s Aaron McKenna (19-0, 10 KOs) in a middleweight fight set for 12 rounds on the Benn-Eubank undercard in London.

“Beefy” Smith has long been known as one of the fighting Smith brothers and recently lost to Eubank a year and a half ago. It was only the second time in 38 bouts he had been stopped. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez did it several years ago.

McKenna is a familiar name in Southern California. The Irish fighter fought numerous times on Golden Boy Promotion cards between 2017 and 2019 before returning to the United Kingdom and his assault on continuing the middleweight division. This is a big step for the tall Irish fighter.

It’s youth versus experience.

“I’ve been calling for big fights like this for the last two or three years, and it’s a fight I’m really excited for. I plan to make the most of it and make a statement win on Saturday night,” said McKenna, one of two fighting brothers.

Monster in L.A.

Japan’s super star Naoya “Monster” Inoue arrived in Los Angeles for last day workouts before his Las Vegas showdown against Ramon Cardenas on Sunday May 4, at T-Mobile Arena. ESPN will televise and stream the Top Rank card.

It’s been four years since the super bantamweight world champion performed in the US and during that time Naoya (29-0, 26 KOs) gathered world titles in different weight divisions. The Japanese slugger has also gained fame as perhaps the best fighter on the planet. Cardenas is 26-1 with 14 KOs.

Pomona Fights

Super featherweights Mathias Radcliffe (9-0-1) and Ezequiel Flores (6-4) lead a boxing card called “DMG Night of Champions” on Saturday April 26, at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Pomona, Calif.

Michaela Bracamontes (11-2-1) and Jesus Torres Beltran (8-4-1) will be fighting for a regional WBC super featherweight title. More than eight bouts are scheduled.

Doors open at 6 p.m. For ticket information go to: www.tix.com/dmgnightofchampions

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 9 a.m. Conor Benn (23-0) vs Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3); Liam Smith (33-4-1) vs Aaron McKenna (19-0).

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