Nontshinga vs Suganob is Worth Tracking Down This Weekend

Published

3 months ago

June 28, 2023

Nontshinga-vs-Suganob-is-Worth-Tracking-Down-This-Weekend

“Sivenathi is supposed to beat Suganob,” according to South African boxing kingpin Andile Sidinile. “Suganob has no power to scare off Sivenathi. He’s just a good fighter.”

This is as succinct a summary of this weekend’s superb clash between elite 108lb contenders Sivenathi Nontshinga (11-0), out of South Africa, and Filipino Regie Suganob (13-0) as can be made. Nontshinga, ranked #5, has the makings of a special fighter. This Sunday, on home soil in East London, SA, he will make the first defence of a strap he won in the hostile territory of Mexico against Hector Flores Calixto, via decision. Aged just twenty-four, “The Special One” surprised in this fight, his coming of age, in choosing war over crafty boxing. Styled from the footwork up to a ramrod jab, he stopped throwing that punch in the fourth, a 2022 round of the year contender, arguably exceeded in some senses by the fifth before he and Calixto took turns brutalising each other in the sixth. Nontshinga received a complete gut, chin and stamina check all in one brutal Mexican evening.

Blood drenched even the ringside paperwork by the end of the fight; Nontshinga had his hand raised on a split. I saw the South African’s superior work edging him home by a narrow margin over the Mexican’s exhausted volume, but a card for Calixto would not have been a robbery. Right-handed quality in the early part of the fight is what brought him the decision on my card and perhaps he should be thankful to have been treated so fairly so far from home.

Pitching the Calixto win is key to understanding Nontshinga, who, after all, was taking a big step up in a difficult learning fight. It is a fact, however, that Calixto was stopped in ten by journeyman flyweight Mario Gutierrez earlier this year. It could be that Nontshinga brutalised the best out of Calixto, such was the violence of that encounter, but it could be that Nontshinga’s punches have been overestimated by the weaker company he kept before that step up. The punches look the part, certainly, but power can be difficult to appraise without the competition to provide the test. Enter Regie Suganob, who is actively looking for a rerun of the Nontshinga-Calixto war.

Manager Floriezyl Podot has repeated often in the build-up that he hopes Nontshinga doesn’t “run” while mysteriously referencing “two areas” they feel they can exploit. Goading the man who splattered ringsiders with Calixto’s blood is a brave strategy indeed, but Suganob is not a man unaccustomed to overcoming the odds.

Suganob was little more than a handy undefeated local in his elimination match with more colourful countryman Mark Vicelles, but it was clear from the very first that this was going to be something different. Vicelles won that first round, but Suganob demonstrated three fascinating traits – a skill at countering the Vicelles jab; a nice counter left hook; and most of all, a watchfulness, a stillness and composure that allowed him to make use of these. This last should be noted because if Suganob is to defeat Nontshinga that patience in reading is going to be the key. It breathes life into a foraging, improvised style.

In the fourth round of his fight with Vicelles, Suganob added a straight-right to his hook, and countered his bigger opponent to the canvas at which point he assumed control of both the round and the fight. By the sixth the fight was a technical mismatch. Suganob was landing lead right hands before a left hook finally finishing the combination on another right-hand, outrageous combination-punching against a favoured fighter but simply put, Suganob saw and read his man before punishing him accordingly. It took half of the scheduled twelve for him to unpick the opposition’s style and then correctly identify the punches that would most punish him. This is not the work of a 13-0 combat athlete.

But nor does Nontshinga box like an 11-0 combat athlete. There are, however, certain shortfalls in amongst his speed, fleet-footwork and apparent power that might make him vulnerable to an ad-libbed strategy built from a technically sure base. Nontshinga’s jab is a hurtful, well-formed punch but he does not use it with the variety of a veteran. Nor does Suganob, but the important difference here is that Suganob specialises in countering this punch. Suganob is no more proven against quality opposition, or quality jabs, than Nontshinga, but Nontshinga lost his jab in the Calixto win, too. This may have been a matter of choice rather than a forced adaptation, but I do feel that Nontshinga’s jab has been predictable and that might play right into the left-hook/straight right combination punching of Suganob. He might be able to time Nontshinga’s speed, and his jab, both.

“I don’t underestimate him, I respect him as a boxer,” Nontshinga has said of Suganob. “But we’re going to win this fight by knockout.”

I liked reading this. This, in combination with Podot’s jibe about Nontshinga “running” makes me wonder if perhaps we won’t see a re-run of Nontshinga’s last, thrilling fight, although it should be noted that brawling is not Suganob’s primary style, either. It is more likely that Suganob wants Nontshinga attacking because it gives him more opportunities to score high-class counter combos for points. It would be unusual and delightful both if Suganob elected to plant his feet and duke it out but this fight doesn’t need early drama to develop into a classic. Disputed early rounds could bait a war out of these two men in the second half of the fight and calling it would be difficult, not despite their inexperience but because of it. There is no way to know how Nontshinga would react to being out-sniped, and no way to know how Suganob would respond to the attack Nontshinga laid down upon Calixto.

In the final analysis, Nontshinga should probably be favoured but I think Suganob is a very live dog. Catching this one may be difficult. It is listed on the DAZN slate with first bell around 9 am ET/2 pm BST, but there remains some question about whether the streaming platform will pick it up at this late date. Personally, I am just happy to see it going ahead given how close it seemed to being cancelled. Already postponed once from mid-June, reportedly for South African broadcast purposes, it was alleged that the fight was in jeopardy due to money the IBF had not been paid by Rumble Africa Promotions who did work for Nontshinga. He has since signed with Matchroom.

If this one drops to politics it will be the third such fight to evaporate this year already, and a tragedy. I hesitate to suggest this will be another fight of the year contender, but it is also true that I slept on Nontshinga-Calixto. Whether on DAZN or another platform – and there are usually late carriers for these more minor title fights — this one will be worth tracking down.

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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Published

22 hours ago

September 24, 2023

David A. Avila

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.

It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.

Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.

Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.

Bustillo Wins Rematch

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In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.

Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.

Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.

After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.

Other Bouts

In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.

A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Published

1 day ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

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Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.

SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.

It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.

Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.

Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.

Other Bouts of Note

The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.

The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.

In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing

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Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

Published

2 days ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

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Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.

In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.

In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.

Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”

He meant it as a rhetorical question.

Semi-Windup

Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.

A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.

Also

Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.

In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.

The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.

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