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Avila Perspective, Chap. 246: Undefeated Welterweight Kings, Seniesa and More

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 246: Undefeated Welterweight Kings, Seniesa and More

When Terence Crawford meets Errol Spence Jr. in the prize ring in Las Vegas it marks a special rare occurrence for professional boxing.

It’s been 24 years since two undefeated welterweights ranked among the top fighters pound-for-pound met in a Las Vegas boxing ring. That was Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya.

It’s happening again.

WBO welterweight titlist Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) looks to determine if he, or WBA, WBC, IBF titlist Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) deserve all the juice when they meet Saturday July 29, at T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas Strip. Showtime pay-per-view will televise the TGB Promotions card.

“It would be a dream come true to become the first welterweight undisputed champion of the world in the four-belt era,” said Spence. “I watched all the great fighters as a kid. Now, I get to have my moment.”

Back in September 1999, De La Hoya was undefeated and coming off wins against Ike Quartey, Oba Carr and Julio Cesar Chavez. Trinidad was a wrecking machine and bowled over Pernell Whitaker and Hugo Pineda. The two welterweight kings met at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

It was a packed arena and celebrities like Jack Nicholson, Big Pun and Jennifer Tilly were among the stars eager to watch the two welterweight super stars. That night De La Hoya raced in front with a hit and move strategy for the first eight rounds. Then, Trinidad slipped into a more offensive gear and won by majority decision.

Neither fighter was knocked down nor hurt in the epic match.

Now we have another pair of undefeated welterweights with sterling records, speed, power and both eager to reach superstar status.

Spence, 33, fights out of a southpaw stance and hails from Texas where he developed his style that took him to the 2012 London Olympics. As a pro, he’s never tasted defeat but had a razor-close battle against Shawn Porter four years ago in Los Angeles. Spence scored a late knockdown and won by a split decision.

Crawford, 35, also fights out of a southpaw stance or orthodox, depending on the moment. He’s racked up world titles in the lightweight, super lightweight and welterweight divisions. The first time I saw Crawford perform was on the undercard of Brandon Rios and Richar Abril in April 2012 in Las Vegas.

One common foe was Shawn Porter who was stopped by Crawford in the 10th round at the Mandalay Bay. Porter retired from fighting immediately after the fight.

Each has their own unique way of stalking an opponent. Spence prefers a strategic technical pressure style and batters away. Crawford has a more herky-jerky approach and uses angles to open up attacks.

“My name is already up there with the all-time greatest welterweight fighters. It’s just a matter of going out there on Saturday and putting the cherry on top and furthering my legacy,” said Crawford.

Both welterweights have solid chins, speed and power. The winner may end up as the pound for pound king depending on the mode of victory.

A guy from Japan named Naoya Inoue just obliterated super bantamweight champ Stephen Fulton to win his fourth division world title. He may have something to say about the new kingpin of boxing.

T-Mobile Undercard

Mexico’s Isaac “Pit Bull” Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KOs) returns and faces Chicago’s undefeated Giovanni Cabrera (21-0, 7 KOs) in a lightweight battle and title eliminator for the WBA and WBC titles in the semi-main event. Cruz has become very popular since matching blows with Gervonta “Tank” Davis two years ago in Los Angeles.

Also, legendary Nonito Donaire (42-7, 28 KOs) returns and meets Mexico’s Alexandro Santiago (27-3-5, 14 KOs) for the vacant WBC bantamweight world title. Donaire lost that title to Inoue in his last fight. The Japanese champion has moved up.

Monster

Well, Naoya Inoue has done it again.

After winning three division world titles including the undisputed bantamweight championship, Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue went after WBA and WBC super bantamweight titlist Stephen Fulton and took his belts too.

Now Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) has four division world titles. Many expect new pound for pound lists to name Inoue as the number one fighter in the world. It remains to be seen until Spence and Crawford are finished with their affair.

Can anyone stop the Monster?

Seniesa Estrada Owns Friday

Speaking about pound for pound fighters, petite Seniesa “Super Bad’ Estrada (on the left) claims Friday night all her own when she defends the WBA and WBC minimumweight world titles against Leonela Yudica of Argentina.

East L.A’s Estrada (24-0) meets Argentina’s Yudica (19-1-3) at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Friday July 28. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank Card live.

Yudica is a former world champion who lost her IBF flyweight title to Mexico’s Arely Mucino in a brutal struggle. She is dropping down in weight to meet Estrada for the minimumweight world titles.

“I’m positive that they have underestimated me. I have had a lot of fights, and I have a lot of experience. I defended my flyweight title 10 times,” said Yudica at the press conference. “And while it is a great challenge to be going down in weight, I am ready and prepared to show that I have everything it takes to become world champion again.”

Estrada has won titles in the light flyweight and flyweight titles as well.

“I never overlook any opponent. I know that she has faced tough champions before, and she is not afraid to take a risk and fight champions. But my style is unlike any other champion she’s faced,” said Estrada.

Fights to Watch

Fri. ESPN+ 4:30 p.m. Seniesa Estrada (24-0) vs Leonela Yudica (19-1-3); Abraham Nova (22-1) vs Jonathan Romero (35-1).

Sat. Showtime ppv 5 p.m. Errol Spence Jr. (28-0) vs Terence Crawford (39-0); Isaac Cruz (24-2-1) vs Giovanni Cabrera (21-0); Nonito Donaire (42-7) vs Alexandro Santiago (27-3-5).

Estrada-Yudica photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images

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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

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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

Applerose2

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

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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

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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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