3 Punch Combo: Notes on New Welterweight Titleholder Alexander Besputin and More

THREE PUNCH COMBO — Alexander Besputin (14-0, 9 KO’s) successfully out-boxed the power punching Radzhab Butaev (12-1, 9 KO’s) on Saturday in Monte Carlo to capture a version of the WBA welterweight title. This was a career best performance by the former amateur star who now finds himself firmly in the mix for much bigger fights in a loaded welterweight division.

Besputin is aligned with Top Rank which also promotes WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford. Top Rank has a bit of a problem with Crawford in that the big-name welterweights such as Errol Spence Jr, Manny Pacquiao, Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia are all aligned with PBC. As such, with limited options for Crawford, Besputin would figure to be in his plans and probably in the not-so-distant future.

I think that Top Rank, as is their history, will want to add just a little “marination” to an eventual Crawford-Besputin unification fight. So, my guess is we see the Russian southpaw make at least one defense before a Crawford fight is targeted. (We’re assuming here that Crawford gets by Egidijus Kavaliauskas on Dec. 14.)

Top Rank is going to look for someone that Besputin should excel against. And he will have to be ranked by the WBA. My guess is that Top Rank will go with Harold Calderon (21-0, 14 KO’s), currently ranked #14 at 147 by that organization.

Calderon, a 32-year old Honduran, has built his record on less-than-formidable opposition. Just how he got ranked this high by the WBA is a mystery. That said, his undefeated record can help sell him as an opponent for a first title defense for Besputin and, frankly, after watching just a little video of Calderon on YouTube, I think Besputin will make quite an impressive showing; the type of performance that would help build up the hype toward a future showdown with Crawford.

An Under the Radar Fight

It’s another very busy week in the sport with plenty of live action available on numerous platforms. Of course, when this happens, some very good fights tend to fall in the cracks.

On Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Showtime Championship Boxing returns with a tripleheader headlined by Jermall Charlo (29-0, 21 KO’s) defending his middleweight title against Dennis Hogan (28-2-1, 7 KO’s). The undercard bouts will air on Showtime’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

One very intriguing bout on this pre-tripleheader livestream is a middleweight crossroads fight between Immanuwel Aleem (18-1-2, 11 KO’s) and Ronald Ellis (16-1-2, 11 KO’s).

Both were once considered promising prospects but each has suffered recent setbacks. Aleem is 2-1-2 in his last five fights after starting his career 16-0. He is an aggressive boxer-puncher by trade and is naturally very athletic with quick hands. Aleem is not afraid to get into exchanges and as such tends to be in exciting fights.

Ellis, an aggressive power puncher, is coming off his first loss as a pro. In February, he lost a 10-round majority decision to DeAndre Ware. In that fight, it appeared that he was loading up too much looking for that one big punch and that allowed Ware to outhustle him.

At his best, Ellis will work hard combinations behind the jab and exhibit thunderous power in both hands. But as that fight with Ware showed, he can be out-worked.

I think this is a good evenly matched fight. With both fighters preferring to be aggressive and both not defensive wizards, this has the potential to be a shootout. Aleem has been involved in his share of wars the past couple years and I think we could see another barnburner on Saturday.

A Gentle Reminder About the Upcoming Awards Season

Awards season is right around the corner. While I enjoy hearing the various opinions of those in the industry on the many award categories, I do have a pet peeve and that’s that fights that took place in the first part of the year often get overlooked. Let’s call it recency bias.

I think the one category especially vulnerable to recency bias is Upset of the Year. So, I just want to gently remind folks of some pretty significant upsets that took place in the first part of the year that should at least get some consideration.

Jorge Linares vs. Pablo Cesar Cano (Jan. 18)

Linares had lost to Vasiliy Lomachenko that previous May but dropped him in that fight and gave Lomachenko one of the toughest fights of his career. There was talk of a potential rematch in 2019.

In an effort to stay busy before a potential Lomachenko rematch or another big fight, Linares stepped in the ring with veteran Pablo Cesar Cano. A decided underdog, Cano had lost three of his previous five including getting stopped badly in two rounds by Marcelino Lopez in October of 2017. The general thought was Cano was showing signs of being shopworn and should be easy work for the much more gifted Linares.

However, just seconds into the fight, Cano dropped Linares who never fully recovered from that initial knockdown and was battered by Cano who dropped Linares two more times in the opening stanza before the fight was stopped.

Alberto Machado vs. Andrew Cancio I (Feb. 9)

I sense Cancio’s upset of Machado in February to capture a 130-pound title belt will be somewhat discredited when it comes to Upset of the Year consideration. First, there is the recency bias. And the fact that Cancio completely dominated Machado in the rematch four months later could cause some to forget just how big an underdog he was in the first fight.

Machado was listed somewhere around a -2000 favorite, meaning that a wager of $2,000 on Machado would net a $100 profit. That tells us that Cancio was given pretty much no shot of even being remotely competitive.

Cancio was not only competitive but rose from the canvas in the first round to score an improbable fourth round knockout of the previously undefeated Machado. This was a shocking upset that nobody in boxing saw coming and deserves serious consideration for Upset of the Year.

Paddy Barnes vs. Oscar Mojica (March 17)

Barnes had represented Ireland in the Olympics in 2008, 2012 and 2016, capturing two bronze medals in the process. As a decorated amateur, he had lofty expectations for his pro career. And in just his sixth pro fight, Barnes challenged Cristofer Rosales for Rosales’ flyweight title. While Barnes fell short, many thought he would still acquire a world title belt one day.

Barnes made his return on St. Patrick’s Day at the Theater of Madison Square Garden in a supposedly tune-up fight against journeyman Oscar Mojica who entered with a record of 11-5-1 having won just one of his previous five contests.

Mojica took the fight to Barnes from the opening bell and was more than willing to exchange with the Irishman. And Mojica often got the better of the exchanges. After six hard-fought rounds, Mojica won a well-deserved split decision.

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