Berredjem may not have been name on the world stage in the amateurs but he was a capable fighter and we're hoping to see him back out again the pro ranks before summer. Of course though we don't imagine he'll be going to compete on the world stage though he should be able to make his mark domestically.
French former amateur star Karim Berredjem (1-0, 1) kicked off his professional career by stopping Laurent Langner (1-2) on debut.
Berredjem may not have been name on the world stage in the amateurs but he was a capable fighter and we're hoping to see him back out again the pro ranks before summer. Of course though we don't imagine he'll be going to compete on the world stage though he should be able to make his mark domestically.
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Sometimes boxing action is predictable and mismatches are made to just get a guy a win andput a bad result behind them. That appears to have been the case on Wednesday as Czech veteran Ondrej Pala (33-4, 23) did exactly as he was supposed to and stopped novice Roman Cherney (1-2) inside a round.
The bout, which has little real meaning to the wider boxing world, could help Pala re-establish some confidence before facing a fellow fringe European level Heavyweight. This past Sunday seemed set to be the retire of former Heavyweight champion Shannon "The Cannon" Briggs. Instead it seems that Briggs didn't get his medical work in order in time and his fight was scrapped from the card as a result.
Although Briggs had his fight pulled there was still a Heavyweight bout that took place. That contest saw the unbeaten Jelani Bitoy (2-0, 1) managing to out point the debuting Lance Campbell (0-1) over 4 rounds. Bitoy appeared the clear winner with scores of 40-36, twice, and 39-37 though of course it's hard to say just how good the 33 year old is. We're going to assume however that he isn't a world beater in the making. The Heavyweight division is a funny one. It seems that it's the only division that fighters continue to fight in well after their prime almost in an attempt to get one last big pay day. Unfortunately the fighters that do go on too long often don't have any chance of reclaiming former glories and it seems everybody but the fighter themselves can see that.
One such tragic case is that of former WBO title holer Siarhei Liakhovich (26-6, 16) who looked only a shadow of his former self as he over-came the very poor Chad Davis (5-12, 1). Liakhovich, who had lost his last 3 by stoppage, was widely booed despite the victory and it seems that win, or lose, the "White Wolf" is no longer wanted in the boxing community. Whilst Liakhovich was once a champion the same cannot be said for Damon Reed (47-17-0-5, 32) who did once challenge for the WBO world title then held by Herbie Hide. Unfortunate for Reed he suffered his 11th stoppage loss on Saturday night as promising youngster Jordan Shimmell (13-0, 11) stopped him in the third round. Shimmell is just a Cruiserweight at the moment though appears likely to fill into a Heavyweight in the future so we'd advise keeping an eye on him even if it may be a while before he starts making in roads in the blue ribbon division. The Heavyweight division is, right now, a frustrating one to follow. The top fighters don't seem to be getting matched against each other and instead we've been seeing mismatches and other uninteresting contests. That was the case this past Friday.
The most notable name in action on Friday was former world title challenger Ray Austin (29-6-4, 18). Austin, fighting for the first time since 2011 was matched understandably softly and managed to claim his first victory since 2009 as he out pointed Earl Ladson (17-23-1, 7) over 6 rounds. On the same card as Austin's victory there was also a KO for Don King's promising young Heavyweight Trevor Bryan (10-0, 8) who stopped Jason Barnett (14-16, 7) in just 90 seconds. In New York Brian Clookey (5-1-2, 3) managed to score a 4th round TKO over the debuting Ray Santiago (0-1) scoring the stoppage with 27 seconds of the bout left. For us though the one man we think is actually worth making a note of was Cuban Roberto Alfonso (4-0) who managed to out point the previously unbeaten Zakki Scott (4-1, 1). The bout saw both men going 6 rounds for the first time though the amateur pedigree of Alfonso shone through in the end. We are worried that Alfonso's lack of power may limit his potential but his is certainly skilled and has hardly lost a round in his career so far. The only other bout appears to have taken place in the UK as Poland's Remigiusz Smolinski (2-0) managed to out point the very limited Tamas Bajzath (9-9-1, 5). Whilst Smolinski did win he wasn't convincing and only just managed to claim the decision in a very disappointing performance. Australian boxing may not always be the best but it's rarely lacking in the entertainment factor. This was on show again this morning when Australian Rugby professional Paul Gallen (1-0, 1) defeated Herman Ene-Purcell (1-2, 1) in what can only be described as a fan friendly slugfest.
The lack of skill, from both, was on show from the off and in the opneing round Gallen was unexpectedly dropped. The fitness of the Rugby player helped him recover but he seemed in trouble several other times in the round. Foolishly in round 2 Purcell dropped his hands and got clouted. This caused him to be temporarily stunned and Puercell went in for the finish which he inevitably got. Amazingly, and despite the referee calling a halt to the fight, both men continued to fight after the stoppage with Purcell seemingly semi-recovered by the time the bout was stopped. This lead to a scene of both corners enterting the ring to to stop the fight. Aussies, they might not make many top class boxers but they sure do give us entertainment! Though his first 15 fights Tibor Balogh (13-3-2, 9) had won 12 contests. Unfortunately for Balogh his career has now hit a brick wall with 2 losses in 3 bouts. The most recent loss came this past Sunday as he was upset, via 8 round decision, by fellow Hungarian Andras Csomor (6-2-1, 4).
The 25 year Csomor, who lost 2 of his first 6 bouts, has extended his current winning run to 3 straight bouts with this victory but it seems clear to us, that's a Cruiserweight and not a Heavyweight. Surprisingly this was the first time Balogh has actually lost a decision having been stopped in both of his previous losses. One of the most interesting days in the Heavyweight division this year gave us a bit of everything and moved us towards a bout that we think every boxing fan actually wants to see. We know that's rare, boxing fans agreeing, but this may be one of those rare times.
The most notable Heavyweight bouts of the day all took place in the United Kingdom with 3 very notable fighters in action. The first of the UK bouts saw the 19 year old Hughie Fury (13-0, 8) forcing a stoppage of American Matthew Greer (16-12, 13). Greer, who is a journeyman at best, has now been stopped in 4 of his last 5 contests and 6 of his last 8 and really needs to think about calling an end to his career before he gets seriously hurt. As for Fury his performance was solid, he looked sharp on his toes and with his punches and seems to be showing some of the skills that his team are telling the world he has. Unfortunately, and rather disgustingly, the fight did see some of the acne on his back popping and this was certainly one of the uglier moments of the night. In the second Heavyweight bout on that card we saw an over-weight Tyson Fury (22-0, 16), Hughie's older and more well known cousin, defeat American puncher Joey Abell (29-8, 28). Abell did manage to trouble Fury a few times and Fury, who did carry a spare tyre, didn't look at his best. Despite the fact Fury didn't look 100% he still got the job done, dropping Abell numerous times on route to 4th round TKO. The third and final of the Heavyweight clashes on Britain saw former world title challengers colliding as Dereck Chisora (20-4, 13) and Kevin Johnson (29-5-1, 14) got it on in an intriguing match up. Chisora seemed to just out work Johnson in the first 9 rounds or saw before Johnson started to show off the skills we all know he has. Unfortunately for Johnson it was too little too late and one must wonder just what needs to happen before he's willing to fight for 3 minutes a round. If he could do that then he could well claim a world title in a post-Klitschko era. The victories for Chisora and Tyson Fury have moved up on to a fight between the two, a fight few will genuinely complain about. The Fury boy's weren't the only unbeaten Heavyweight's in action in Europe as Sweden's very own Otto Wallin (6-0, 4) also extended his winning run. Wallin, fighting for the second time this year, was matched with the experienced Ladislav Kovarik (10-16, 5). Having gone the schedule in his past 2 bouts we had assumed that Wallin may end up hearing the final bell here, instead however he stopped Kovarik with just 2 minutes left. Wallin is talented, young and a good looking however he does need a lot of time to develop. We would certainly not think about rushing this kid though the potential is there and is there in a big way. In the US we saw the debut of Trey Lippe (1-0, 1), the son of former world champion Tommy Morrison. Lippe was dropped by Kris Renty (1-1, 1) before turning things around and stopping Renty in round 3. Lippe will certainly be a fighter who gets a lot of attention due to who his father though he is very unlikely to ever get as far as "The Duke". Further south, all the way in Buenos Aires, Argentina, we saw a very young man in action as Esteban Juarez (2-0, 2), a 16 year old prospect, stopped Joaquin Pereyra (0-1) in 3 rounds. We're very interested in following Juarez, esepcially considering his age, though we're been stumped as to just what his credentials are. From a 16 year old to a 37 year. We move back to Europe for the unbeaten Jens Tietze (3-0, 3) who recorded his third stoppage by beating the relatively hapless Milos Doveden (0-3) who has now been stopped 3 times. Whilst we're interested in Juarez, it's hard to say we care about Tietze who is 37 and beating on incredibly poor competition. In his 3 fights to date Tietze's opponents have had a combined 0-26-1 record. Staying in Germany, for the final fight, there was a rare victory for Werner Kreiskott (15-19-2, 9) as he over-came the debuting Andre Bunga (0-1) by a score of 39-38. From what we understand Kreiskott deserved no more than a draw and the picture of him celebrating seemed to suggest that he knew he didn't deserve the victory. Veteran Heavyweight Chauncy Welliver (55-8-5, 22) has fought around the world and proven his toughness. Prior to Friday night he had only been stopped once, a TKO at the hands of Cuban Odlanier Solis. That toughness however didn't help Welliver this past Friday as he suffered a broken hand against the 49 year old Billy "Bronco" Wright (43-4, 34).
Wright, sensing that Welliver was struggling, targeted the hand of Welliver until he was forced to retire from the bout. It wasn't a great bout by any stretch of the imagination. A 49 year old Wright and an out of shape Welliver were never going to give us a classic, though the bigger problem is that Welliver no longer seems to be bothered. This was the Australian's 3rd loss in 5 fights and it sees Wright claiming the WBC Asian Boxing Council Heavyweight title as a result. With the Winter Olympics now underway we know the sporting world, in general, isn't looking towards boxing. With that in mind it's not a shock that the Heavyweight division is less than active right now. Despite that we did have a little bit of action with some bouts in Poland and Russia.
One of the Polish bouts saw Tomasz Duszak (3-0-1, 2) stopping the limited Artsiom Charniakevich (1-2, 1) at the start of round 5 whilst in the other contest Jakub Kozera (0-1) lost to fellow debutant Mateusz Gatek (1-0). In Russia we saw the hard hitting Apti Davtaev (5-0, 5) become the first man to stop Oleksandr Pritula (0-3) whilst Pritula's former foe Arbi Madaev (2-1) was upset by Ivan Shvayko (3-1, 2) who scored a 4th round stoppage. With just those four minor bouts it appears that the division could be asleep for a while we're afraid. |