The Heavyweight bout in particular saw Andras Csomor (8-2-1, 6) continue to show his development as he took a 4th round TKO over Zoltan Somosi (15-14, 7). This was the 5th straight victory for Csomor who has actualy fought all 5 of those bouts this year.
The only Heavyweight bout this past Sunday was in Slovakia as the Slovakian scene, was was oddly busy last year, continues to have small Sunday shows.
The Heavyweight bout in particular saw Andras Csomor (8-2-1, 6) continue to show his development as he took a 4th round TKO over Zoltan Somosi (15-14, 7). This was the 5th straight victory for Csomor who has actualy fought all 5 of those bouts this year.
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This past Saturday was an incredibly busy one in the Heavyweight division even though very few of the bouts were genuinely of note. Sometimes however activity is key rather than big names and this weekend it was hard to complain due to the sheer number of fights.
The most notable man in action was former Heavyweight title challenger Eddie Chambers (37-4, 19) who marked his return to the Heavyweight division with an intelligently fought victory over journeyman Tomas Mrazek (9-46-6, 5). Chambers, who had lost 3 of his previous 4, was fighting for the first time since linking up to the Fury camp and trainer Peter Fury did seem impressed by his charge. Although Fury seems to think that Chambers has the potential to become a world champion we've got to admit he's going to struggle due to his mentality, size and lack of power in the division. Despite that he'll always be worth following. On the same card as Chamber's fight we saw the unbeaten David Allen (5-0-1, 3) surprisingly being held to a draw by Plamen Nikolov (1-1-2, 1) in what was, on paper, a relatively easy assignment for the unbeaten man. Another, relatively, unexpected result was in the US where the hard hitting Adam Kownacki (6-0, 6) proved that his power was some what legitimate by stopping Excell Holmes (2-3-1, 1) inside a minute of the second round. Of course Kownacki is completely untested but we certainly expected Holmes to do better than he did here. Yet another unexpected result was in Hungary where 34 year old novice Istvan Geller (3-0, 2) managed to stop the more experienced Tibor Balogh (13-4-2, 9) inside a round. Whilst Balogh isn't great by any stretch this was still an eye catching result for the hard core fans who will be wondering whether Geller is eying up the Hungarian champion Zoltan Petranyi. Staying in Europe their was no surprises in the Czech Republic when Ante Verunica (1-0, 1) made a winning start to his career by stopping Josef Kuricaj (0-18) was taken out inside a round. This was Kuricaj's 15th stoppage loss in 18 bouts. On the same card however some fans may have been a little startled to see journeyman David Vicena (7-18-2, 5) force a stoppage against the much bigger Josef Trsko (0-1) who had a debut to forget. On paper it was perhaps the French fans who got the real treat as Mickael Vieira (14-3-1, 7) beat fellow highly ranked Frenchman Gregory Tony (20-6, 15). Although both are behind Newfel Ouatah and Johann Duhaupas in terms of good French Heavyweights this was still a decent domestic scrap and Vierira's win could catapault him into a national title fight. A final result from Europe saw the hard hitting Nikola Milacic (3-1, 3) wipe out the win-less Valentin Marinel (0-23) inside a round. This was Milacic's first bout since being disqualified against Andrzej Witkowski last December. Back in the US we had a trio of low level fights. These were highlighted by the wonderfully named Rusty Ellis (1-0, 1) who debuted with an opening round stoppage over Eddie Jones (3-3, 2). Ellis stoppage victory was joined by decision wins in the other two bouts. They saw Lance Gauch (4-8-2, 3) taking a shut out over Dakota Talbott (2-11) whilst Mike Scranton (0-1), who had a 52lb weight advantage, was beaten by fellow debutant Kent Holland (1-0) in a majority decision. This past Friday night had a fair bit of Heavyweight action spread across the globe with the most interesting, to us, featuring unbeaten fighters.
Before we get on to the unbeaten men we'll start with the most significant fight in the division. This was a title bout in the US which saw Jason Bergman (23-10-2, 16) successfully defend his USA NABA with a stoppage over the returning Devin Vargas (18-3, 7) . Vargas, who hadn't fought in 2 and a half years, lasted just 3 rounds and it seemed clear that his career is as good as over as a result of this loss. On a separate US show fans got to see Jesse Barboza (8-1-1, 5) take a 4 round decision over novice Glenn Thomas (1-2) who looks highly unlikely to ever do much of note we're afraid. Staying in the US for a moment longer, they had the unbeaten powerhouse Aaron Green (15-0, 13) manage to stop the experienced Byron Polley (25-17-1, 11). Polley, who isn't a great test, managed to survive to round 7 of a scheduled 8 rounder though thus did mean that Green was able to reach a milestone, it was the first time the unbeaten man was forced beyond 6 rounds in his career so far. In Canada the previously unbeaten Zachary Bunce (2-1, 1) was surprisingly upset by Steven Harvey (5-1, 2) who managed to take a narrow decision over over the previously unbeaten man. A third unbeaten fighter in action was the highly touted German Tom Schwarz (5-0, 3) who took just 138 seconds to take out the limited Frantisek Kynkal (3-4, 3). Schwarz, at just 19 years old, is a Heavyweight baby but some are viewing him as a potential champion in the making and so far so good from the youngster. On the same show in Germany the big punching Steffen Kretschmann (17-2-0-1, 15) was taken the distance for just the second time in his 20 fight career. Fighting against the teak tough Samir Kurtagic (12-6, 8) fans got to see Kretschmann dragged in to a tough one which saw Kurtagic really running Kretschmann close. Although he'll not be a world beater we do think that Kurtagic could well become one of those really top class European journeymen, as long as he doesn't lose his desire to win. If he does that he'd make a great opponent for some of the emerging youngsters coming through Swedish Heavyweight prospect Adrian Granat (2-0, 2) may not have managed to prove that he was a "Super Talent", as some Swedish journalists described him as being, though he did comfortably move to 2-0 as he stopped Italian Gianluca Sirci (4-3, 2).
This may have been the htird successive loss for Sirci though the focus is all on Granat who some are tipping as the hottest thing in Swedish boxing since Ingemar Johansson. On Sunday we had 3 Heavyweight bouts spread across the boxing world.
Of those 3 bouts two of them took place in Tanzania and neither went more than a round. One of those saw Idd Bonge (2-0, 2) stopping the chinny Bernard Mwakasanga (2-4, 1) whilst the other saw the Ashraf Suleiman (4-5-2, 3) stopping the debuting Ramadhan Ally (0-1). The other bout, which took place in Croatia, saw the hard hitting but very stoppable Muhammed Ali Durmaz (9-16, 8) taking out Alex Karp (3-6, 1) in 4 rounds. Friday night saw very little in terms of interesting Heavyweight action, Saturday night however had more than a usual weekend's worth numerous bouts of varying levels of interest.
For must fans the key Heavyweight was in Turkey of all places as former amateur star Odlanier Solis (20-2, 13) was finally punished for being lazy and lacking discipline. Solis, fighting against veteran Tony Thompson (39-4, 26), was simply out worked by the 42 year old "Tiger" who scored his third upset in 4 fights. Although Solis's skills were obvious his desire to win wasn't there and although the bout was officially a "split decision" there was no argument over who had deserved the victory. Prior to the Solis/Thompson bout there were two other Heavyweight bouts on the show. The first of those was a nothing contest as the gigantic but useless Bugra Horus (0-1) quit after a round against Goga Abuladze (16-5, 10). Abuladze landed at will through the first round and Horus said he wanted no more. The second Heavyweight bout on the show was much better, though it was controversial. It featured the unbeaten Agit Kabayel (10-0, 7) taking a very narrow split decision over the always testing Gbenga Oloukun (18-10, 11). The bout was scored a split decision to Kabayel though many would feel that Oloukun was jobbed. At 21 Kabayel has got real potential and this bout should do him more good than bad, though his record should now be 9-1 in all honesty. Although Turkey had most of the notable action there was actually a few other fights spread through Europe. One of those really put a smile on our face and that was because Jamie Hearn (11-7-1, 5) managed to stop the shamed Larry Olubamiwo (10-6, 9) inside a round. Anyone who follows this site will be aware that we are disgusted by the fact Olubamiwo can fight as a professional after his multiple drug issues so to see him beaten like this is simply wonderful. Jamie Hearn you deserve a medal! The other European fight saw Franck Acho (1-0, 1) stopping Wilfried Hoareau (0-2) in the fourth round of a contest in France. The first bout of the day was in Autralia where Paul Samways (2-1, 2) stopped Kingsley Enedehge (1-4) in the second round. Although it was a small profile bout it was still a good way to kick off the day. Despite the highest profile bout taking place in Turkey the US did have more than it's share of action with numerous fights across a range of shows. The highest profile of these wasn't anywhere near the signifiance of the Thompson/Solis bout unfortunately still there was interest there. These US bouts included the fourth meeting between Sonya Lamonakis (9-1-2, 1) and Tiffany Woodard (4-8-3, 3). For the third time in four meeting Lamonakis came out on top and asa result claimed the vacant New York female Heavyweight title. Unfortunately whilst Sonya is one of the top female fighters in the division there is really very little competition out there and the only bout that really makes sense is a rematch with Martha Salazar. Whilst Lamonakis did what was expected of her we've got to admit that we were very shocked by the fact that the unbeaten Darlington Agha (9-0-1, 6) was held to a draw by Jamal Woods (4-11-3, 4). Tis contest was a rematch of a bout that took place 9 months ago, in the first meeting Agha dominated and it appears that this time he simply didn't bother turning up. Unfortunately the draw is likely to cost him big time with his record now marked up. On a third US show with Heavyweight action Brett Murphy (1-0, 1) kicked off his career with a stoppage over John Moxey (2-3, 1) whilst Mahmoud Abu-Ria (2-0) took a decision over the huge Pat Quinn (0-2) who weighed in at a rotund 360lbs. Friday might typically be one of the big days in boxing but this last past Friday was unusually quiet qith just a handful of small profile Heavyweight bouts.
Of the bouts the highest profile was in the US as Romanian giant Razvan Cojanu (9-1, 4) narrowly over-came the tricky Avery Gibson (3-3-2, 1). Gibson, who beat Ytalo Perea last time out, gave Cojanu a seriously tough test and many wouldn't have complained had the bout ended in a draw. A second bout in the US saw Pedro Martinez (7-7, 3) upset Anthony Ferrante (12-6-0-1, 7) in what is easily the biggest win of Martinez's career. Going in to this Martinez had lost his previous 3 and had won just one of his previous 6 bouts. In the UK Henry Smith (3-3) managed to over-come Courtney Richards (2-3-1) in a very close 4 round decision. No many bouts, world wide, took place this past Thursday but we did have were two Heavyweight bouts in Mexico.
Of those two bouts the most notable featured unbeaten American Scott Alexander (9-0-1, 5) who scored a 129 second KO over the over-matched Juan Luis Lopez Alcaraz (3-8-2, 1). This bout, a clear mismatch on paper, saw the expected outcome and left us all wondering what Alexander would fight someone with a pulse. The other bout on the show of interest to ourselves saw the debuting Abraham Cruz (1-0) use a 53lb weight advantage to over come the much smaller Luis Rodriguez (1-2) over 4 rounds. This bout ended in a majority decision for Cruz though it seems the victory will have done little to convince fans that Cruz will be worth followin considering the laboured manner of his victory. This past Wednesday saw a trio of Heavyweight bouts both taking place on the same card down under. Whilst neither were big fights both had interest around them.
The most notable of the three bouts saw the hard hitting Bowie Tupou (24-3, 17) dominate and then stop the over-matched Nick Guivas (7-2-2, 5). Guivas was down in rounds 3, 5 and 6 as he was bounced off the canvas in a thoroughly one sided contest. Willie Nasio (2-0, 2) scoring his second KO victory as he took out the win-less Moses Havea (0-2) part way through round 3. The bout, scheduled for 4 rounds of 2 minutes, was Nasio's first in 11 months and he shook off the ring rust well to set up another bout next month. In the other bout on the show the debuting Marco Monaco (0-1) got upset by the 50-50 James Porter (2-2) who evened up his record with a majority decision victory. Whilst boxing fans around the world are debating the legitimacy of Deontay Wilder's KO over Malik Scott this past weekend there has actually been a man who has left no one question whether or not his KO was genuine. That man was the unbeaten and hard hard hitting Alexis Santos (13-0, 11) who left Sylvester Barron (8-4, 3) feeling the effects of some series bombs.
Santos, who is very promising and pretty under-the-radar, probably connected 2 or 3 shots more than he needed two in the finish but the referee, Robert Benoit. who should be to blame for those. Keep an eye on Santos, he may not have the perfect record but he's certainly looking like one worth following, especially if you believe America needs a major force in the Heavyweight division. |