Sunday's are days where we expect many fights but this past Sunday saw one Heavyweight fight in Hungary. The bout in question saw novice fight Istvan Geller (2-0, 1) scoring his first decision victory as he out pointed the much more experienced Zoltan Somosi (15-13, 7) over 6 rounds.
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It's not often that the Heavyweight division gives us something to talk about but this Saturday did give us more than just 1 or 2 headlines and more than a handful of forum topics of varying nature.
The biggest profile bout of the day was in Puerto Rico where Olympic bronze medal winner Deontay Wilder (31-0, 31) stopped fellow American Malik Scott (36-2-1, 13) inside a round. Whilst on paper this was an impressive result many have doubted the legitimacy of the stoppage cast aspirations that Scott took a dive, the bout was fixed or that Scott should have his purse with held. The only thing that seems certain about the result was that Scott didn't come in to win and that question marks will remain over Wilder until he faces someone who actually tries to fight with him. With the win Wilder has set him self up as the WBC #1 contender and will face the winner of the upcoming rematch between Bermane Stiverne and Chris Arreola. That bout should finally answer some questions about Wilder's power, skill, stamina, chin and fighters mentality. With out trying to sound overly critical they are 5 things we shouldn't have to wait more than 30 fights to find out about. If Wilder's bout was the highest profile contest of the day then the close runner up was in the USA as Ukrainian Vyacheslav Glazkov (17-0-1, 11) defeated Poland's brave Tomasz Adamek (49-3, 29) over 12 rounds. Adamek fought much of the bout with a swollen eye and although he was always game he really did look like a fighter who needs to seriously considering waving good bye to our great sport. Adamek's heart and chin, which have always been his best traits, proved themselves but his power doesn't effect Heavyweights and his speed had dropped to the point that he no longer has much of a chance against a Heavyweight of any note. In Poland we saw former title contenders battling as Polan'd very own Andrzej Wawrzyk (29-1, 15) battled South African veteran Frans Botha (48-11-3-1, 29). Botha, who looked a shadow of himself, was dropped in round 5 and then stopped soon afterwards with the Polish fighter unloading. On the same Polish card their was also a victory for Marcin Rekowski (13-1, 11) who bounced back well following his recent loss to Oliver McCall. Rekowski, fighting the limited Mateusz Malujda (4-3-1, 1), had no problems at all in claiming a victory dropping Rekowski twice in the contest. In France the debuting Mohamed Samoudi (1-0) got off to a great start as he out pointed the previously unbeaten Mateusz Gatek (1-1) over 4 rounds. We've struggled to get many details on this one but a win on debut seemed to be expected of Samoudi. Staying Europe fans in Switzerland the unbeaten Arnold Gjergjaj (24-0, 18) continued to improve his record as he stopped Argentina's limited Emilio Ezequiel Zarate (18-13-3, 9) in 7 rounds. We can't but think it's now time that Gjergjaj steps up up his competition and starts fighting opponents who are a bit more testing than those he has been in with. From what we've seen we've been impressed but anyone would look impressive stepping this level of opponents. On the subject of Argentinians fans in Argentina managed to get a chance to see former Cruiserweight champion Marcelo Fabian Dominguez (46-7-1, 24) out pointing domestic rival Manuel Alberto Pucheta (37-9, 30) over 10 rounds. We all know journeymen are brought in to face better fighters with the idea that the journeymen will lose. Thankfully sometimes journeymen fight other journeymen in what, on paper, look like more competitive match ups.
One of those journeymen v journeymen match ups occurred on Wednesday as the light punching Ferenc Zsalek (13-40-3, 2) stopped fellow journeyman Csaba Olah (4-79-3, 3) in just 2 rounds. Whilst many may have favoured Zsalek going in few would have expected him to score a stoppage given he had scored just 1 stoppage in 55. This past Saturday was certainly not one where the Heavyweight division shone, though it will do in a weeks time, though it was still one with a number of matches that had some form of signifigance.
Arguably the most important of the bouts was in the UK where former Commonwealth champion Sam Sexton (19-3, 7) scored a dominant andclear victory over disgraced drugs cheat Larry Olubamiwo (10-5, 9). Olubamiwo, one of the men who should have been severely punshed for his cheating, was dropped in round 2 and failed to win any of the other 5 rounds in a performance that suggest he's now going to have to retire rather than be allowed to continue in our great sport. Well done Mr Sexton you've made us in to big fans! Staying in the UK there was also a victory for novice professional Andy Jones (2-0) who over-came the tough Remigijus Ziausys (20-57-5, 10) in a 4 round shut out. There was little arguing Jones won here though it is worth noting that he was 30lbs heavier than Ziausys who came in well inside the Cruiserweight limit. Whilst the British fights both went the schedule Frenchman David Spilmont (3-2, 1) needed just a round to get rid of Hungarian Gyorgy Novak (3-2, 1) who entered the bout on the back of 3 straight wins. Over the Atlantic another Heavyweight bout went the distance as Troy Talbot (3-1, 1) took a 4 round decision over the limited Donald Willis (1-4, 1). Unbeaten Australian Craig Vitale (6-0, 3) might not be a prospect that many are talking about but the unbeaten "King" does appear to be a man who is wanting people to make a note of his name.
On Friday Vitale scored his 6th win inside a year as he out pointed the extremely limited Junior Maletino Iakopo (1-13-2) and went 6 rounds for the first time. Whilst some fans may complain that Vitale should have recorded the stoppage he may well have felt the rounds were more important at this time and getting experience at this early stage in his career is genuinely invaluable. We're now expecting Vitale to return in an 8 round in June, though his opponent for that bout has yet to be announce. The only other bout in the division on Friday saw the unbeaten Nick Asberry (4-0, 2) score a unanimous decision over journeyman Raymundo Lopez (4-8, 2). Wednesday was certainly not a busy day in the boxing world but there was still some Heavyweight action with two bouts in Hungary.
The first of those bouts saw the debuting Istvan Geller (1-0, 1) scoring an opening round KO over the "stopor be stopped" Daniel Kol (6-5, 5) who suffered his 5th stoppage defeat and his 4th straight. The second bout wasn't much longer as Andras Csomor (6-2-1, 4) stopped the previously unbeaten Peter Palovic (1-1, 1) in just 2 rounds. After the hectic Saturday with Heavyweight boxing taking place all over the globe the weekend ended at a slower, more controlled pace with just 2 Heavyweight bouts.
The most interesting, at least on paper, of those bouts took place in the UK where the promising David Allen (5-0, 3) out pointed the tough as old boots Moses Matovu (4-38-4) over 4 rounds. Allen was in control for the most part though never looked like putting away Matovu who once again showed why he's one of the best trial horses in the division. The only other bout in the division took place in Hungary as Zoltan Jerousek (1-0, 1) scored a 2nd round TKO over fellow debutant Laszlo Dora (0-1). One of the big complaints about the Heavyweight division is that the emerging fighters aren't up to much. Thankfully this isn't as true as some would have you believe and this past Saturday saw a number of great prospects in action.
The most notable of those was Britain's Anthony Joshua (5-0, 5) who swiftly took out Argentinian veteran Hector Alfredo Avila (22-16-1, 14). The bout was sold as Joshua taking on an opponent who had gone 9 rounds with Dereck Chisora though Avila didn't look like he could have gone 1 round with any half decent pro here. As soon as Joshua connected Avila wanted out and he made it obvious. If Joshua was the most notable prospect then the youngest was 18 year old Ilja Mezencev (4-0, 4) who continued his winning run by stopping Milos Doveden (0-4) in just 40 seconds. Mezencev is a fighter we'd advise keeping a close eye on and whilst he currently looks like a Cruiserweight he will mature into a very promising young fighter. Mezencev wasn't the only teenage prospect to pick up a victory as the 19 year old Tom Schwarz (4-0, 2) took a 4 round decision over Latvian Janis Ginters (5-7, 5). Schwarz, who is trained by Ulf Steinforth, will likely have people questioning his power though at 19 years old it's obvious he's not began to develop his man strength and getting rounds under his belt is probably more important to him than getting KO's at the moment. On the same card as the Schwarz/Ginters fight there was a second Heavyweight contest which saw Michael Wallisch (12-0, 8) defending his German Heavyweight title against the previously unbeaten Frank Schadwill (7-1, 6). One more unbeaten prospect in action was the heavy handed Charles Martin (15-0-1, 13) who scored a 2nd round KO over Tyyab Beale (9-4-2, 3) ending an 8 fight unbeaten run from Beale who had won his last 4, including a stoppage over former Golden Gloves champion Nathan James. It wasn't just the prospects in action but also journeymen. Back in the UK Paul Butlin (15-20, 3) defeated the still win-less James Oliphant (0-6-2) whilst in the US Danny Batchelder (30-9-1, 14) managed to out point Jonte Willis (9-9-1, 3). Although all 3 of these 4 men have poor records we'd dare say all of them are better their records indicate and all have the potential to be banana skin foes for more touted fighters. This past Friday night might not have been the best night of boxing but it was an interesting one with a few Heavyweight bouts around the planet.
The most notable prospect in action was Adam Machaj (3-0, 3) who scored his third early victory by defeating Imantas Davidaitis (2-5, 2) in just 2 rounds. Machaj might not be a name many are talking about but some are mentioning him on forums as a true "one to watch" and we've got to agree. Machaj is naturally big, tall, strong and powerful and it's those traits that could well take him through the ranks over the next few years. Another notable prospect was Donovan Dennis (8-0, 7) who scored a very impressive victory over Sam Comming (4-8, 3). Althouugh Comming was never expected to win few would have anticipated a 94 second blow out by Dennis considering that Comming hadn't been stopped in over a decade. Machaj and Dennis weren't the only unbeaten men in action as Lionel Davis (10-0, 8) took out Jorge Alberto Ramos (2-12, 2) in 4 rounds. Davis, making his return to the ring after almost 3 years out, was fighting outside of the US for the first time did what was expected of him and shook off the ring rust before stopping Ramos. In Australia we had the first Heavyweight bout of the day and unfortunately it turned to be the least important with Andre Meunier (7-1, 3) stopping the debuting Kane Holmes (0-1) in just 80 seconds. We would complain about this bout but Meunier was returning to action for the first time since 2009 and is almost 38 years old. Unfortunately Holmes turned out to be totally inept though we can't blame Meunier there. |