Although last weekend had the first major North American bout of the year in the Jean Pascal/Lucian Bute bout, it's fair to say that this weekend was further step up with rivaling cards on HBO and Showtime. On paper we had gone from one good fight to two great cards.
The one Heavyweight bout of note on those two cards saw the unbeaten Bryant Jennings (18-0, 10) face off against Poland's Artur Szpilka (16-1, 12). With both men entering the bout unbeaten this was a great bout on paper and a bout that pitted not unbeaten Heavyweights against each other but highly regarded world ranked fighters against each other. Unfortunately for all the excitement ahead of the bout it proved to be less than interesting after the first bell went.
The contest started slowly and by the time it heated up it was obvious that Szpilka had nothing to harm Jennings with. The power of Szpilka had no effect, his accuracy was off, his shots were wide and he lack the imagination to set things up. This allowed Jennings to slowly but carefully break down the Pole who was stopped in the 10th and final round after being thoroughly out boxed for a large swathe of the bout.
Whilst the Jennings/Szpilka bout was the highest profile Heavyweight bout of the weekend, and will ultimately lead Jennings one step closer to a world title fight, it was far from the only bout in the division this weekend.
Another high profile bout took place in Germany as Englishman David Price (16-2, 14) made his return to the ring. Price, who had suffered back to back losses to Tony Thompson, returned to face late replacement opponent Istvan Ruzsinszky (12-10-1, 8) who looked over-weight, short and incredibly poor against "Pricey". The affable Englishman needed just 2 minutes to see off his over-matched foe in what was little more than a confidence building victory.
On the same card in Germany we also got a chance to see the promising Otto Wallin (5-0, 3) who extended his unbeaten record.
Wallin, fighting against Ferenc Zsalek (12-40-3, 1), may have felt like he wanted a stoppage but the Hungarian veteran refused to let the youngster from Sweden have it as he ran and spoiled in an all out attempt to survive. We'd understand Wallin's frustrations here though actually believe that the fight will help Wallin's development.
Back over in the US we actually had a lower tier title fight as Travis Kauffman (28-1, 20) claimed the WBA Fedelatin Heavyweight title. Kauffman managed to score one of his most notable victories as he clearly out pointed Vincent Thompson (13-2, 2). For Thompson this was a second successive loss and his once promising career is certainly on the rocks.
There was two other US bouts as New Jersey hosted a Heavyweight double header. These saw Dorsett Barnwell (12-0, 5) out pointing Jon Bolden (6-8-1, 5) and Joey Dawejko (9-3-2, 3) taking a decision over Derric Rossy (28-8, 14).
Outside the US we had a second title fight as Brazilian Irineu Beato Costa Junior (15-0, 13) claimed a rare decision and successfully retained his WBO Latino title with a victory over Daniel Alejandro Sanabria (17-4, 11). Considering Junior's record as a puncher we are a little bit surprirised that Sanabria managed to go the scheduled 12 rounds.
Staying with Brazil we had yet another title fight as Mateus Roberto Osorio (6-0, 6) defended his Brazilian title against the very weak Adilson Nolli (1-11, 1), who has now been stopped 11 times. The same show also saw Marcelo Luiz Nascimento (17-5, 15) scoring an easy stoppage victory over Francisco Gomes Paraiso Lopes (2-4, 2).
The one Heavyweight bout of note on those two cards saw the unbeaten Bryant Jennings (18-0, 10) face off against Poland's Artur Szpilka (16-1, 12). With both men entering the bout unbeaten this was a great bout on paper and a bout that pitted not unbeaten Heavyweights against each other but highly regarded world ranked fighters against each other. Unfortunately for all the excitement ahead of the bout it proved to be less than interesting after the first bell went.
The contest started slowly and by the time it heated up it was obvious that Szpilka had nothing to harm Jennings with. The power of Szpilka had no effect, his accuracy was off, his shots were wide and he lack the imagination to set things up. This allowed Jennings to slowly but carefully break down the Pole who was stopped in the 10th and final round after being thoroughly out boxed for a large swathe of the bout.
Whilst the Jennings/Szpilka bout was the highest profile Heavyweight bout of the weekend, and will ultimately lead Jennings one step closer to a world title fight, it was far from the only bout in the division this weekend.
Another high profile bout took place in Germany as Englishman David Price (16-2, 14) made his return to the ring. Price, who had suffered back to back losses to Tony Thompson, returned to face late replacement opponent Istvan Ruzsinszky (12-10-1, 8) who looked over-weight, short and incredibly poor against "Pricey". The affable Englishman needed just 2 minutes to see off his over-matched foe in what was little more than a confidence building victory.
On the same card in Germany we also got a chance to see the promising Otto Wallin (5-0, 3) who extended his unbeaten record.
Wallin, fighting against Ferenc Zsalek (12-40-3, 1), may have felt like he wanted a stoppage but the Hungarian veteran refused to let the youngster from Sweden have it as he ran and spoiled in an all out attempt to survive. We'd understand Wallin's frustrations here though actually believe that the fight will help Wallin's development.
Back over in the US we actually had a lower tier title fight as Travis Kauffman (28-1, 20) claimed the WBA Fedelatin Heavyweight title. Kauffman managed to score one of his most notable victories as he clearly out pointed Vincent Thompson (13-2, 2). For Thompson this was a second successive loss and his once promising career is certainly on the rocks.
There was two other US bouts as New Jersey hosted a Heavyweight double header. These saw Dorsett Barnwell (12-0, 5) out pointing Jon Bolden (6-8-1, 5) and Joey Dawejko (9-3-2, 3) taking a decision over Derric Rossy (28-8, 14).
Outside the US we had a second title fight as Brazilian Irineu Beato Costa Junior (15-0, 13) claimed a rare decision and successfully retained his WBO Latino title with a victory over Daniel Alejandro Sanabria (17-4, 11). Considering Junior's record as a puncher we are a little bit surprirised that Sanabria managed to go the scheduled 12 rounds.
Staying with Brazil we had yet another title fight as Mateus Roberto Osorio (6-0, 6) defended his Brazilian title against the very weak Adilson Nolli (1-11, 1), who has now been stopped 11 times. The same show also saw Marcelo Luiz Nascimento (17-5, 15) scoring an easy stoppage victory over Francisco Gomes Paraiso Lopes (2-4, 2).
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