This Week In Boxing: January 29–31
[lead]Friday January 29, 2016[/lead]
From Belasco Theater, Los Angeles, California
Time: 7:00 PM PST, 10:00 PM EST, 3:00 AM GMT
TV: Estrella TV (US)
Julian Ramirez 15(8)-0 vs Christopher Martin 28(9)-6–3
10 rounds
featherweight division
Ramirez isn’t the biggest hitter at featherweight, nor is he the top prospect on the rise in the division, but he will some day be an entertaining fighter to watch. He’s a good size for featherweight, roughly the same as Vasyl Lomachenko.
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓
[hr gap=””]From The Belvedere, Elk Grove, Illinois
Dusty Hernandez Harrison 28(15)-0 vs Angel Hernandez 17(13)-16–1
8 rounds
welterweight division
They’re taking it easy with Harrison. He’s fought on TV before and failed to truly impress or let anyone know he’s ready to start competing at a high level. This can be easily explained by the fact that he skipped out on an amateur career and jumped straight into the pros. It will be at least a couple more years before Harrison is fully ready for the big league.
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓
[lead]Saturday January 30, 2016[/lead]
From Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, Shanghai, China
TV: CCTV 5 (China)
Zou Shiming 6(1)-1 vs Natan Coutinho 12(10)-0
12 rounds
flyweight division
It didn’t take a genius to see that Shiming wasn’t beating Amnat Ruenroeng. A 30 something year old pro with no punching power, a slapping style, and severe stamina issues was never going to beat a titleholder. That just wasn’t going to happen and Shiming learned the hard way.
Now, we have a trap match. In the follow-up to his first loss to Ruenroeng, Shiming will face a young undefeated Brazilian fighter on a 7 fight knockout streak. I’ll grant you that the opponents Coutinho has knocked out have been bad and that Shiming is a huge level above them. It’s just that this seems like the perfect trap fight. Shiming is going to come in overconfident, desperately trying to prove he is an elite fighter and suddenly he walks into a big counter from Coutinho and he’s on the canvas.
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓
Ryota Murata 8(5)-0 vs Gaston Vegas 24(10)-10–1
10 rounds
middleweight division
There are some vocal fans out there that like to bring up Murata’s name as this top tier prospect in the middleweight division. It’s time for a bit of truth for the Murata believers. It’s time to scale back your expectations. Murata is not that good. He’s really slow, he doesn’t have world level power, and at 30 years old those things aren’t coming. People love to gush about winning gold medals at the amateur level, but seriously. Audley Harrison has a gold medal. They don’t amount to much when your talents as an amateur don’t translate to the professional ranks. Murata lacks world level speed and it will be the thing that causes him his first loss. (Not in this fight though.)
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓
[hr gap=””]From Marriott Convention Center, Burbank, California
Time: 8:00 PM PST, 11:00 PM EST, 4:00 AM GMT
TV: UniMas (US)
Jose Felix Jr 32(25)-1–1 vs Ricky Sismundo 30(13)-8–2
10 rounds
super welterweight division
You must be wondering why on earth a guy that is 32–1–1 is fighting a guy like Ricky Sismundo. Why is a guy on a 5 fight win streak fighting a guy with 8 losses. Shouldn’t he be going for a world title? The answer is a simple one. Felix Jr ain’t ready for no title. The kid is young, one-dimensional (at this point), and still adjusting to a weight class. Felix Jr fights like a guy that put all but a few of his eggs into the offense basket. What we get is a guy who throws great punches, but is vulnerable to anyone who can box or move. The hope is that he continues to develop his defense more and there is plenty of time for him to come around. He’s only 23.
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓
Egor Mekhontsev 10(7)-0 vs Felipe Romero 19(13)-10–1
8 rounds
light heavyweight division
Mekhontsev needs to speed up his ascension. He’s 31 years old and the gap in the light heavyweight division between the top guys and the rest is growing by the day.
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓
[hr gap=””]From Copper Box Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Hackney Wick, London, United Kingdom
Time: 11:30 AM PST, 2:30 PM EST, 7:30 PM GMT
TV: Sky (UK) Sport 2 (Hungary)
George Groves 21(16)-3 vs Andrea Di Luisa 18(14)-3
12 rounds
super middleweight
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Following his losses to Carl Froch, George Groves fought like a wounded animal. He was often lackluster, tentative, and lacked any real fire. Getting knocked out in front of 80,000 people by an elite world level fighter at Wembley Stadium tends to do that to you.
We could start with the Badou Jack fight, but I’d rather go back to the Denis Douglin fight. There was absolutely no point in that fight where Groves was firmly ahead. Even the stoppage was a questionable one. In the fight Douglin landed on Groves with ease and depending on how you score he might have even been winning or tied at the time of the stoppage. Most who weren’t fooled by Groves dropping Froch in the first round of their first meeting knew that Groves had no shot against Badou Jack. When Groves was dropped in the first against Jack, that should have been the red flag to all watching.
Groves’s problem is that his defense is nowhere near world level, but people refuse to take a cold hard look at Groves because of the highs that he’s reached in his career. Nearly winning a slugfest against Carl Froch is a high that most current undefeated world champions have not and will not ever reach. Amir Khan has this same thing going for him. He’s doing it with smoke and mirrors at this point, but the reality is there staring everyone in the face. The question is whether or not people are willing to look at it.
This is all a fancy way of saying Groves is just about done. Switching trainers is going to be putting a bandaid on a cut that requires stitches. It will only be a matter of time before it’s ripped open again and the blood flows freely.
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓
John Ryder 21(12)-2 vs Sergey Khomitsky 30(13)-12–3
12 rounds
middleweight division
If you listen to the SundayPuncher podcast, you’ve probably gotten the most thorough preview of this fight you’re going to get, but let me do a little here. It’s simple.
Ryder was decisively outpointed by Billy Joe Saunders and stopped by Nick Blackwell. What that communicates is that Ryder is fundamentally flawed in some way given he’s not beating guys like Nick Blackwell. If the above is true about fighter and they fight at middleweight, there is one gatekeeper you never put your guy in with. That guy is Sergey Khomitsky. He’s upset numerous prospects over the year with his intelligent and patient offense. I anticipate Khomitsky will do what he’s famous for this Saturday.
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓
[hr gap=””]From Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Time: 6:45 PM PST, 9:45 PM EST, 2:45 AM GMT
TV: HBO (US) Indigo (Canada)
Sergey Kovalev 28(25)-0–1 vs Jean Pascal 30(17)-3–1
12 rounds
SundayPuncher light heavyweight championship
Freddie Roach is a multiple time trainer of the year award winner. His ability to transform fighters has been discussed widely and has been paramount in boxings recent history. Roach took a one-armed slugger in Manny Pacquiao and turned him into one of the most explosive and dynamic offensive fighters in boxing history. Amir Khan was on a quick road out of boxing after suffering one of the most devastating upset knockout losses in Sky Box Office history. Roach took the quick-handed bambi legs fighter and turned his offensive gifts into defense. Roach turned Khan into a fighter who seldom needed to defend himself because it was nearly impossible to get off on him without him giving something back. The list goes on and on of what Roach has been able to do.
If you’ve seen a recent Miguel Cotto fight, you know that Roach’s gifts aren’t limited to boxing technique. He’s also shown he’s gifted at working on the mental aspect of a fighter’s game. Roach unlocked something with Miguel Cotto that had not been previously seen. Cotto finally looked like he actually enjoyed boxing and that he wasn’t forced by his family into the sport.
The hope heading into this rematch with Sergey Kovalev for Pascal is that the addition of Freddie Roach to his corner has the same recuperative powers that it has had on others. The fear here is that Pascal becomes yet another Chad Dawson or George Groves who jumps from trainer to trainer in hopes of finding an answer other than facing the harsh reality that the problem with his career is him.
The question is what is Jean Pascal’s problem? He’s a former world champion, he’s been in multiple world title fights, he’s fought at the world level for a number of years. What exactly is Pascal’s problem? Why is he regarded as B-level light heavyweight. A close inspection after some research of his fights would lead one to the conclusion that Pascal’s problem is that he lacks identity. You can watch Jean Pascal fight 10 fights and you wouldn’t walk away feeling like you know who Pascal is in the ring. He has moments where he’s fantastic, where he’s slick, where he brawls, where he’s cautious, the list goes on. But nothing truly stands out to distinguish Pascal. The hope, especially given Pascal’s advancing ring and actual age, is that Pascal finds who he is as a fighter with Freddie Roach. That he puts it all together and becomes a distinct kind of Pascal that takes advantage of the elite physical attributes he has.
A more pessimistic look at this fight would tell you that Pascal has lost his last two fights. Of course there was the stoppage loss to Kovalev that had some thrilling moments where Pascal looked like he had an upset in him. Then there’s the Yunieski Gonzalez fight that Pascal somehow got a unanimous decision in. A harsh look says that Pascal is done. Hell, you could go back to his short fight with Roberto Bolonti and say that wasn’t even a real fight. It’s been 2 years since Pascal has looked like a good fighter when he outpointed Lucian Bute. That thought alone makes it a scary ordeal to imagine Pascal in the ring with one of the most dominant forces in all of boxing currently.
Kovalev is taking this fight personally and is coming out to put his brutal stamp on this fight. The only hope is that Freddie Roach can ignite something in Pascal we haven’t seen in his 10 year career. If Roach isn’t successful, we’re going to see a severely vulnerable and confused Pascal trying to do too much in the ring. If that’s the case, it spells disaster.
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓
Dmitry Mikhaylenko 20(9)-0 vs Karim Mayfield 19(11)-2–1
10 rounds
welterweight division
Main Events would like nothing more than to have a hand in the welterweight division and Dmitry Mikhaylenko is their ticket in. He’s on a 3 fight knockout streak against solid opposition and he gets a chance on HBO to make a statement against Karim Mayfield. Mikhaylenko is a decent fighter who is difficult to read. His wins thus far have been good enough to prove that he’s better than them, but projecting him at the world level is more difficult.
He’s competent on the inside, can be reckless on defense (especially when pulling out of exchanges), and an accurate puncher. What really stands out with him is that he has a high stamina to go along with a Paul Williams-level work rate. It isn’t surprising to see him throw 100+ punches a round.
If Mikhaylenko wins big on Saturday, he will become a fascinating addition to the world level at welterweight.
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓🐓
[lead]Sunday January 31, 2016[/lead]
From Seminole Casino, Immokalee, Florida
Time: 6:00 PM PST, 9:00 PM EST, 2:00 AM GMT
TV: Bounce TV (US)
Erickson Lubin 13(10)-0 vs Jose De Jesus Macias 18(9)-4–2
10 rounds
super welterweight division
It’s about time that we take a look at which top prospects are going to be graduating in 2016.
We’ll use a few parameters. Are they fighting in eliminators or for international titles, are they past 20 fights or 25 years old, are they going to be in a world title fight before the end of the year, do they currently ranked in the top 10 by a respectable body?
Callum Smith — graduated
Oscar Valdez — graduated
Errol Spence — graduated
Anthony Joshua — graduated
Felix Verdejo — graduated
These are the recognized top 5 prospects in the sport and all of them will have graduated in 2016. Most of them will have in the first half of the year. That leaves a huge gap in the world for new prospects to come in and take their place.
Now the question is who’s next?
Look no further than Erickson Lubin. A big, strong super welterweight southpaw who seems to be begging better the more he fights. He’s already has a couple of wins that exceed the expectations of a fighter with his experience.
Watching Lubin, you get the sense that he has it all. Power, speed, defense, accuracy, he’s got it. It’s now up to him to continue improving and make a name for himself in a talent packed division. Don’t be shocked if Lubin has a world title by the end of 2016.
Entertainment Rating: 🐓🐓🐓🐓 Importance Rating: 🐓🐓🐓
