Marcos Maidana Stops A Game Jesus Soto Karass In Drama-Filled Slugfest – “El Chino” Back To His Entertaining Best!

09/14/201609/16/2012 ESB

Marcos Maidana Stops A Game Jesus Soto Karass In Drama-Filled Slugfest - “El Chino” Back To His Entertaining Best! (Photo: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME) By James Slater – Who doesn’t love Argentine banger and all-round warrior Marcos Maidana? Well, aside from the passionate, in-the-mood-to-celebrate Mexican fans who roared on their countryman Jesus Soto Karass inside a half-full MGM Grand last night, almost every fight fan loves “El Chino.”

Excitement personified, the 29-year-old did it again in halting a game Karass via 8th-round TKO. Last night’s win, which improved Maidana to 32-3(29), was actually a must-win fight for the slugger from Carlos Monzon country, as Maidana had looked quite poor last time out, in losing a wide decision to the slick Devon Alexander in a fight that saw the former WBA 140-pound champ make the move up to welter. But that loss came against a classy boxer/mover – Maidana’s worst nightmare. Put “El Chino” in with a man who will stand and go to war with him, however, and Maidana has a shot of both winning and thrilling the crowd.

It’s not clear how long Maidana – who was last night somewhat dwarfed and pushed around as a result of his size disadvantage – can hang with the elite at 147 (can he still make 140?), but one thing is sure: it will be value for money all the way for as long as Maidana continues to rumble. Last night’s performance was typical Maidana: he fought hard, he fought dirty and he fought like a man obsessed with scoring the KO. Chucking bombs from the get-go, Maidana showed he does have power at 147. The right hand a formidable weapon against the determined Karass, Maidana’s left hand was also effective.

“Please Stand By” Sergio Wins but With Technical Difficulties!

09/14/201609/16/2012 ESB

by Paul Strauss: What a night for boxing fans. Between Showtime and HBO, there were more fights than you could shake a stick at. The big record setting one was of course at the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV. It was a grudge match pitting Sergio Gabriel “Maravilla” Martinez against the young title usurper with the bloodlines named Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.

Simply put, Martinez felt he was unfairly stripped of his middleweight title, and to make matters worse, it was given to this undeserving upstart who happened to be the son of a great fighter. Sergio was uncharacteristically vocal about what he thought was an injustice, and he was determined to set things right. Most of the experts and the odds makers agreed he was likely to be successful. On the other hand, JCC, Jr. was hurt and insulted by Sergio’s comments and determined to make him pay. Both promised knockouts.

Even with hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach’s help, it was thought to be unlikely that JCC, Jr. had the necessary skill and experience to pull off the upset, despite his father having done the seemingly impossible years ago against Meldrick Taylor. That was so long ago (1990), it seemed like a dream.
Critics of Sergio, including JCC, Sr. and Freddie Roach and other boxing purists don’t particularly care for Sergio’s style. When it comes to boxing technique, they feel he lacks fundamentals; although, they begrudgingly agree he is a superior athlete. Consequently, they believed he could be “gotten to” and that JCC, Jr. would be able to do so Saturday night.

Macklin holds Alcine at ‘Knife’point

09/14/201609/16/2012 ESB

Padraig Ivory – Matthew Macklin deployed a controlled explosion at the Thomas and Mack on Saturday night and when the smoke settled former champ Joachim Alcine had taken shelter under the arm of referee Jay Nady. The left temple of the Haitian native duly played the role of the detonator as an invigorated Macklin claimed his 20th stoppage in sensational style.

The 30 year old Tipperary hurling fanatic, who was controversially denied world title honours against Felix Sturm in 2011, emphatically reinstated his status as the major threat to the middleweight crown. The first class surroundings of the new MGM gym may have aptly provided Buddy McGirt’s charge with the script to premiere an action packed Blockbuster in front of an energetic Las Vegas crowd.

‘Mack the Knife’ executed an overpowering assault on the former champ who twice came face to face with the heavily advertised canvas. Macklin was unrelenting and forged iron from leather as he cleverly switched attack between body and head. Alcine offered little in the way of return fire forcing the experienced referee to call a halt to the explosive action with only 2.26 registered on the clock.

Alvarez stops Lopez; Maidana TKOs Soto-Karass; De Leon defeats Gonzalez

09/14/201609/15/2012 ESB

(Photos: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME) By Rob Smith: In a positively sick mismatch that should have never been made in the first place, WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) absolutely annihilated welterweight Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KO’s) by a 5th round TKO on Saturday night in one of Alvarez’s easier title defenses at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Alvarez knocked Lopez down three times, once in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds from body and head shots. Lopez, who looked soft in the midsection, had problems with Alvarez’s body shots. Alvarez obviously spotted the the coat of fat that Lopez had put on around his waist in moving up from welterweight in three months.

In the 5th, Alvarez finished off the hapless Lopez and referee Joe Cortez stepped in to halt the slaughter at 2:55 of the round.

Martinez dominates Chavez Jr; Rigondeaux decisions Marroquin; Macklin crushes Alcine

09/14/201609/15/2012 ESB

By Dwight Chittenden: With the exception of the 12th round, Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) completely dominated a badly over-matched WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) tonight in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Martinez, 37, had to climb off the deck in the 12th round to survive after getting hurt and knocked by a desperate Chavez Jr. However, Chavez Jr. was too slow and inaccurate to finish off Martinez when he had him where he wanted him. The final judges’ scores were 118-109, 118-109 and 117-110, all for Martinez.

Chavez Jr. couldn’t get into the fight in the first 11 rounds, as he was too slow and unable to get his shots off. With Martinez constantly moving, Chavez Jr. looked completely clueless with what to do. His past opponents had always been stationary for him to use his body attack on them while they stood against the ropes for him. But Martinez was going to play Chavez Jr’s game and stayed on the move the entire fight.

Ward-Dawson: Andre Ward cements his place as a modern great

09/14/201609/09/2012 ESB

By Peter Wells: Maybe it’s about time we stopped the Mayweather, Pacquiao, who’s the best in the world argument. Andre Ward may just have trumped them both with another completely dominate display. Ward has already cleared out the Super Middleweight division, and Chad Dawson the best Light Heavyweight in the world, and a top 10 pound-for-pound fighter himself didn’t even come close to ending Ward’s unbeaten run that’s stretches back to when he was 12. When you look at Mayweather’s and Manny’s fights the last few years, they haven’t won each fight as clearly as Ward has. Andre has fought the best in his division and the best fighter in the division above, Mayweather and Pacquiao haven’t fought one another meaning they haven’t fought the best in their division.

Enough of that, this isn’t an article to argue who is the best in the world. Last night was Ward’s night as he was simply awesome in dominating the ultra talented WBC Light Heavyweight champion. In the build up many worried if Dawson could make the weight well, but looked good at the weigh in and weighed almost 10lbs heavier than Ward on fight night. Dawson enjoys fighting at his own pace, using his jab to control rounds. ‘S.O.G’ took away Dawson’s jab from the very start and after a slow first upped the pace to suit himself.

Ward’s footwork is something to admire. Any youngster starting boxing should definitely watch the way Ward uses his feet to set himself up to land shots and avoid shots coming back. Ward is also a great thinker and may well have won this fight using his brain, seeing shots that others wouldn’t notice if they stood their for 5 minutes let alone in a split second.

Larry Merchant throws best jab of the night

09/09/201209/09/2012 ESB

by Paul Strauss: (Vitali stops Charr in 4th on bad cut), DeMarco vs Molina – Junior sits it out, Ward vs Dawson – Andre makes another one look easy

To start off the night’s festivities, HBO showed a replay of forty-one year old Vitali Klitschko’s 4th round TKO destruction of Manuel Charr at the Olimpiyskia in Moscow, Russia. After the fight, announcer Jim Lampley asked Larry about the possibility of David Haye remaining a thorn in the side of the Klitschko brothers. Larry reminded Jim about Haye’s “Loser’s Limp” display done after his fight with Wladimir when he removed his shoe to show everyone his injured little toe. The implication was that was the reason for his loss. In Larry’s deliberate manner, he said Haye should have removed his shorts, which would have revealed the the real reason for his loss. It was obvious Larry meant we wouldn’t be seeing any Fruit of the Looms.

Well, Dr. Iron Fist had his boxer shorts on while showing a total disregard for anything Charr might try to do. Vitali kept both hands low, inviting Charr to try something. Charr’s strategy seemed to be to tire out Vitali by letting him tee off on him? Well, let that be a lesson to fledging boxers. If you simply hold up what you hope is a tight guard, but don’t punch back, your opponent is going to find a way to penetrate your defense, as did Vitali. Soon he was getting through with a variety of shots, and by the third round a cut had developed over Charr’s right eyelid. In the fourth, Referee Guido Callverli stopped the action long enough for the ringside physician to take a look. After twice wiping away a considerable amount of blood, the doctor said no go, and the fight was stopped. Larry and Max Kellerman thought it might have been a little premature. They alluded to Moscow’s lack of experience with world title fights. Lampley pointed out the physician seemed to have a German sounding name and not a Russian one, for all that’s worth.

Bellew stops Miranda in Nine – What next for the Bomber?

09/09/201209/09/2012 ESB

By Matt Amos – Last night Tony Bellew increased his standing in the 175 Pound Light Heavyweight division with a solid ninth round stoppage over erratic Columbian Edison Miranda. As predicted the “Bomber” needed to focus during the first four shared rounds but Miranda seemed too visibly tire as the fight progressed, frustrated by the long sharp jab and skillful body punches of the Liverpudlian. The Columbian had his moments with his powerful right hand but Bellew never seemed to be in trouble and his superior boxing skills ultimately ended the fight in the 9th when he displayed a nice variety of accurate punches, ending in a clinical left to the body which Miranda had no answer too as he refused to take any more punishment.

Matthysse-Olusegun: Brave Ajose stopped after 10 classic rounds

10/01/201209/09/2012 ESB

By Peter Wells: It was never going to be easy. The Nigerian born Londoner has been the WBC mandatory challenger for several years, and has been overlooked the whole time. Then as though giving him a compensation prize, they pit him against arguably the best 140lbs fighter for the WBC Interim belt. Last nights performance may just have answered why they have overlooked him. He fought toe-to-toe with the hard hitting Lucas Matthysse and gave as much as he took, just not with the same force.

With his clear talents aired like on Showtime as main event, other sanctioning bodies will be adding Ajose to their lists. As for Lucas Matthysse he will get his long awaited world title shot against the winner of Danny Garcia vs Erik Morales (Garcia).

It was a brutal performance from Matthysse after a slightly tentative first round. Olusegun seemed to take the 1st, putting together good combinations. Ajose kept firing these eye catching combinations but Matthysse’s dynamite fists were always in reach to change the course of each round by sending his unbeaten opponent to the ropes before rallying. Ajose though was as tough as nails, going through several scary moments in the first half of the fight. Several times referee Russel Mora was close to stepping in on several occasions. Had it been any other fighter Mora may have stepped in, but knowing how long Ajose had waited for this chance, Mora gave him as much chance as possible. Ajose did dish out his own fair share of punishment, and after the fight Matthysse told Showtime analyst Jim Gray, “I felt his power tonight”.

Matthysse blasts out Ajose

09/14/201609/09/2012 ESB

(Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime) LAS VEGAS (Sept. 8, 2012) – Lucas Matthysse powered his way through previously undefeated Olusegun Ajose to claim the WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Championship Saturday night on SHOWTIME® from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Matthysse’s power proved to be too much for the game Ajose and after a fantastic display of courage from both fighters, Matthysse scored a fight ending knockdown at 2:59 of the 10th round.

In the co-feature on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, up-and-coming prospect J’Leon Love stepped into the spotlight and claimed the win over fellow prospect Ramon Valenzuela by disqualification due to unsportsmanlike conduct at 0:37 of the eighth round.

In the main event, Matthysse proved to be stronger and faster from the opening bell. Matthysse, who has had great success against left handers, stayed busier throughout and landed punishing combinations against his southpaw opponent. But Ajose showed his mettle and proved his toughness and resilience by staying on his feet through the biggest punches Matthysse could dole out.

As the rounds went on, Ajose tried to keep his opponent at a distance, but Matthysse continuously broke through, often attacking the body before going for the head. While neither fighter had ever been knocked down, Matthysse’s strength sent Ajose to the canvas in the tenth forcing referee Russell Mora to step in and halt the action. It was the first loss of Ajose’s professional career.