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

09/14/201609/09/2012 ESB

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

Ward stops Dawson; DeMarco destroys Molina in 1st round knockout

09/14/201609/08/2012 ESB

By Michael Collins: It’s safe to say that Chad Dawson (31-2, 17 KO’s) learned a tremendous lesson tonight about the dangerous of losing weight to fight out of his weight class. Dawson, 30, was completely dominated in every sense of the word by WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) in losing by a 10th round TKO at the Oracle Arena, in Oakland, California. Dawson was knocked down three times in this fight, if you want to call it fight. After the 3rd knockdown, Dawson told referee Steve Smoger that he’d had enough and the fight was halted.

You don’t want to make excuses for Dawson, but it was hard looking at how poorly he fought and how weak he looked throughout the fight and not feel that he was perhaps weight drained from making the foolish mistake of agreeing to drain down to 168 lbs to take the weight. I’m betting that Dawson wishing he hadn’t done that right now because he really got a humiliating beating by Ward. This wasn’t even close after the 2nd.

Ward was just battering Dawson with left hooks, right hands and hard body shots and Dawson just looked like he was trying to survive. He was getting badly punished in this fight and it’s too bad his trainer John Sculley didn’t step and stop the massacre by the midpoint of the fight because there was no reason to let the fight continue after the 6th round.

Klitschko stops Charr in 4th; Abdusalamov stops McCline with a jab

09/14/201609/08/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KO’s) added his 41st knockout of his career on Saturday night in stopping a game but badly overmatched Manuel Charr (21-1, 11 KO’s) in a 4th round stoppage at the at the Olimpiyskiy, in Moscow, Russia. The fight was halted after Vitali opened up a bad cut over the 27-year-old Charr’s right eyebrow in the 4th round after connecting with a left hook to the head. Charr was furious with the stoppage and packed back and forth, swearing.

However, he wasn’t doing anything in the fight other than just taking terrible punishment. Vitali knocked Charr down with a hard right hand at the end of the 3rd round. It was pretty clear that Charr would have been badly hurt if the fight had gone into the second half of the fight because he was literally a punching bag tonight, and unable to land any shots. Vitali landed whatever he wanted against the helpless Charr and made it look easy.

Undefeated heavyweight contender Magomed Abdusalamov (16-0, 16 KO’s) was knocked down by a hard right hand from journeyman Jameel McCline (41-14-3, 24 KO’s) tonight but was able to come back to get a 2nd round stoppage by knocking McCline down with a jab. Abdusalamov, #13 WBA, was badly hurt after McCline tagged him with a tremendous right hand early in the 1st round. Abdusalamov stayed down a long time from that shot, and probably would have been finished off had McCline not stopped punching after that. It’s unclear why McCline backed off, because he Abdusalamov where he wanted him but he just seemed to go into a hole after that knockdown.

Adamek stops Walker

09/14/201609/08/2012 ESB

By Dwight Chittenden: Heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek (47-2, 28 KO’s) survived a 2nd round scare tonight when he was knocked down by the power punching Travis Walker (39-8-1, 31 KO’s) at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. However, Adamek, 35, was able to get back up and survive the round, which also saw the 6’4 1/2″ Walker get knocked down. Adamek then boxed smart and was able to take control of the fight and get a 5th round stoppage when he had Walker out on his feet. The fight was then stopped at 1:08 of the round.

It was a good win for Adamek, #4 IBF, #9 WBC, #12 WBA, as it keeps him within grasp of a title shot against IBO/IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Adamek hopes to get a shot against Wladimir next year if everything goes alright with his next fight or two.

Christina Hammer Outclasses Hernandez

09/08/2012 ESB

World Boxing Federation (WBF) Women’s World Middleweight Champion Christina Hammer had no problems dealing with durable, but outclassed, challenger Yahaira Hernandez on Friday September 7 in Muelheim, Germany. Hammer won a landslide unanimous decision in front of around 4000 fans at the RWE Rhein-Ruhr Sportshalle. Both boxers started the fight at a high pace, but it was Hammer, 13-0 (7), who continuously had more success and it was clear early on that she was at another level than Hernandez technically. With quick hands and fast footwork, the defending champion put her challenger under pressure and rarely eased off as she thoroughly dominated the Dominican in every round.

Golovkin destroys Proksa in easy win; Dzinziruk-Gonzalez fight to 12 rd draw

09/14/201609/01/2012 ESB

By Dwight Chittenden: WBA World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (24-0, 21 KO’s) made it look easy tonight in halting Poland’s Grzegorz Proksa (28-2, 21 KO’s) in a a 5th round knockout at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, in Verona, New York. Golovkin knocked the badly overmatched Proksa down three times before the brutal slaughter was ended in the 5th round with Proksa knocked face down on the canvas.

Golovkin put Proksa down in the 1st, 4th and the last time in the 5th. You could tell that the end was near in the 4th round when Golovkin knocked Proksa down with a powerful right hand to the head. Although Proksa was also knocked down in the 1st, but this time he was really hurt and he took punishment for the remainder of the round.

In the 5th round, Golovkin came out like a shark smelling blood in the water, ignoring Proksa’s futile attempts to fight him off with wild shots, Golovkin got Proksa near the ropes and badly hurt him with a big right hand. Proksa, now staggering, was helpless as Golovkin added the finishing shots to the head to put him down face first on the canvas. Proksa gamely got to his feet but he was badly dazed and the referee did the right thing by calling a halt to the fight at 1:11 of the round.