Mike Perez and Carlos Takam Fight Recap

Mike Perez and Carlos Takam Fight Recap

Before a massive crowd of over 20,000 fight fans on Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, world ranked and undefeated heavyweight contender Mike “The Rebel” Perez of Cork, Ireland battled France’s Carlos Takam to a ten round majority draw (96-94 Perez, 95-95 x 2).

After winning the first two rounds, Perez suffered a nasty cut over his right eye in the third stanza from an accidental head butt.

“Mike fought well early in the fight but the head butt left him with blurred vision for a couple rounds and seemed to keep from him being able to mount a consistent attack in the second half of the fight,” said Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions.

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Lucian Bute Waits Til the End: Defeat in Montreal

Lucian Bute Waits Til the End: Defeat in Montreal

After a long and extended delay, perhaps the highest profile fight in Canadian boxing history has finally ended. A fight that seemed inevitable has finally occurred despite the roadblocks. The fight itself turned out to be an underwhelming affair after all the accolades leading up to it. Lucian Bute held sturdy and was not stopped like many of his detractors declared would happen but he lost in a way that many could not expect. He lacked offensive urgency, his uppercut to the head and viscous liver shot never once became a factor. Bute had several sharp jabs and some occasional left hands.

Then suddenly in the final three minutes Bute assaulted Jean Pascal with everything in his arsenal. A first it was hard to tell if he was playing possum because Pascal then jumped out and sprung into attack. Then, Bute went back onto the assault once again until the end of the round. When the fight was over and the twelve rounds were completed there was no doubt about who would win and the right man was given the nod on the scorecards by margins of four points on one card and seven on the other two.

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Carlos Takam Batters Mike Perez: Settles for a Draw

Carlos Takam Batters Mike Perez: Settles for a Draw

Opening up for the HBO broadcast from the Bell Center in Montreal, Canada were two relocated heavyweights. The contest pitted two relocated fighters in late starter Carlos Takam born in Cameroon fighting out of France and Mike Perez born in Cuba and fighting out of Ireland. The bout seemed like it was going to be a forgettable one as the first three rounds saw very little action.

Then a cut on the right brow of Perez opened from an accidental head butt in the third round and neither man got particularly desperate despite facing a possible no contest. Then suddenly the fight picked up. The much larger Takam spent the early goings backing away from Perez and trying to box the former Cuban amateur and the perceived better boxer. Perez appeared to be ahead after five rounds as the fight remained at a slow pace with no real engagements. In round six the fight became stationary and toe to toe and Takam began to dig to the body and work in the uppercut.

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Pascal defeats Bute; Perez -Takam fight to a draw

Pascal defeats Bute; Perez -Takam fight to a draw

Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KO’s) beat former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (31-2, 24 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The final judges scores were 116-112, 118-110, 117-111.

The fight was horrible to watch because Bute wouldn’t throw punches, and spent 3 minutes of every round just moving his head like a fighter who can no longer pull the trigger on his punches. Bute didn’t look like a physically shot fighter. He did throw some nice punches in the 12th round when he finally decided to start fighting. But Bute’s problem seemed to be more on the mental side. He looked like he was afraid to get countered by Pascal if he let his hands go, and he just wasn’t going to leave himself in a vulnerable position.

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ShoBox: Ivan Redkach Wins, Frank Galarza Steals Show

ShoBox: Ivan Redkach Wins, Frank Galarza Steals Show

Promising, world-ranked southpaw Ivan Redkach (16-0, 13 KO’s), of Los Angeles, by way of Ukraine, passed the toughest challenge of his career, scoring one knockdown en route to a unanimous 10-round decision over Canada’s Tony Luis (17-2, 7 KO’s), but the night belonged to “The Brooklyn Rocky” Frank “Notorious” Galarza (12-0-2, 8 KO’s), of Brooklyn, N.Y., who registered an exciting second-round knockout over John “Apollo Kidd’’ Thompson (14-1, 5 KO’s), of Newark, N.J., Friday on ShoBox: The New Generation live on SHOWTIME® from Cook Convention Center.

In other ShoBox results on a four-fight card, Antoine Douglas (12-0, 7 KO’s), of Burke, Va., by way of Washington D.C., won a lopsided eight-round decision over Marquis Davis (8-1-2, 5 KO’s), of Tampa, Fla., in a matchup of unbeaten middleweights and undefeated junior welterweights Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker (12-0-2, 9 KO’s), of Dallas, Texas, and Abel Ramos (8-0-1, 4 KO’s), of Casa Grande, Ariz., by way of Gettysburg, Pa., boxed to an eight-round draw in an exciting scrap that opened the telecast.

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“Indeed” Mike Reed Does it Again

“Indeed” Mike Reed Does it Again

By Justin Jones & Paul “Paparazzi” Jones, Photo © Paul “Paparazzi” Jones

Fort Washington, MD — Light Welterweight Mike “Yes Indeed” Reed (7-0, 5 KOs) of Waldorf, M.D. stopped Jorge Marquez (4-2, 2 KOs) of Phoenix in the fifth round of their featured bout on Keystone Boxing’s “Friday Night Fights” card at Rosecroft Raceway. Reed, 21, a decorated amateur with a National Golden Gloves Championship to his credit, put all of his boxing skills on display against Marquez who, prior to this match-up, had never been stopped in his professional career.

Offensively, Reed had everything working for him, alternating between fast combinations to the head and body of Marquez and powerful digs to his opponent’s midsection that appeared to befuddle the challenger in the early going.

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ESPN2 Friday Night Fights Full Recap: Truax/Duran battle to a disputed draw and a controversial knockout in the main event

truax5667The night started out at the Target Center from chilly Minneapolis with a rematch from a spirited first fight featuring Milwaukee prospect Adrian Martinez fighting Duluth native Trevor Marmon.

The 1st round was evenly fought until the fighters exchanged left hooks with Adrian getting the better of it forcing Marmon to hold avoiding a knockdown.

Beginning of the 2nd round Marmon got to the body but Martinez’s uppercuts, body shots, and several huge right hands seem to bother Trevor. Martinez landed another flush left hook that closed the show with a knockout at the 1:18 mark in the 3rd round. 

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ESPN2 FNF Ends With After the Bell KAYO

mendez676Something unusual occurred in the season premier of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. It occurred in the main event at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN. It was almost musical. The end came with a thud. Watch the replay, and see if you can keep time with the two punches and bells that ended round two of the fight. First, watch undefeated Rances Barthelemy;s land a hard right to the head of 130 pound champ Argenis Mendez.

Then he ends things with a left hook land as the bell clangs a second time. The fight is over. Oops! Referee Pete Podgorski was out of position and failed to separate the fighters at the end of the round. Can you say appeal? The winner of course didn’t know what announcer Bernardo Osuna was talking about when Osuna asked in the post-fight interview about the infractions? Naturally, Rances was excited with his big win and capturing of the IBF super featherweight world title.

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Gutsy Stuey Hall joins Froch, Quigg and Burns as British world champions with thrilling year-end classic Vs. Malinga

You could argue Great Britain saved the best for last in terms of terrific action fights staged in 2013. Last night in Leeds, 33-year-old Darlington man Stuey Hall battled his way to the IBF bantamweight title in an incredibly exciting and at times brutal encounter with South African southpaw Vusi Malinga.

Hall, an unlikely world title challenger, fought through the pain and hindrance of a badly busted up left eye to out-point 34-year-old Malinga in a fight that could be argued as the best to have taken place in the UK this year. After decking his man in the 3rd, Hall had to dig deep to see it through to the end. The two warriors went toe-to-toe and inflicted as much hurt as they could on each other. The heart and courage shown by both was truly remarkable.

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