Whilst we may not immediately think of South Africa as an out an out "boxing country" due to their love with both Cricket and Rugby Union they do tend to have the occasional boxer who really stands out. In the 1950's it was excellent Bantamweight Vic Toweel in the 1980's we had both the amazing Super Featherweight Brian Mitchell and Heavyweight Gerrie Coetzee and in the 1990's "Baby" Jacob Matlala who all proved to be exceptionally talented South Africans. Now a days one of South Africa's boxers is Minimumweight Nkosinathi Joyi (22-1-0-1, 15) who formerly held the IBF Minimumweight title.
Based in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape the 29 year old Joyi, known as "Mabere" has been boxing professionally since he was just 19. On his debut in 2002 he defeated Dalisizwe Komani by a 6 round decision before running off 3 stoppage wins to end the year 4-0 (3). The following year he claimed his first title as he won the Cape Mini Flyweight title by out pointing Mlungiseleli Xokoloshe, his only decision win of the year as he advanced his record to 7-0 (5).
Joyi moved up the national rankings quickly and despite having only been a professional for around 2 years Joyi claimed the South African Minimumweight title title in early 2004 defeating Mzikayse Foslare inside a round. Joyi would defend this title 6 times over the following 2 and a half years with only 2 of his challengers managing to hear the final bell.
Having proven to be the best Minimumweight boxer in South Africa, Joyi sought more meaningful challenges and in late 2006 he claimed his first major international title by stopping Armando dela Cruz in 2 rounds for the IBO Minimumweight title. As the IBO champion Joyi progressed quickly and despite blowing out Gabriel Pumar inside a round he was severely tested by Mexican Sammy Gutierrez. Against Gutierrez, Joyi was given serious trouble and dropped in round 5 before eventually stopping Gutierrez in round 7 in what was, to that point, by far his toughest bout. Following the victory over Gutierrez, Joyi made just one more defense of his title stopping Lorenzo Trejo in 2 rounds before giving up the belt to move towards a more respected belt.
In his first bout after giving up the IBO title Joyi faced hard punching Filipino Florante Condes in an IBF title eliminator. The talented Condes had been a world champion just a year earlier and was seen as a clear threat to Joyi due to his power and experience, to many this appeared to be a defining fight for Joyi. Joyi relished the challenge and proved his class by clearly dominating the former world champion almost scoring a shut out over his highly ranked opponent. This victory earned Joyi the #1 ranking with the IBF and a serious chance of fighting for a world title.
After waiting 9 months following the victory over Condes, Joyi got his chance to fight for the world title bringing the then IBF Minimumweight champion Raul Garcia from Mexico to South Africa. Garcia was viewed as yet another step up in class for Joyi and was unbeaten in 28 bouts with 4 title defenses behind him. Like Joyi, Garcia had had to prove himself and had secured 2 victories over Gutierrez as well as a victory over Condes (in the fight that saw Garcia claiming the title). Sadly despite being experienced and talented Garcia was thoroughly out classed by Joyi who proved that he genuinely was one of the most outstanding little men in the sport.
Since winning the title Joyi has sadly been rather inactive with just 2 defenses in almost 2 and a half years. The first of those defenses came 10 months after Joyi won the title as he faced former WBC champion Katsunari Takayama, sadly that bout ended prematurely after a clash of heads in round 3 saw the bout called off as a 3 round No Contest. Earlier this year the two men rematched in the only other defense by Joyi, this time the South African came out the winner in a very competitive bout. The long lay off seemed to negatively effect the champion who was less than his usually impressive self.
Despite having been a huge favourite in his most recent fight, Joyi suffered a massive upset at the hands of Mario Rodriguez recently and lost not only his unbeaten record but also his world title. Whether Joyi returns to try and avenge his loss or instead makes the move to either Light Flyweight or even Flyweight is a big question asked amongst fans of the lower weights, though the likely outcome is that he will return to fighting at home in his comfort zone, a real shame for boxing fans.
Thursday 30 August 2012
Wednesday 15 August 2012
Alberto Rossel
When we talk about "world champions" in boxing today we do have a number of really unknown fighters, few however are as unknown as Peruvian veteran Alberto "Chiquito" Rossel (31-8-0-1, 13), the current WBA "interim" Light Flyweight champion who is perhaps, only known, by the most hardcore, of the hardcore.
The 34 year old Rossel first made his name fighting as an amateur fighter in the mid 1990's where he competed not only at the 1995 Pan American games but also the 1996 Olympic games. At the Pan Am games Rossel would defeat Nicaraguan Adonis Rivas, a fighter who went on to become a 2-time world champion as a professional. Following the win over Rivas however Rossel would lose to Puerto Rican José Juan Cotto. At the Olympics however Rossel was less fortunate and he was actually beaten in his opening contest as he was out pointed by China's Yang Xiangzhong defeating him 16-7 in the preliminary round.
Following his amateur career Rossel turned professional and debuted in March 1998 scoring a 2nd round KO victory over Michel Vargas. Rossel would later add 2 more victories throughout the year to end 1998 with a record of 3-0 (3). The following year Rossel would add 3 more victories (1 by KO) to move to 6-0 (4) with all of his fights to this point taking place in Lima, the capital of Peru.
In 2000 Rossel faced his first notable opponent as he traveled from his homeland to face the then 24-0 Colombian Daniel Reyes, who like Rossel had made an appearance at the 1996 Olympics. Reyes would simply have too much for the inexperienced Rossel who was stopped in the 4th round and suffered his first defeat as a professional. Soon after this fight Reyes would go on to fight for the IBF Minimumweight title losing by close decision to Roberto Carlos Leyva, however Reyes would eventually go on to claim the title and gain revenge over Leyva.
Although Rossel bounced back from his first loss by traveling to American and defeating Adeniji Washington his career would struggle and he lost his following two bouts, including a 6 round decision loss to future Minimumweight great Ivan Calderon.
Rossel started to rebuild his career once again after seeing his record fall to 7-3 (4) and scored two decision wins over nondescript opponents before facing the then unbeaten Brian Viloria. The bout with Viloria ended disappointingly after a clash of heads in round 3 left Rossel unable to continue. Thankfully the two men were able to rematch just 4 months later and Rossel gave Viloria one of the toughest bouts of Viloria's early career, taking the unbeaten American to a razor thin majority decision in a battle for the NABF Flyweight title.
Following his loss to Viloria, Rossel faded away somewhat and went back to Peru to fight, running up 7 low profiled wins (6 in Peru, and 1 in the US) over the following 4 years. Rossel would next surface in a major contest as he traveled to Argentina to face the difficult Argentinian Luis Alberto Lazarte. Rossel, like many after him, would find Lazarte more than a little bit tricky as the Argentinian claimed a clear unanimous decision over him.
Following the loss to Lazarte Rossel would defeat Chilean Guillermo Dejeas (KO5) before traveling to South Africa and facing Vusi Malinga in a bout for the WBC International Bantamweight title. Malinga would prove to be too powerful and too big for Rossel, stopping the Peruvian in 5 rounds. This loss, like many Rossel suffered, forced Rossel back to Peru though it was whilst back home the Rossel would pick up his first professional titles. The first of which was the lightly regarded UBC Intercontinental Flyweight title, that Rossel won by stopping Edwin Ortega Santa Cruz. A little over a year later Rossel had added both the WBA Fedebol Flyweight title and the WBA Fedelatin Flyweight title to his collection.
Having moved up the WBA rankings thanks to the regional title that he had won, Rossel managed to earn himself his first world title fight as he took on the very talented Hugo Fidel Cazares. Cazares proved not only too good but far too strong and far too powerful as he scored 3 knockdowns en route to a 9th round TKO victory. Rossel simply couldn't match Cazares in anyway at all, as he was out powered, out sized and out skilled, though he did put on a brave performance against the very under-rated Mexican.
Having seen his record fall to 25-7-0-1 (11) and with father time catching up with Rossel, who was just months short of his 33rd birthday many who followed him thought that the Peruvian would retire and hold his head up high for having faced so many excellent opponents. Instead Rossel continued his career and dropped down in white to Light Flyweight, a weight that suited his diminutive, 5'2" frame much better than the Super Flyweight division.
After scoring 3 low profile wins at his new weight Rossel was offered a chance to fight for the WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title, the problem however was that he would be facing the young and unbeaten Mexican Jose Alfredo Rodriguez (who was then 28-0, 17). In a huge surprise result Rossel managed to out point his Mexican rival by jabbing and moving as he claimed the title and became the first ever Peruvian to claim any form of a major world title.
Rossel will made the first defence of his WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title by decisioning Colombian Karluis Diaz (17-4, 13). As a result of this victory Rossel became the first Peruvian to ever make a successful "world title" defence. (Note-A full write up of that fight can be found here). He has since defended that title against Walter Tello and Jose Alfredo Zuniga to have a run of 3 defenses.
Whilst we doubt Rossel's title reign will last long it's a title reign that will hold it's place in history and will hopefully help fans remember that boxing champions can come from any country, even the ones that aren't typically seen as "boxing countries.
To me it's amazing to think that Rossel's has faced a relative who's who of the lower weight divisions in recent years with Daniel Reyes, Ivan Calderon, Brian Viloria, Luis Alberto Lazarte and Hugo Fidel Cazares having all held a world title in either the Minimumweight or Light Flyweight divisions.
The video below is thanks to oswaldito24
The 34 year old Rossel first made his name fighting as an amateur fighter in the mid 1990's where he competed not only at the 1995 Pan American games but also the 1996 Olympic games. At the Pan Am games Rossel would defeat Nicaraguan Adonis Rivas, a fighter who went on to become a 2-time world champion as a professional. Following the win over Rivas however Rossel would lose to Puerto Rican José Juan Cotto. At the Olympics however Rossel was less fortunate and he was actually beaten in his opening contest as he was out pointed by China's Yang Xiangzhong defeating him 16-7 in the preliminary round.
Following his amateur career Rossel turned professional and debuted in March 1998 scoring a 2nd round KO victory over Michel Vargas. Rossel would later add 2 more victories throughout the year to end 1998 with a record of 3-0 (3). The following year Rossel would add 3 more victories (1 by KO) to move to 6-0 (4) with all of his fights to this point taking place in Lima, the capital of Peru.
In 2000 Rossel faced his first notable opponent as he traveled from his homeland to face the then 24-0 Colombian Daniel Reyes, who like Rossel had made an appearance at the 1996 Olympics. Reyes would simply have too much for the inexperienced Rossel who was stopped in the 4th round and suffered his first defeat as a professional. Soon after this fight Reyes would go on to fight for the IBF Minimumweight title losing by close decision to Roberto Carlos Leyva, however Reyes would eventually go on to claim the title and gain revenge over Leyva.
Although Rossel bounced back from his first loss by traveling to American and defeating Adeniji Washington his career would struggle and he lost his following two bouts, including a 6 round decision loss to future Minimumweight great Ivan Calderon.
Rossel started to rebuild his career once again after seeing his record fall to 7-3 (4) and scored two decision wins over nondescript opponents before facing the then unbeaten Brian Viloria. The bout with Viloria ended disappointingly after a clash of heads in round 3 left Rossel unable to continue. Thankfully the two men were able to rematch just 4 months later and Rossel gave Viloria one of the toughest bouts of Viloria's early career, taking the unbeaten American to a razor thin majority decision in a battle for the NABF Flyweight title.
Following his loss to Viloria, Rossel faded away somewhat and went back to Peru to fight, running up 7 low profiled wins (6 in Peru, and 1 in the US) over the following 4 years. Rossel would next surface in a major contest as he traveled to Argentina to face the difficult Argentinian Luis Alberto Lazarte. Rossel, like many after him, would find Lazarte more than a little bit tricky as the Argentinian claimed a clear unanimous decision over him.
Following the loss to Lazarte Rossel would defeat Chilean Guillermo Dejeas (KO5) before traveling to South Africa and facing Vusi Malinga in a bout for the WBC International Bantamweight title. Malinga would prove to be too powerful and too big for Rossel, stopping the Peruvian in 5 rounds. This loss, like many Rossel suffered, forced Rossel back to Peru though it was whilst back home the Rossel would pick up his first professional titles. The first of which was the lightly regarded UBC Intercontinental Flyweight title, that Rossel won by stopping Edwin Ortega Santa Cruz. A little over a year later Rossel had added both the WBA Fedebol Flyweight title and the WBA Fedelatin Flyweight title to his collection.
Having moved up the WBA rankings thanks to the regional title that he had won, Rossel managed to earn himself his first world title fight as he took on the very talented Hugo Fidel Cazares. Cazares proved not only too good but far too strong and far too powerful as he scored 3 knockdowns en route to a 9th round TKO victory. Rossel simply couldn't match Cazares in anyway at all, as he was out powered, out sized and out skilled, though he did put on a brave performance against the very under-rated Mexican.
Having seen his record fall to 25-7-0-1 (11) and with father time catching up with Rossel, who was just months short of his 33rd birthday many who followed him thought that the Peruvian would retire and hold his head up high for having faced so many excellent opponents. Instead Rossel continued his career and dropped down in white to Light Flyweight, a weight that suited his diminutive, 5'2" frame much better than the Super Flyweight division.
After scoring 3 low profile wins at his new weight Rossel was offered a chance to fight for the WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title, the problem however was that he would be facing the young and unbeaten Mexican Jose Alfredo Rodriguez (who was then 28-0, 17). In a huge surprise result Rossel managed to out point his Mexican rival by jabbing and moving as he claimed the title and became the first ever Peruvian to claim any form of a major world title.
Rossel will made the first defence of his WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title by decisioning Colombian Karluis Diaz (17-4, 13). As a result of this victory Rossel became the first Peruvian to ever make a successful "world title" defence. (Note-A full write up of that fight can be found here). He has since defended that title against Walter Tello and Jose Alfredo Zuniga to have a run of 3 defenses.
Whilst we doubt Rossel's title reign will last long it's a title reign that will hold it's place in history and will hopefully help fans remember that boxing champions can come from any country, even the ones that aren't typically seen as "boxing countries.
To me it's amazing to think that Rossel's has faced a relative who's who of the lower weight divisions in recent years with Daniel Reyes, Ivan Calderon, Brian Viloria, Luis Alberto Lazarte and Hugo Fidel Cazares having all held a world title in either the Minimumweight or Light Flyweight divisions.
The video below is thanks to oswaldito24
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