In the last 20 years Kazakhstan has become one of the top countries in amateur boxing with the likes of Bakhtiyar Artayev, Vassiliy Jirov and Serik Sapiyev (all Val Barker trophy winners since 1996). Sadly despite the amateur success it really hasn't translated to the same level of professional success with only a handful of professional champions (including Anatoly Alexandrov and Jirov).
Despite the lack of professional champions in the 1990's and early part of the 21st century Kazakhstan has burst on to the professional scene in recent with WBA Light Heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov and WBA Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (27-0, 24) a fighter some are talking up as the best Middleweight not named Sergio Martinez.
Like the fighters mentioned above Golovkin is from the amateur conveyor belt that Kazakhstan seems to have going on. Although he failed to secure a gold medal at the Olympic games he did pretty much everything else as an amateur, in fact his amateur credentials are nothing short of amazing.
Starting with his first major international tournament in 2000 as a teenager Golovkin was on a tear winning the Brandenburg Cup in Germany and the World Junior Championships in Hungary. In fact through those two tournaments no one even came close to defeating Golvokin who stopped 2 of his 7 opponents in those competitions and outscored the other 5 by a total score of 111:45.
Golovkin's run of destruction continued to grow and in 2001 he claimed yet more titles including the Grand Prix in the Czech Republic and the East-Asian Games gold medal, defeating current IBF Middleweight champion Daniel Geale in the final.
Surprisingly Golovkin would twice be upset in international fights in 2002 losing on count back to Damian Austin in the final of the Chemistry cup and losing narrowly to Suriya Prasathinpimai in the Kings Cup in Prasathinpimai native Thailand. Despite these set backs however Golovkin got back to winning ways and went on to compete at the World Cup (winning his 4 bouts) and claim gold at the Asian Games gaining revenge over Prasathinpimai in the final.
Having by now established himself as one of the standout amateurs in Asia it was in 2003 that Golovkin proved he was one of the stand outs world wide and despite losing to Andre Dirrell at the Dual Nations (USA v Kazakhstan) he would soon go on to claim the World Amateur Championships in Bangkok. Amongst his victims in the World Championships were Matt Korobov (highly decorated Russian amateur), Andy Lee (who lost in 2012 to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in a WBC World title bout), Lucian Bute (former IBF Super Middleweight champion), Yordanis Despaigne (highly decorated Cuban amateur) and Oleg Mashkin (who competed at the 2004 Olympics).
Sadly despite defending his Asian title in 2004 Golovkin couldn't add an Olympic gold medal to his collection, instead needing to make do with Silver as he narrowly lost in the final to Russian Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov, though he did gain some revenge over Andre Dirrell in the Semi Final of the Athens Olympics.
Following the Olympics Golovkin failed to really continue to dominate like he had done and suffered losses to Nikolay Galochkin, Eduard Gutknecht and Mohamed Hikal whilst only scoring one more really notable win, defeating Yordanis Despaigne in the 2005 World Cup.
Instead of remaining as an amateur and waiting until the 2008 Olympics Golovkin turned professional and made his debut in May 2006 stopping Gabor Balogh in just 88 seconds. By the end of the year Golovkin had raced away to 6-0 (6) and had amassed 17 rounds of professional experience. Although he was beating genuinely poor competition his talent was obvious as he showed multiple facets to his game and really allowed himself to get comfortable to fighting with out the head gear.
In 2007 Golovkin started to step up his level of competition taking out Siarhei Khomitski in 5 rounds and out pointing Mehdi Bouadla over 8 rounds (in his first distance bout). His competition again rose in 2008 as he defeated Ian Gardner (again over 8 rounds) before Amar Amari also saw out the distance. By the end of 2008 Golvokin had impressively seen his record reach 14-0 (11) and although he bagged 4 more wins in 2009 he failed to beat anyone of any great significance despite picking up the WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight title.
Golovkin finally landed on the world stage in 2010 by claiming the WBA "interim" Middleweight title by stopping Milton Nunez in 58 seconds. This title was soon upgraded to being the WBA's regular Middleweight title, and Golovkin made his first defense just months later stopping Nilson Julio Tapia in 3 rounds.
In his second title defense, in 2011, Golovkin was given his toughest test to date as former IBF Light Middleweight champion Kassim Ouma took him through a number of torrid rounds before finally being stopped in round 10. Whilst Ouma is always difficult this was a very under-whelming performance by Golovkin who got hit a lot by Ouma who was holding his own for much of the bout. It didn't take long for Golovkin to put the poor showing against Ouma behind him as he blasted out the experienced (though undeserving challenger) Lajuan Simon in eye catching fashion.
Golovkin's title reign went from bad to worse as he faced, and stopped, the hugely over-matched Japanese challenger Makoto Fuchigami who simply wasn't capable of denting Golovkin or making him break a sweat before being stopped in round 3.
Thankfully for Golovkin he has now made his US debut stopping former 2 time European champion Grzegorz Proksa in dominating fashion. Although Golovkin was originally scheduled to fight Dmitry Pirog in a WBO/WBA unification bout, Pirog was forced to pull out leaving the door open for the Proksa fight which forced many in the US to accept that Golovkin was a real threat in the division
Since the Proksa bout Golovkin has fought 3 times, twice in the US. He has stopped all 3 of those opponents, with Gabriel Rosado busted up, Nobuhiro Ishida lying unconscious and Matthew Macklin left in agony from a left hook to the body.
Although many had criticised him for facing Rosado and Ishida, two natural Light Middleweights his destruction of Macklin proved that his power could hurt "genuine" Middleweight. In fact his power would quite easily carry up to Super Middleweight where he could again be a serious danger man.
Now clearly the top contender to the Middleweight crown behind Sergio Gabriel Martinez, there is little argument against a Golovkin/Martinez bout.
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Monday, 29 October 2012
Toshiyuki Igarashi
Many fight fans believe that "Ring Magazine" and "Linear" champions are the real champions in our sport, however if you asked your average boxing fan who the current Flyweight champion was they'd be unlikely to know. That's because it's obscure Japanese fighter Toshiyuki Igarashi (16-1-1, 10) who claimed not only the Ring and Linear titles but also the WBC Flyweight titles just a few months ago.
Igarashi earned his titles by narrowly out pointing tough Filipino Sonny Boy Jaro in July after Jaro had himself scored one of the upsets of the year stopping Thai legend Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. This passing of the torch has frustrated many fans who knew what Wonjongkam was about, however with Igarashi we have a bit of an unknown leading a division that is packed with premier level talent.
Despite being a relative unknown Igarashi has actually been around for years, in fact for those with great memories they may well remember him from the 2004 Athens Olympics. Sadly at the Olympics Igarashi was disappointing and lost in his opening bout to Ethiopian Endelkachew Kabede (who himself lost to eventual Bronze medal winner Zou Shiming). Igarashi would also fight on the world stage at the 2005 World Championships in Mianyang where he was widely out pointed by Vincenzo Picardi.
Less than a year after the World Amateur Championships in Mianyang, Igarashi made his professional debut and defeated South Korean Yun-Woo Kim in 2 rounds. Igarashi would soon add a second victory to his record by stopping a second Korean, this time Jae-Sung Myung, in 6 rounds.
After a successful start to his career Igarashi became more active in 2007 fighting 4 times in the year. After scoring 3 successive victories to start the year Igarashi suffered his first set back as he could only manage a draw with the experienced Naoto Saito in a bout at Light Flyweight. Despite only drawing to Saito it appears that it was a learning experience more than a real set back as Igarashi realised that fighting at Light Flyweight didn't appear to suit him.
Following his draw to Saito, Igarashi moved permanently to Flyweight and swiftly captured the interim Japanese Flyweight title by winning a split decision over Tomoya Kaneshiro. Sadly for Igarashi he would fail in his attempt to claim the full version of the Japanese title at the end of 2008 as he suffered his professional loss, being clearly beaten by Tomonobu Shimizu (who would later go on to claim the WBA World Super Flyweight title).
Since losing to Shimizu, Igarashi has been on a 9 fight winning streak which has seen him not only earning the Japanese Flyweight title (thanks to a stoppage again Takayasu Kobayashi) but also the WBC, Ring and Linear titles thanks to his aforementioned victory over Jaro. It's fair to say that his victory over Jaro has been clearly the biggest victory of his career and the one that actually put him on the boxing map. As well as being a solid victory it was also a hugely entertaining bout with both men rocking each other.
Despite his victory over Jaro boxing fans still don't know much about Igarashi who has got solid power (even if he couldn't stop Jaro). The southpaw is a talented fighter who knows how to use his legs effectively to maintain distance and let his long punches go. He has a solid jab which can force opponents to think twice about cutting the distance and he also has a very powerful straight right hand (which is more than happy to throw when he's comfortable. As well his well schooled skills he also seems to be very durable and took plenty of hard, hurtful shots from Jaro with out too much of a panic.
Whilst he is talented there is plenty of questions to be asked about Igarashi. Not only does he lack real professional experience with just 118 professionals rounds but it's also fair to question how he'd cope with a genuinely top tier fighter for example divisional rivals Brian Viloria, Hernan Marquez or Moruti Mthalane. Igarashi has also shown that he'd rather box at distance so what someone like Mthalane with good timing and defense could do to him would be interesting.
Igarashi will make the first defense of his titles this coming weekend when he faces obscure Argentinian Nestor Daniel Narvaes (19-0-2-1, 9). Whilst not much is really known about Igarashi even less is known about his challenger who has yet to face anyone of any real quality, in fact it may well be fair to say that Narvaes is amongst the very worst challenger for a "Linear" title in quite some time.
Igarashi earned his titles by narrowly out pointing tough Filipino Sonny Boy Jaro in July after Jaro had himself scored one of the upsets of the year stopping Thai legend Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. This passing of the torch has frustrated many fans who knew what Wonjongkam was about, however with Igarashi we have a bit of an unknown leading a division that is packed with premier level talent.
Despite being a relative unknown Igarashi has actually been around for years, in fact for those with great memories they may well remember him from the 2004 Athens Olympics. Sadly at the Olympics Igarashi was disappointing and lost in his opening bout to Ethiopian Endelkachew Kabede (who himself lost to eventual Bronze medal winner Zou Shiming). Igarashi would also fight on the world stage at the 2005 World Championships in Mianyang where he was widely out pointed by Vincenzo Picardi.
Less than a year after the World Amateur Championships in Mianyang, Igarashi made his professional debut and defeated South Korean Yun-Woo Kim in 2 rounds. Igarashi would soon add a second victory to his record by stopping a second Korean, this time Jae-Sung Myung, in 6 rounds.
After a successful start to his career Igarashi became more active in 2007 fighting 4 times in the year. After scoring 3 successive victories to start the year Igarashi suffered his first set back as he could only manage a draw with the experienced Naoto Saito in a bout at Light Flyweight. Despite only drawing to Saito it appears that it was a learning experience more than a real set back as Igarashi realised that fighting at Light Flyweight didn't appear to suit him.
Following his draw to Saito, Igarashi moved permanently to Flyweight and swiftly captured the interim Japanese Flyweight title by winning a split decision over Tomoya Kaneshiro. Sadly for Igarashi he would fail in his attempt to claim the full version of the Japanese title at the end of 2008 as he suffered his professional loss, being clearly beaten by Tomonobu Shimizu (who would later go on to claim the WBA World Super Flyweight title).
Since losing to Shimizu, Igarashi has been on a 9 fight winning streak which has seen him not only earning the Japanese Flyweight title (thanks to a stoppage again Takayasu Kobayashi) but also the WBC, Ring and Linear titles thanks to his aforementioned victory over Jaro. It's fair to say that his victory over Jaro has been clearly the biggest victory of his career and the one that actually put him on the boxing map. As well as being a solid victory it was also a hugely entertaining bout with both men rocking each other.
Despite his victory over Jaro boxing fans still don't know much about Igarashi who has got solid power (even if he couldn't stop Jaro). The southpaw is a talented fighter who knows how to use his legs effectively to maintain distance and let his long punches go. He has a solid jab which can force opponents to think twice about cutting the distance and he also has a very powerful straight right hand (which is more than happy to throw when he's comfortable. As well his well schooled skills he also seems to be very durable and took plenty of hard, hurtful shots from Jaro with out too much of a panic.
Whilst he is talented there is plenty of questions to be asked about Igarashi. Not only does he lack real professional experience with just 118 professionals rounds but it's also fair to question how he'd cope with a genuinely top tier fighter for example divisional rivals Brian Viloria, Hernan Marquez or Moruti Mthalane. Igarashi has also shown that he'd rather box at distance so what someone like Mthalane with good timing and defense could do to him would be interesting.
Igarashi will make the first defense of his titles this coming weekend when he faces obscure Argentinian Nestor Daniel Narvaes (19-0-2-1, 9). Whilst not much is really known about Igarashi even less is known about his challenger who has yet to face anyone of any real quality, in fact it may well be fair to say that Narvaes is amongst the very worst challenger for a "Linear" title in quite some time.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Shinsuke Yamanaka
A few years ago the Bantamweight division looked like "the division" of the lower weights with the likes of Anselmo Moreno, Nonito Donaire, Joseph Agbeko, Abner Mares, Vic Darchinyan, Yonnhy Perez and Fernando Montiel. Sadly however many of those fighters have have moved up to Super Bantamweight and left the 118lb division looking rather empty.
Despite the fact the division currently has a notable lack of well known names, the division doesn't lack talent. At the moment the obvious rising star of the division is Leo Santa Cruz (21-0-1, 12) the current IBF champion, however perhaps the most under-rated fighter in the division is Japanese warrior Shinsuke Yamanaka (18-0-2, 13), the current WBC champion.
Despite being aged 30 it's only in the past 2 years or so that anyone in boxing has started talking about Yamanaka. Sadly part of this issue is down to the fact Yamanaka didn't make his professional debut until 2006 however this is also why Yamanaka has been so impressive, he has risen up the rankings amazingly quickly and become world champion inside 6 years!
On his debut Yamanaka defeated the much more experienced Hitoshi Takahashi (UD6) before drawing in his second contest with Keiji Yokomakura. By the end end of 2006 he had moved to 2-0-1, stopping Yuta Sato in his final bout of the year.
Over the following few years Yamanaka would continue his career scoring a number of victories over lesser opponents as well as suffering his second draw, this time to Kenichi Yamaguchi (over 8 rounds). By the end of 2009 he had moved well to 10-0-2 (6) though had still been with out a notable victory, in fact his best opponent up to this point was Toyoto Shiraishi, way back in 2007 (in Yamanaka's 6th bout), however 2010 would be the start of Yamanaka's break out.
After blowing out the over matched Kazuharu Morimoto (KO1) in his first bout of 2010, Yamanaka would face the then Japanese Bantamweight champion Mikio Yasuda. Yasuda had claimed the title just 1 fight earlier, defeating Takuro Kodama for the then vacant title, and sadly for Yasuda his reign would end rather quickly, with Yamanaka stopping him in round 7 to claim his first professional title.
Yamanaka would end 2010 with a none title victory over Jose Silveira, though in 2011 he was part of one of the "Asian Fight of The Year" contenders as he faced the then 8-0 upstart Ryosuke Iwasa in an all action war that saw Iwasa finally stopped in the 10th round. The Iwasa bout, Yamanaka's one and only Japanese Bantamweight defense, was spoken about glowingly across almost every boxing forum as Yamanaka suddenly became a hit.
In late 2011 Nonito Donaire made it clear he was wanting to move to Super Bantamweight and he decided vacate his WBC and WBO Bantamweight titles. By now Yamanaka was very highly ranked by the WBC and so was given a chance to claim the vacant title, however to claim the title Yamanaka would have to defeat Christian Esquivel, who had been unbeaten in 3 years. Yamanaka and Esquivel waged war on each other with Yamanaka scoring a knock down in round 6 and being dropped himself the following round before slowly wearing down Esquivel and stopping him in the 11th round to claim the belt.
Since winning the WBC world title Yamanaka has made 3 defenses, out pointing the always exciting Vic Darchinyan, and stopping both Tomas Rojas and Malcolm Tunacao.
Despite the fact the division currently has a notable lack of well known names, the division doesn't lack talent. At the moment the obvious rising star of the division is Leo Santa Cruz (21-0-1, 12) the current IBF champion, however perhaps the most under-rated fighter in the division is Japanese warrior Shinsuke Yamanaka (18-0-2, 13), the current WBC champion.
Despite being aged 30 it's only in the past 2 years or so that anyone in boxing has started talking about Yamanaka. Sadly part of this issue is down to the fact Yamanaka didn't make his professional debut until 2006 however this is also why Yamanaka has been so impressive, he has risen up the rankings amazingly quickly and become world champion inside 6 years!
On his debut Yamanaka defeated the much more experienced Hitoshi Takahashi (UD6) before drawing in his second contest with Keiji Yokomakura. By the end end of 2006 he had moved to 2-0-1, stopping Yuta Sato in his final bout of the year.
Over the following few years Yamanaka would continue his career scoring a number of victories over lesser opponents as well as suffering his second draw, this time to Kenichi Yamaguchi (over 8 rounds). By the end of 2009 he had moved well to 10-0-2 (6) though had still been with out a notable victory, in fact his best opponent up to this point was Toyoto Shiraishi, way back in 2007 (in Yamanaka's 6th bout), however 2010 would be the start of Yamanaka's break out.
After blowing out the over matched Kazuharu Morimoto (KO1) in his first bout of 2010, Yamanaka would face the then Japanese Bantamweight champion Mikio Yasuda. Yasuda had claimed the title just 1 fight earlier, defeating Takuro Kodama for the then vacant title, and sadly for Yasuda his reign would end rather quickly, with Yamanaka stopping him in round 7 to claim his first professional title.
Yamanaka would end 2010 with a none title victory over Jose Silveira, though in 2011 he was part of one of the "Asian Fight of The Year" contenders as he faced the then 8-0 upstart Ryosuke Iwasa in an all action war that saw Iwasa finally stopped in the 10th round. The Iwasa bout, Yamanaka's one and only Japanese Bantamweight defense, was spoken about glowingly across almost every boxing forum as Yamanaka suddenly became a hit.
In late 2011 Nonito Donaire made it clear he was wanting to move to Super Bantamweight and he decided vacate his WBC and WBO Bantamweight titles. By now Yamanaka was very highly ranked by the WBC and so was given a chance to claim the vacant title, however to claim the title Yamanaka would have to defeat Christian Esquivel, who had been unbeaten in 3 years. Yamanaka and Esquivel waged war on each other with Yamanaka scoring a knock down in round 6 and being dropped himself the following round before slowly wearing down Esquivel and stopping him in the 11th round to claim the belt.
Since winning the WBC world title Yamanaka has made 3 defenses, out pointing the always exciting Vic Darchinyan, and stopping both Tomas Rojas and Malcolm Tunacao.
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Takahiro Ao
Over the past few years a sizable number of Western boxing fans have started to watch more and more fights and fighters from the East. This has helped us (boxing fans) not only watch the likes of fading veterans like Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (87-4-2, 46) but also see the new emerging fighters such as Rysuke Iwasa (12-1, 9) as well as current champions, such as the former WBC Super Featherweight champion Takahiro Ao (23-3-1, 10).
The 28 year Ao made his professional debut way back in 2003 and after just 15 fights (all wins) over 3 and a half years in the sport he had risen to becoming the Japanese Featherweight champion defeating Koji Umetsu.
As the Japanese Featherweight champion, Ao made 3 title defenses including a draw as he attempted to unify his title with the OPBF Featherweight title (then held by the much more experienced, and very good Hiroyuki Enoki) to move his record to 16-0-1 (8). As well as being the Japanese champion however Ao was also a very highly ranked fighter with both the WBA and the WBC.
Following the draw with Enoki, Ao managed to get his first world title bout as he faced Mexican veteran Oscar Larios (who was taking part in his 70th professional contest!) in a bout for the WBC title. It was a big step up in class for Ao, however the Japanese fighter did put on a solid showing dropping Larios in the fourth round before losing a close split decision.
Ao's first bout with Larios was enough to earn him a rematch and just 5 months after suffering his first loss, Ao claimed the WBC Featherweight title and earned revenge by claiming a clear decision over Larios. Sadly however for Ao his title reign was short lived with Elio Rojas going over to Japan and annexing the title from Ao.
Following the loss to Rojas, Ao swiftly moved up a division to Super Featherweight. As a Super Featherweight Ao made an immediate impact by defeating former world title challengers Feider Viloria (UD10) and Whyber Garcia (TKO8). Following those victories he was granted a shot at the WBC Super Featherweight world champion Vitali Tajbert.
Tajbert, a well respected former amateur star had turned professional in 2005 after winning an Olympic Bronze medal in 2004 and a Gold medal at the 2005 Military World Championships. As a professional he had advanced his record swiftly to 20-1 (6) suffering his sole loss to talented Belorussian Sergey Gulyakevich. Following the loss to Gulyakevich he had gone on to win the Interim WBC Super Featherweight title (2009), before being promoted to the full champion in 2010.
Ao was impressive against the light punching (though highly skilled) Tajbert and managed to drop Tajbert in round 3 before taking a clear decision to claim his second divisional world title.
Since claiming the WBC Super Featherweight title in November 2010 Ao has defended his belt 3 times. The first of those came against former interim champion Humberto Mauro Gutierrez (KO4) who was stopped after a beautiful body shot by an impressive looking Ao. Despite looking great in his first defense Ao really struggled in his second defense, as he struggled to a split decision victory over Italian Devis Boschiero (who would later become the European champion). Most recently Ao defeated the wonderfully named Thia Terdsak Kokietgym (UD12).
Sadly for Ao he recently lost his world title whilst attempting his 4th successful title defense. He was surprisingly upset by Mexican veteran Gamaliel Diaz (37-9-2, 17). It was Diaz's 3rd notable upset after also beating Robert Guerrero and Elio Rojas earlier in his career, though it was a result that said more about Ao, than Diaz as the Japanese fighter was simply too inactive to win the rounds.
The 28 year Ao made his professional debut way back in 2003 and after just 15 fights (all wins) over 3 and a half years in the sport he had risen to becoming the Japanese Featherweight champion defeating Koji Umetsu.
As the Japanese Featherweight champion, Ao made 3 title defenses including a draw as he attempted to unify his title with the OPBF Featherweight title (then held by the much more experienced, and very good Hiroyuki Enoki) to move his record to 16-0-1 (8). As well as being the Japanese champion however Ao was also a very highly ranked fighter with both the WBA and the WBC.
Following the draw with Enoki, Ao managed to get his first world title bout as he faced Mexican veteran Oscar Larios (who was taking part in his 70th professional contest!) in a bout for the WBC title. It was a big step up in class for Ao, however the Japanese fighter did put on a solid showing dropping Larios in the fourth round before losing a close split decision.
Ao's first bout with Larios was enough to earn him a rematch and just 5 months after suffering his first loss, Ao claimed the WBC Featherweight title and earned revenge by claiming a clear decision over Larios. Sadly however for Ao his title reign was short lived with Elio Rojas going over to Japan and annexing the title from Ao.
Following the loss to Rojas, Ao swiftly moved up a division to Super Featherweight. As a Super Featherweight Ao made an immediate impact by defeating former world title challengers Feider Viloria (UD10) and Whyber Garcia (TKO8). Following those victories he was granted a shot at the WBC Super Featherweight world champion Vitali Tajbert.
Tajbert, a well respected former amateur star had turned professional in 2005 after winning an Olympic Bronze medal in 2004 and a Gold medal at the 2005 Military World Championships. As a professional he had advanced his record swiftly to 20-1 (6) suffering his sole loss to talented Belorussian Sergey Gulyakevich. Following the loss to Gulyakevich he had gone on to win the Interim WBC Super Featherweight title (2009), before being promoted to the full champion in 2010.
Ao was impressive against the light punching (though highly skilled) Tajbert and managed to drop Tajbert in round 3 before taking a clear decision to claim his second divisional world title.
Since claiming the WBC Super Featherweight title in November 2010 Ao has defended his belt 3 times. The first of those came against former interim champion Humberto Mauro Gutierrez (KO4) who was stopped after a beautiful body shot by an impressive looking Ao. Despite looking great in his first defense Ao really struggled in his second defense, as he struggled to a split decision victory over Italian Devis Boschiero (who would later become the European champion). Most recently Ao defeated the wonderfully named Thia Terdsak Kokietgym (UD12).
Sadly for Ao he recently lost his world title whilst attempting his 4th successful title defense. He was surprisingly upset by Mexican veteran Gamaliel Diaz (37-9-2, 17). It was Diaz's 3rd notable upset after also beating Robert Guerrero and Elio Rojas earlier in his career, though it was a result that said more about Ao, than Diaz as the Japanese fighter was simply too inactive to win the rounds.
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Nkosinathi Joyi
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.
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.
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
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Diego Gabriel Chaves
Argentinian hard hitter Diego Gabriel Chaves (22-0, 18) recently claimed his first "world" title by stopping the Moroccan born Ismael El Massoudi (36-4, 14) to claim the "Interim" WBA Welterweight title with this in mind we've decided to have a deeper look at the man known as "La Joya" (The Jewel).
Born in San Miguel, Buenos Aires in 1986 Chaves first started to make a name for himself in boxing circles as an amateur stand out who often competed internationally. Included in Chaves' amateur accomplishments are a number of medals including a Silver medal from the 2006 South American Games and a Bronze medal from the 2007 Pan American Games. Sadly for Chavez he failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics so instead of continuing on as an a amateur he decided to turn professional.
Chaves made his professional debut on July 5th 2008, just weeks before the Beijing Olympics kicked off and started his professional career with a 3rd round knock out against Juan José "Golden Boy" Islas. Chaves dropped Islas for the count after 2 very nasty body shots which sent Islas down to a knee where he remained for the count. Just weeks after beating Islas, Chaves returned to the ring and scored his second win by stopping Luis Alberto "La Cobra" Ponce inside a round. By the end of the year Chaves had roared away to 6-0 (6) with his heavy hands taking their toll on his opponents as he delivered devastating shots to the body time and time again.
To start 2009 Chaves was again busy scoring 4 wins in the first 6 months of the year. It was the final of those 4 bouts that saw Chaves tested for the first time as the experienced Guillermo de Jesus Paz managed to not only survive the 10 round schedule but also drop Chaves in the 2nd round. Despite being dropped Chaves won all the other rounds to secure a clear decision, the first decision win of his professional career. Just a month after the bout with Jesus Paz, Chaves would claim his first professional title, winning the WBO Latino Light Middleweight title in just 2 minutes as he swiftly disposed of Uilian Santana Barauna. Amazingly Chaves had only been a professional for a little over a year yet had already managed to claim his first professional title and make a mark on the WBO ratings.
After defending the WBO Latino Light Middleweight once (at the end of 2009) Chaves moved back down to the Welterweight division and swiftly claimed ownership of the WBO Latino Welterweight title by stopping Daniel Saboia in 4 rounds. Chaves would go on to defend the WBO Latino Welterweight title 5 times which saw him being forced to go 12 rounds for the first time in his career (by Jeferson Luis Goncalo) and being dropped for the second time in his career (by Omar Gabriel Weis).
By the end of 2011 Chaves had run his record to an excellent 20-0 (16) and had started to be talked about as a legitimate title challenger by some of the hardcore fans who had followed his career on Argentinian television channel TYC Sports. What few likely suspected at the start of 2012 was that Chaves would spend 8 months out of the ring before facing the little known Ismael El Massoudi in a bout for the "Interim" WBA Welterweight title. Against El Massoudi, Chaves showed his impressive power in stopping the former champion in 2 rounds with one of the KO of the Year contenders.
Chaves is expected to defend his title later this year in his native homeland, hopefully next year Chaves will fight outside of Argentina (something he has only done once so far) and perhaps start to get the wider acknowledgement that he deserves.
Due to his style, win or lose, Chaves will always be fun to watch. His aggressive power punches can hurt anyone in the sport and whilst he's wild he gives opponents a chance to hit him back. Chaves does land some beautiful body shots and really loves to let his hands go (often a little bit too much) and is a very TV friendly fighter who would surely be suited to American TV in the near future.
Since claiming his world title Chaves has made 1 defense of his belt, stopping the over matched Jose Miranda in 2 rounds.
The video below shows, in full, Chaves' title winning bout with Ismael El Massoudi and is courtesy of boxeola1
Born in San Miguel, Buenos Aires in 1986 Chaves first started to make a name for himself in boxing circles as an amateur stand out who often competed internationally. Included in Chaves' amateur accomplishments are a number of medals including a Silver medal from the 2006 South American Games and a Bronze medal from the 2007 Pan American Games. Sadly for Chavez he failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics so instead of continuing on as an a amateur he decided to turn professional.
Chaves made his professional debut on July 5th 2008, just weeks before the Beijing Olympics kicked off and started his professional career with a 3rd round knock out against Juan José "Golden Boy" Islas. Chaves dropped Islas for the count after 2 very nasty body shots which sent Islas down to a knee where he remained for the count. Just weeks after beating Islas, Chaves returned to the ring and scored his second win by stopping Luis Alberto "La Cobra" Ponce inside a round. By the end of the year Chaves had roared away to 6-0 (6) with his heavy hands taking their toll on his opponents as he delivered devastating shots to the body time and time again.
To start 2009 Chaves was again busy scoring 4 wins in the first 6 months of the year. It was the final of those 4 bouts that saw Chaves tested for the first time as the experienced Guillermo de Jesus Paz managed to not only survive the 10 round schedule but also drop Chaves in the 2nd round. Despite being dropped Chaves won all the other rounds to secure a clear decision, the first decision win of his professional career. Just a month after the bout with Jesus Paz, Chaves would claim his first professional title, winning the WBO Latino Light Middleweight title in just 2 minutes as he swiftly disposed of Uilian Santana Barauna. Amazingly Chaves had only been a professional for a little over a year yet had already managed to claim his first professional title and make a mark on the WBO ratings.
After defending the WBO Latino Light Middleweight once (at the end of 2009) Chaves moved back down to the Welterweight division and swiftly claimed ownership of the WBO Latino Welterweight title by stopping Daniel Saboia in 4 rounds. Chaves would go on to defend the WBO Latino Welterweight title 5 times which saw him being forced to go 12 rounds for the first time in his career (by Jeferson Luis Goncalo) and being dropped for the second time in his career (by Omar Gabriel Weis).
By the end of 2011 Chaves had run his record to an excellent 20-0 (16) and had started to be talked about as a legitimate title challenger by some of the hardcore fans who had followed his career on Argentinian television channel TYC Sports. What few likely suspected at the start of 2012 was that Chaves would spend 8 months out of the ring before facing the little known Ismael El Massoudi in a bout for the "Interim" WBA Welterweight title. Against El Massoudi, Chaves showed his impressive power in stopping the former champion in 2 rounds with one of the KO of the Year contenders.
Chaves is expected to defend his title later this year in his native homeland, hopefully next year Chaves will fight outside of Argentina (something he has only done once so far) and perhaps start to get the wider acknowledgement that he deserves.
Due to his style, win or lose, Chaves will always be fun to watch. His aggressive power punches can hurt anyone in the sport and whilst he's wild he gives opponents a chance to hit him back. Chaves does land some beautiful body shots and really loves to let his hands go (often a little bit too much) and is a very TV friendly fighter who would surely be suited to American TV in the near future.
Since claiming his world title Chaves has made 1 defense of his belt, stopping the over matched Jose Miranda in 2 rounds.
The video below shows, in full, Chaves' title winning bout with Ismael El Massoudi and is courtesy of boxeola1
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