Weekend Wrap-Up

  • The past week's action started on Showtime with another edition of ShoBox: The New Generation.  That card was headlined by Antoine Douglas and he looked excellent.  Douglas took on Istvan Szili and was able to hurt and drop him early.  The young talent didn't let up and dropped Szili twice in the 3rd round which led to the fight being stopped.  Douglas isn't a contender yet but he is getting closer and is fun to watch.  Also on that card was the relatively unknown Arif Magomedov.  The Russian Magomedov took on Derrick Webster who was the much bigger man but that didn't matter.  Magomedov dominated the fight from start to finish including a 10th round knockdown that just made it easier on the judges to give Magomedov the wide unanimous decision.


  • Friday night also brought fans some action on Telemundo.  That best part of the night was the very short fight between Daniel Rosario and Aaron Garcia.  The fight looked like it might be a good one at the start but Rosario began to control things in the 2nd round.  Rosario caught Garcia with an uppercut late in the round and that was the beginning of the end for Garcia.  Shortly after that punch Rosario dropped Garcia who was able to beat the count.  Moments later Rosario rattled Garcia again and then caught him with a right hand that sent Garcia sprawling to the canvas and the fight was over.  It was a nice win for Rosario and is certainly a candidate for Knockout of the Year.  Cuban prospect Yunier Dorticos was also featured on that Telemundo card and he scored a quick 1st round knockout over the severely outclassed Galen Brown.


  • On Saturday there were plenty of fights to keep fans happy, most notably Carl Frampton making his U.S. debut.  Frampton took on Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. who turned out to be more to handle than most people expected.  Gonzalez dropped Frampton twice in the 1st round to the shock of everyone watching.  However, Frampton came back with a vengeance and dominated the rest of the fight.  Despite being one-sided it was still an exciting fight where Frampton put his skills on display while Gonzalez showed a tremendous heart and threw his name in the mix in the junior featherweight division, one of the best in boxing.  The opening bout of that PBC on CBS telecast was a heavyweight bout between Chris Arreola and Fred Kassi.  Kassi was able to start quickly and looked good against Arreola, however, the once serious contender started to pick things up later in the fight and was able to fight his way to a draw.  Lets be clear though, Arreola is no longer a real threat.  He doesn't seem to have the same pop on his punches and his stamina has always been an issue.  Arreola may find himself on some lower level cards but his stock has fallen significantly.  

  • Over on Showtime a tripleheader took place that left people with plenty to talk about.  The first thing people started buzzing about was Amir Imam who knocked out Fernando Angulo in the 4th round of their 10-round fight.  Imam now looks like a legitimate title contender and his knockout over Angulo which was a beautiful one-two combination will be in the running for Knockout of the Year.  The next fight had most fans wishing it would end early, and luckily it did.  That fight was between McJoe Arroyo and Arthur Villanueva and it was ugly if not downright boring.  Not only was referee Rafael Ramos clearly favoring his Puerto Rican countryman but the action was just bad.  Luckily a cut over the eye of Villanueva stopped the fight early, giving Arroyo a win, and fans a much needed end.  Then it was time for the main event and the return of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr..  Chavez was facing off against Marcos Reyes.  Chavez one again missed weight and when it came time to fight he didn't exactly impress.  While he was able to land nearly 50% of his power punches he couldn't finish the much smaller Reyes and had to settle for the decision win.  Post fight Chavez explained that he hurt his left hand and that is why the knockout didn't come.  This was his first fight with trainer Robert Garcia who didn't appear to be very happy with what he saw.  Chavez is still young enough to really turn things around but he will need to take his craft seriously before that can ever happen.

  • The week's action ended on UniMas with a few interesting fights.  The card took place in China with Chinese fighter Ik Yang in action.  Yang took on Cesar Cuenca who was 47-0 with only 2 knockout heading into the fight.  Now Cuenca's record stands at 48-0 and he still only has 2 knockouts.  Cuenca isn't well known but any fighter who can stay undefeated for that long while always having to leave it in the judge's hands is a near miracle.  Nonito Donaire was also featured on that card and he looked good against Anthony Settoul.  Donaire may not be the fighter he once was but he did score the stoppage win in the 2nd round to keep his name hot.  


WEEKLY RECORD: 10-0-1

MONTHLY RECORD: 15-1-2

OVERALL RECORD: 534-148-17

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