- The heavyweight division has always been the most important division for the health of boxing. After many years of being mostly irrelevant the division is now really heating up. On Saturday night WBC champion Deontay Wilder returned from multiple injuries to take on former USC football player Gerald Washington in the main event of a PBC on Fox card. Wilder showed a ton of rust early on and could not get his offensive going. Meanwhile, Washington was really controlling things with his jab and got off to a fast start. However, when it comes to Wilder all it takes is one punch to turn a fight around and in the fifth round that one punch landed. It was his signature punch, the overhand right, that hurt Washington and a left hook would be enough to send him to the canvas. Washington was able to beat the count but moments later Wilder followed with a flurry of left hooks and right hands that did enough damage to force the ref to stop the fight. It wasn't his best performance but with Wilder a bad night can turn into a good one very quickly.
- Also on that Fox card was a junior middleweight title fight between Tony Harrison and Jarrett Hurd. The fight was viewed as a toss-up on paper and in the ring it turned out to be just that. Harrison got off to a great start and was able to keep Hurd at the end of his punches and really control the fight. As the fight wore on though Harrison started to fade as Hurd was able to get inside easier and really touch him up. In the ninth round Hurd caught Harrison with a great right hand that dropped Harrison and had him badly hurt. While he was able to make it to his feet and beat the count he spit his mouthpiece out right after the ref counted to 10 and after that the ref waved the fight off. Harrison was not happy with the ref's decision but he was clearly dazed and his gas tank was empty. It was a good win for Hurd since he was able to turn things around but he probably doesn't stack up well against other junior middleweight champions.
- The best fight on Fox's PBC card was without a doubt the one between heavyweights Dominic Breazeale and Izuagbe Ugonoh. The action started off fast and went back and forth throughout all five rounds. The third round of the fight will be a contender for the 2017 Round of the Year and the entire fight will be a candidate for the 2017 Fight of the Year. In the third round Breazeale dropped Ugonoh but Ugonoh came back strong in the fourth round and was able to drop Breazeale. Breazeale was in very bad shape to start the fifth round and it looked like Ugonoh would finish him in that round. However, Breazeale turned the tables, dropping Ugonoh twice in the round to get the stoppage win. While Breazeale showed that he is not a very skilled fighter at all, he also showed he may have the biggest heart in the sport and he can fight his way back after being knocked down.
- Following the fights on Fox the PBC moved to Fox Sports 1 with Caleb Plant headlining against Thomas Awimbono. Awimbono entered the fight with a decent record but had never faced any opponents worth noting. Plant was able to drop Awimbono in the first round and totally dominated the fight from that point on. Plant moved his record to 15 wins with zero losses and 10 knockouts and while he still isn't ready for the top fighters at super middleweight he probably isn't far off and he is a name to pay attention to.
- On Friday Showtime aired another episode of ShoBox: The New Generation. That card was a tripleheader that was headlined by a bout between Chris Pearson and Justin DeLoach. On paper it looked like it would be a competitive fight but it turned out to be anything but. After a feeling out first round, DeLoach went on the attack in round two and dropped Pearson twice. The fight showed that DeLoach is a name to pay attention to while Pearson will have a hard time coming back from that knockout and losing two of his last three fights. The middle fight of that card pitted young prospect Saul Rodriguez up against tough veteran Oscar Bravo in a 10-round lightweight affair. Although Rodriguez was awarded the split decision win many felt that Bravo had won. Not only did he drop Rodriguez in the fifth round but he was the one pushing the action and landing the more meaningful punches. The opening bout featured the undefeated Andrew Tabiti taking on Quantis Graves. It was a patient and professional performance from Tabiti who worked carefully on his way to a stoppage win after he dropped Graves in the sixth round and then Graves retired in the corner.
- Last week's action started on Tuesday night when the PBC returned to Fox Sports 1. The main event of that card featured Miguel Flores going up against Dat Nguyen in a 10-round fight from the junior lightweight division. Despite entering the fight with an unbeaten record and being the heavy favorite, Flores would not leave with his perfect record intact. In the sixth round Nguyen landed a left hook that floored Flores. Flores beat the count but was badly hurt when moments later, while trying to tie Nguyen up, he was caught with an uppercut that forced the ref to jump in and stop the fight. It was a big setback for Flores and a big win for Nguyen who was not expected to do much in this fight.
WEEKLY RECORD: 4-4
MONTHLY RECORD: 15-8
OVERALL RECORD: 834-243-34
Comments
Post a Comment