Newsletter
April release
Here is it, babes. I got a bit behind on this, and there’s gonna be a delay coming up too so maybe you should quit messing around and get yourself signed up on Patreon so that you can get this direct to your mailbox? Or don’t, you do you.
May 1st, 2022
April Review
What a month, what a month! Lots of great fights, goodness gracious. And May is looking to be even more packed that April. “BoXiNg iS dEaD” they say. I’m so late I should have just waited to send you 2 months at once… unfortunately for me, the two months in question have been so busy that those envelopes wouldn’t fit for processing. One thing up front, I once again was not able to find a replay of Cody Crowley, so you’ll have to go without him again. Alright, no more time for goofing off up here, let’s get down to business:
Saturday, April 9th; DAZN
Alamodome; San Antonio, Texas, USA
Ryan Garcia UD Emmanuel Tagoe (Lightweight)
Right, so Garcia is back from his hiatus due to mental health issues. What you had to wonder going in was how had the layoff affected Garcia considering we expect Tagoe was brought in as a soft comeback. Garcia came out more aggressive than usual, coming forward and keeping Tagoe in front of him. Tagoe can get mad all he wants, the KD was legit. That anger was about all the excitement he brought to the table; Tagoe was there to survive and it showed. Part of Garcia not being able to put the finishing touches could be due to the new relationship with Goosen, but that’s just me speculating. Otherwise, the Lightweight division is spicy at the top: Haney-Kambosos are going to go for actual undisputed in Aus, Tank is going to give Romero what-for soon. For Garcia, though, there are a few good “B” names for Garcia to work with while the others settle up.
Note: Garcia vs Cruz has been ordered by the WBC, so that’s kinda fun.
Shane Mosley Jr MDec Gabe Rosado (Super Middleweight)
Da dawg Rosado keeps it moving against the son of the legendary Mosley. It was kinda weird to hear the coaches and cutmen introduced, but oh well. Rosado continues to give the newer guys the beans despite not always coming away with the dub. Mosley, to date, has been pretty middling at best in his performances. He has several losses against less than lauded opponents and had to take Rosado the distance and even then only came away with a Majority Decision. He’ll probably continue to get by on his name, but I’m not expecting much from him; the climb to the top of 160–168 is steep and what we’ve seen to date isn’t enough. Sorry, bud. As for Rosado, he’s settled into the gatekeeper/measuring stick role pretty well and is doing alright all things considered. (RIP Bektemir Melikuziev, we hardly knew ye)
Showtime Championship Boxing
Virgin Hotel; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Sebastian Fundora RTD9 Erickson Lubin (Junior Middleweight)
Holy crap, Fundora is unreal. How in the F is a 6’20” fighter bashing dudes up on the inside? Further to that, what is one supposed to do against him? His reach is stupid, so you’d struggle to fight him on the outside. He tears it up inside, so that’s not an option either. Mid-range? I mean, maybe, but he’s not bad there either. I really hope Lubin is okay, his face looked bad after the fight was waved off. I gotta give big ups to Cunningham for calling it. Corners usually aren’t as keen on stopping fights since their interest in the outcome is almost as vested as the fighter’s, but Cunningham absolutely did the right thing — live to fight another day. So what options are there for these two? Lubin has the misfortune of rebuilding yet again in a talent-rich division. Madrimov (Uzb) and Kurbanov (Rus<Ukr) are kinda sorta unproven, Hogan (Irl) and Soro (Fra) aren’t bad shouts for a softer-ish touch, Harrison (USA) is on the comeback trail but more on that in a moment, and Tszyu might be looking for another credible-ish win after bopping Gausha but seems lined up for winner of Charlo-Castaño. As for Fundora, he appears to be lined up for the winner of Charlo-Castaño as well, so we’ll see how he works that.
Tony Harrison UD Sergio Garcia (Junior Middleweight)
Solid outing from Harrison after having 2 bad nights in nearly 3 years and the loss of his father. Garcia had a pretty decent outing against Fundora despite taking the L, but it was enough to get him another chance in the spotlight. Garcia came out putting the pressure on from the onset, but Harrison was really disciplined and mobile. Good stuff but it’s a rough time for Harrison to be coming back into form with the top of the division as hot as it is. There are some great names that I call on a lot for this division which I’ll mention again: Hogan, Soro, Culcay, Madrimov, Beefy Smith. While Charlo and Castaño sort their business out, those are some great names for him to take on to re-establish himself as a force. Fundora and Tszyu may not be the best idea, in my opinion. As for Garcia, I’m not sure if there will be more opportunities like this. Maybe a smaller marquee with Gausha or even Trout? Otherwise, he may get fed to Ramos if he stays in the PBC circuit. The future isn’t looking to bright if he doesn’t start stringing some dubs together.
ESPN+
The Hangar; Costa Mesa, California, USA
Mikaela Mayer UD Jennifer Han
WBO, IBF Super Featherweight Titles
As I always say for the ladies: the round differentials need to be made equal to men’s fights; it’s a big point of denigration for the women’s ranks, which struggle for recognition enough as it is, to have shorter and fewer rounds. Also keep in mind these superlatives are relative to women’s fights. Alright, stepping off my soapbox. Unfortunately, this was a little more hyped than was necessary, but I suppose you gotta try and maximize. Mayer wasn’t likely to struggle much against the unheralded Han, which proved to be the case. There isn’t much in the way of big fights in her neighborhood. Baumgardner has a decent following and she can jawjack, so that should make for a fun build-up. Persoon is around, which would make a great common-opponent with Taylor. Otherwise, the biggest money fights are with Taylor or Serrano — depending on location. Does Mayer hang with either of them? More Serrano than Taylor, but either way I’m not certain she can pull it off; Mayer is an amalgamation of Taylor and Serrano, but isn’t better than either of them at their respective strengths to counter the other.
Saturday, April 16th; Showtime PPV
AT&T Stadium; Dallas, Texas, USA
Errol Spence TKO10 Yordenis Ugas
WBC, IBF, WBA Welterweight Titles
I don’t care what you think, Spence is the best 147. Crawford, as unbelievably talented as he is, hasn’t fought nearly as high quality opposition at Welterweight to substantiate any claim to the contrary. Spence was his usual self in this one, very measured and even-paced. Ugas wasn’t bad either, working his jab really well. It seems like Ugas fought Spence’s fight though, slower pace in mid-to-close range. That isn’t to say Ugas didn’t have success, he certainly had some good spots. The obvious next step is Spence-Crawford for undisputed. Anything else is not worth the effort. As for Ugas, he still has some options, but most of them are in the gatekeeper lane; Thurman is the best option as far as money and legacy and all that, everyone else is on the come-up.
Eimantas Stanionis SD Radzhab Butaev (Welterweight)
Most times, high-action fighters don’t draw my interest that much. I think of guys like Ruslan Provodnikov, Mike Alvarado, Brandon Rios, Mickey Roman; the list goes on and on. I came into this with the misconception that these guys fit into the mold of the type referenced above, but was very happily proven wrong to see this as more of the high-level in-fighting on display reminiscent of the likes of Roberto Duran and Chavez Sr. There was a bit of unfortunate positioning by Stanionis which ended up costing Butaev a point, but Butaev can’t say he wasn’t warned. The action was close-quarters and the trapping and pinning were excellent, both guys demonstrated a solid level of skill that would give most of the coming crop of welterweights a run for their money, most being the operative word. Boots would sweep either guy, Ortiz would probably beat them silly. Stanionis, and Butaev to a slightly lesser degree, have the misfortune of being in the shadow of Ennis and Ortiz. They’ll be great at the level with Conor Benn, Cody Crowley, and the guys moving up from 140, but it’s like the Welters that came up during the May-Pac era: sorry gents, you’re not gonna be on their level.
Isaac Cruz TKO5 Yuriorkis Gamboa (Lightweight)
All things considered, I’m surprised it actually took that long for Cruz to get Gamboa out. Gamboa has long since passed the point where retirement is the best option. I hope that whoever is in Gamboa’s corner, but more importantly his family, has the difficult conversation of preserving whatever health he will have left in his twilight years. This was Cruz’s chance to really set the stage for a shot at the bigger names in the division not named Davis, but didn’t quite deliver the dynamite as expected. This could however work to his advantage: not appearing to be the dog he was said to be could make him appear to be an easier outing than he is.
DAZN
Manchester Arena; Manchester, Lancashire, UK
Conor Benn KO2 Chris Van Heerden
It was a quick night for Benn. Some will try to make this out to be more than what it is, considering that CVH took Spence into the 8th before being stopped and top prospect Ennis didn’t get a chance to get out of the first due to cuts. Spence was 7 years ago though and the No Decision didn’t give us a chance to see anything from CVH. Van Heerden has been fighting for nearly 20 years with only an IBO title to show for it. Much wow, very fight. Unfortunately for Benn, the best case scenario for him is he will be the third best Welterweight behind Ennis and Ortiz. But that’s assuming he overcomes his contemporaries: Stanionis, Crowley, and Butaev (loss to Stan notwithstanding). There’s also the crop of 140s that may move up: Taylor, Ramirez, Zepeda, and Antuanne Russell. Those guys don’t pose as much of a threat as size is concerned perhaps, but they’re not to be taken lightly either on skill.
Saturday, April 23rd; ESPN PPV
Wembley Stadium; London, UK
Tyson Fury TKO6 Dillian Whyte
WBC Heavyweight Title
Chances are if you’re reading this, you don’t need to be told that Whyte’s best hope was to catch lightning in a bottle. It was clear from the onset that Whyte was clearly in over his head, but I won’t deny that I said in the immediate aftermath of Wilder-Fury 3 that Whyte should be the next man up. For better or worse (worse apparently), Whyte paid his dues and put in the work so why not? Now that the Whyte meme is over, Fury says he’s hanging it up. It makes sense, but there are a few good fights left if he wants to make buku bucks. If Joshua wins the Usyk rematch, that undisputed fight in the UK is huge. If Usyk wins the rematch, that undisputed fight is not as big but still big in the UK. Even if Joshua loses, a fight with Fury would still be a decent event in the UK as well. Otherwise, there’s not much left for him to do. Whyte, on the other hand, has some options out there (in no particular order): Ortiz, Wallin, Yoka, Kownacki, Martin, hell even Takam.
Saturday, April 30th; ESPN+
MGM Grand Garden Arena; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Shakur Stevenson — Oscar Valdez
WBO, WBC Super Featherweight Titles
This went just about as I expected. Stevenson didn’t seem to have much trouble from the opening bell until the end. Valdez did not have an answer to anything Stevenson was doing while Stevenson pitched a near shutout. It was pretty remarkable watching Trainer of the Year Eddie Reynoso not give his fighter much that could have given Valdez a better chance. I expected Valdez to be in until about the 5th, but holy cow that was bad. Stevenson mentioned wanting to take on the other champions, which I honestly don’t see him having trouble against either Ogawa or the winner of Gutierrez vs Garcia (assuming they’re going to consolidate). Valdez likely won’t have a problem getting back into the mix of things, there are names in the Top Rank stable for him to rebuild against (Conceicao, who he arguably didn’t beat in the first place, comes to mind right away). The problem is the manner in which he lost: it was just so lopsided it was kinda sad.
The full undercard review was already released on digital, but I don’t care; read it again.
The undercard report was written with haste watching live, so there’s a bit of shorthand:
Antoine Cobb (1–0) vs Jaylan Phillips (1–2) (4 Rounds — Welterweight)
Cobb shows good fundamentals and counterpunching in round 1, tempered with some modest aggression. Phillips tried to work behind his jab, but got timed coming in most every time. Cobb’s mobility proved to be a difficult puzzle to solve for Phillips, who would either be swinging at air or getting tagged as he came in. Cobb landed a clean right down the pipe to finish round 2. In round 3 Phillips opened up aggressively and was having decent success going to the body, finding more success smothering Cobb and pushing the tempo. Coming out of the clinches, Phillips was cleaning up, giving him the third and making it two rounds to one heading into the 4th. Straight right down the pipe lands for Cobb, that deadly pathway for a righty vs lefty. Phillips kept up the pressure and was still finding success to the body, but Cobb figured out the strategy and was countering pretty cleanly. Phillips got scrappy in center-ring and was able to get around some counterpunches to land a few of his own, a big right in the final minute to give the biggest punch of the round. The last round was tricky, personally scoring 2:2 with the fight being a matter of halves. The scores came out 39–37, 38–38: Majority Draw brings Cobb to 1–0–1 and Phillips 1–2–1.
Luciano Ramos (1–2) vs Abdullah Mason (1–0) (4 Rounds — Lightweight)
Cagey start to the first round, Mason pushing the action more. Mason found success on the ropes, but Ramos made a point of smothering as much as he could. Overall, it doesn’t appear that Ramos came to fight throughout the first round. Mason had his guy hurt, putting Tony Weeks on alert. Mason tagged him plenty of times, backing Ramos into the ropes looking dazed, prompting the stoppage before the end of the round. A little bit of drama as Ramos tried to jump at Mason after the fight was called off at 2:32 in the first round. Weeks made the right call, sorry Team Ramos.
Anthony Hannah (3–2) vs Troy Isley (4–0) (6 Rounds — Middleweight)
A bit of a tentative start in the opening minute, cagey and not too action-packed. As time went on, Isley had enough of the tension and started laying into Hannah. A good mix of shots up and down had Hannah on the backfoot the remainder of the round. The pressure seemed to be too much as Hannah was hesitant to engage and was side-stepping to get out of harm’s way with little success. Hannah survived the first round, but most certainly did not appear to have come to fight. The cagey defense kept Hannah from taking too much damage to start the second round as Isley picked the pressure right back up. KD for Isley with the follow-up assault putting the ref on alert. Another KD and Hannah’s corner had seen enough. “He’s trying to not die” — Bally on Hannah’s performance.
Alexis del Bosque (18–5–1) vs Andres Cortes (16–0) (8 Rounds — Junior Lightweight)
A good feeling out in the beginning of the round, both guys worked their jabs. Cortes landed an overhand shot early, but wasn’t able to put more together with it. Cortes lands a big shot to send Del Bosque into the ropes and he lunges on him to land a few more. Del Bosque clinches to get some space, but Cortes isn’t having it. Clear round for Cortes. Better start from Del Bosque, pressing the action and working behind his jab. Unfortunately, his riddle was solved rather quickly as Cortes started returning fire and actually landing clean shots. As the action moved into closer range in the middle of round two, Cortes worked the body for as long as Del Bosque was willing to try and exchange before moving back to mid and long range. Another round for Cortes in the books. Round three opened with Del Bosque working his jab again, but Cortes had the timing down and was parrying most of the incoming fire. Great exchange near the end of the round, Del Bosque landing some great shots upstairs after opening it up to the body; Cortes landing a fair few of his own and buzzing Del Bosque. More clean shots for Cortes over the top of Del Bosque’s guard gets the crowd humming with Cortes goofing a bit to finish it off. Good round for Del Bosque, but Cortes was clearly in control. Round 4 opened up mad decent, Del Bosque not discouraged by the damage he was taking. Cortes got a solid KD on a monster left downstairs. Great exchange along the ropes, but Del Bosque was clearly in deep waters that he wasn’t not ready for. Props to him for being willing to go out on his shield. The fight went into the next round with Cortes in clear control. A big KD sent Del Bosque to the deck, from which
Jeremy Hill (16–2) vs Raymond Muratalla (13–0) (8 Rounds — Lightweight)
Very quick work for Muratalla. He opened up pushing the tempo from the onset. Muratalla starts with scoring that glove-touch KD and put Hill on the backfoot. Hill closed the round out okay, not letting all the punches from Muratalla go unanswered. Round 2 was generally uneventful through the first half, a few shots partially landing for both guys. Muratalla closes the round strong with a big right to shake Hill. Hill retreats along the ropes, but Muratalla keeps him in range and tees off to close Round 2. Muratalla kept Hill at the end of his jab and right hand, Hill not able to close the distance as he wanted. A big flurry towards the end of Round 3 put Hill on his back and Tony Weeks had seen enough.
Note: After review, the Round 1 KD was overturned.
Alejandro Ibarra (7–1) vs Nico Ali-Walsh (4–0) (4 Rounds — Middleweight)
Surprising to hear Nico get a mixed reaction from the crowd. Firstly, most obviously, how much the Ali angle is being pushed is likely the reason for the negative response. But also, him being a Vegas native probably helps on the other side. Andres Cortes, on the undercard, did not have an issue with hometown support. Ali came out guns blazing, mobile and working the body. Ibarra wasn’t deterred in the beginning, but as the first round went on the shots seemed to be adding up. HUGE KO in round 1 at 2:50! Ali threw the left, Ibarra threw the jab, and Ali came over the top for the stop shot. The relationship with the new trainer, Richard Sloan, seems to be shaping up into something fruitful as Ali advances to 5–0 with 4 KOs. As we always say here in the SP family, first round KOs don’t tell us too much. Ali is coming along fine and will be taking more progressive fights; I’d like to ask Top Rank again to reconsider shoving the Ali angle down our throats. Please?
Esteban Sanchez (18–1) vs Keyshawn Davis (4–0) (8 Rounds — Lightweight)
Davis was walked out by PGF Nuk; I have no idea who the F that is (make your boomer jokes here). That’s not the important thing, though, because Keyshawn mfk’n Davis is in the ring! On paper, this was a HUGE step up for Davis. Dude went from 4 rounds in his debut to 6 in his second, two more sixers, now an 8 rounder in his 5th fight. The progression is real with this kid and I’m here for it. Davis worked his jab well in the opening round, smothering Sanchez as he tried to bring the fight into close quarters. As is tradition at boxing events, the crowd didn’t appreciate what they were seeing since it wasn’t a firefight. There were some shots going back and forth, but both guys had enough defensive responsibility to avoid most everything. Sanchez got tagged a few times, but did well to avoid most of the punches while Davis had Sanchez hitting air every time.
Round 2 opens up cagey, tense. Sanchez dips it low, picks up slow to avoid Davis’s lefts. Sanchez let his hands go a bit, landing on the gloves for the most part. Nice left hook from Davis was the most meaningful punch of the fight up to this point. Sanchez lands a nice overhand right over Davis’s jab as they wound down a generally tame round. The skill on display was pretty evenly matched heading into round 3, because in case you forgot this is Davis’s fifth pro fight to Sanchez’s 20th. Another tense, cagey opening to open the third. Davis and Sanchez tussle a little, sending Sanchez to the canvas on no KD. Did Davis bite off more than he can chew? Good exchanges, both guys landing clean. Sanchez got the better of them as he went to the body. Heading into Round 4, I was seeing 2–1 for Davis with a swing in the second. Scrappy combo from Sanchez to open Round 4. Davis with a nice counter, but Sanchez kept up the assault. Some clean hits from Davis, but Sanchez didn’t seem fazed. A few more hits from Davis that didn’t seem to do much as the round was ticking down, the smothering getting scrappy. Good combo from Davis near the end brings the round into closer contention, with another big shot behind the ear as the ten second mark clapped. Very close, but I swung it for Sanchez on having had more meaningful activity throughout the round compared to the burst at the end from Davis (scored 2–2).
Round 5, Davis came out throwing hands but not landing anything clean from my vantage point. Sacnhez kept it scrappy, kept coming ahead and throwing downstairs. Great combo from Davis about a minute in, another big left hook up then downstairs. Sanchez buzzed hard, trying to stay alive on the ropes. A big left from Davis, another big left, Davis pounds his gloves. Sanchez in trouble on the ropes again, he’s clearly punch drunk. Davis finishes the round with a big left to check Sanchez (3–2 Davis). The bell for Round 6 rings, could this be the ned of Sanchez? He seems determined to go out fighting as he throws haymakers. Big uppercut from Davis, big hook from Davis, Sanchez wobbles back. Big right, big right, Davis cannot seem to miss these power punches. Sanchez is not dissuaded, looking like Rocky coming after Creed in the first fight. A few left hooks in succession bring Sanchez to tie up, only to eat an uppercut and fall into the ropes. Davis comes in and tees off until the ref steps in and saves Sanchez from more damage.
Excellent performance from Davis. Rounds 3 and 4 had me wondering if this was too much too soon, but Team Davis put it together and got the dub. I said it before and I’m going to say it again, hyperbolic though it may be: shades of Ray Leonard. Do not sleep on Davis. Stoppage comes in round 6 at 2:20.
DAZN
Madison Square Garden; New York, New York, USA
Katie Taylor — Amanda Serrano
Undisputed Lightweight Title
It’s really cool to see ladies getting the shine like this. There will always be detractors that always have something negative to say and are incapable of enjoying anything, but they can eat a shoe. This was a very enjoyable fight and I’ll wear the title of pretentious hipster with pride if that’s what enjoying a women’s fight means. Serrano pushed the envelope most the entire fight and Taylor played it smart in the beginning, working off the backfoot and off Serrano’s aggression. Standing and trading with Serrano, the way she did in some of the mid rounds, was not a good idea in my estimation. That isn’t to say she didn’t have success, but that modality generally favored Serrano as evidenced by nearly being taken out in Round 5. If these were 3 minute rounds (which they should be), Serrano would have had her outta there. As the fight wore on, I was surprised that Taylor was able to hang on. She turned it on in the end and apparently did enough to bring herself back into the black, but I’m not entirely sure if I agree. The calls to run it back are spot on, as I doubt it will disappoint on repeat. To me, this is worthy of Fight of the Year contention, male or female. One consideration is that Taylor is getting up there in years, so there likely isn’t much left for her to do in the sport besides the Serrano rematch. She’s already beaten anyone who was ever worth their salt and stayed on top from pillar to post. Hopefully the rematch makes enough business sense to have it featured again.
Liam Smith TKO10 Jesse Vargas (Junior Middleweight)
I will not hide my dislike for Vargas. In most any other scenario, I would never root against my countryman, but uh…not the case here. Vargas started out okay, but that has always been the case with him for the last few years. An oddity about this, as far as Vargas is concerned, is the addition of Donaire as the lead coach and a new strength and conditioning coach: Mrs Donaire. Well, they didn’t seem to have done a good job, but polishing a turd and all…overall, it wasn’t the highest display of skill but it was definitely a fun, bloody scrap. Smith keeps himself in the top contention of the B tier with plenty of interesting fights to be made: (kind of in order) Lubin if he’s still game, Soro, Culcay, Hogan, Harrison, Tszyu, Madrimov, or even Fundora. As for Vargas, I’d like to see him in with Fundora, Charlo, or Castano specifically for him to get beat up more.
So much boxing, so little time. My thanks to Top Rank for having me out for the Stevenson-Valdez card; my appreciation is immeasurable and my week was made. I tried my best, but I didn’t get a chance to fire up a spliff with Uncle Bob. We were interrupted by the scuffle outside the media room during the post-fight presser. Wild times. The usual admin notes: if you’re not on Discord, that’s a mistake on your part. The socials: @Sunday_Puncher on Twitter, @SundayPuncherBoxing on Instagram. If you could kindly take a few minutes to fill this out if you haven’t already: https://bxng.co/survey it’s all about the different institutions in boxing (sanctioning bodies, different pound-for-pound lists, etc). If for some reason you don’t know where to find our stuff, you can always go to this site and that will give you everything you need. You can thank me later.
Stay frosty,
Leo
P.S.: I signed that with my new brush pen. I think it’s neat.
