WEEKEND ROUNDUP- BOXING RESULTS: HAYE/CHISORA, GARCIA/KHAN, WALSH, O’SULLIVAN, CASTILLO, FONFARA, MUNDINE.
We had a rollercoaster of emotions this weekend. From the thrill of knockouts, shock of an upset, the impressiveness of veteran skills, finality of retirement and the promise of upcoming boxers.
David Haye and Dereck Chisora faced each other in the ring. Amir Khan has some serious questions to ask himself and Danny Garcia’s career just got a lot brighter. Here’s what happened in the matches highlighted in the ‘Weekend in Boxing.’
Glen ‘the Road Warrior’ Johnson loses as he drops to 51-17-2 and Andrzej Fonfara improves to 22-2-0. Light heavyweights, 10 rounds.
- Some boxers deserve their nicknames and ‘the Road Warrior’ is definitely one of those guys. Having fought seemingly everywhere and against everyone that matters, Glen Johnson announced his retirement on Friday. A professional boxer of the highest calibre, the yardie who resides in Florida, went out on his shield.
Facing the much, much younger and sizably bigger Andrzej Fonfara, Johnson acquitted himself well. It was a busy 10 rounds with nice jabbing on display, lots of power punching and some effective bodywork. Ironically, the shorter man, Johnson displayed the more effective jabbing. Being the shorter man, the as expected bodywork was part of his plan. Fonfara used his height to full advantage by landing powerful hooks around Johnson’s guard. Andrzej Fonfara deservedly won the 10 round decision and with a bit more work, might develop into a legitimate contender at light heavyweight. Scores were 97-93, 97-93 and 99-91. If he had fought a younger Glen Johnson, the outcome would’ve been quite different.
Many thanks Mr. Johnson, you truly are a proper boxer, not just a fighter and I wish you the best.
Jose Luis ‘el Terrible’ Castillo improves to 64-11-1 against Ivan Popoca who drops to 18-2-0. Welterweights, 10 rounds.
- Jose Luis Castillo reminded anyone that had forgotten that professional boxing is a thinking man’s game. Knowing that his left hook could have success, he used it to great effect, along with the jab and right hands to the body. The difference in ring intelligence between Popoca and Castillo showed, with Popoca’s ill-advised attempts at headhunting. Castillo scored a knockdown in the 2nd round. Even though he hurt his left hand, Castillo bruised, battered and bloodied Popoca, forcing the referee to stop the match after the 8th round.
Julian ‘Chicano’ Rivera improves to 12-6-1 and Edgar ‘Power’ Jimenez drops to 15-7-1. Flyweights, 12 rounds.
- This was a close contest. Both boxers landed some eye-watering shots. The action took a periodic lull, but overall it was very eventful. From wicked right hands, to thudding body shots and the odd jaw shuddering uppercut, it was a see-saw battle. The final 20 seconds, or so, of the 12th round were explosive. The final decision was in favour of Rivera. The judges had it 114-113 for Jimenez and 114-113, 117-113 for Rivera.
Pablo ‘Pokemon’ Farias improved to 21-2-0 against Alvaro ‘Pantera’ Enriquez, who dropped to 11-11-2. Super middleweights, 8 rounds.
- Farias scores a fourth round K.O. Maybe he should think about knocking out his nickname….
David ‘the Hayemaker’ Haye improves to 26-2-0 and Dereck ‘Del Boy’ Chisora drops to 15-4-0. Heavyweights, 12 rounds.
- I was one of the many who were looking forward to this one. It gloriously lived up to my expectations. Some may want to question the quality of the boxers involved and to be frank, not interested in what they have to say. This was thoroughly enjoyable, top-level heavyweight action. My only regret is that I didn’t stay with my original prediction and instead took the safe route (http://uk.fighthype.com/fighthype-uk-predictions-for-tonights-action-khan-vs-garciahaye-vs-chisora/).
Both boxers wasted no time. I was a bit worried by Haye’s continued habit of keeping his left hand low, but he did the better work in the first round. We saw jabs from Haye and booming right hands from Chisora, which missed their mark. Dereck did land a nice left hook and solid jab in the first round. As expected, Chisora continued to come forward throughout the bout, but Haye’s movement and offence was clearly up to the task. Haye ended up catching Chisora with a wicked left in the 5th round and sent him to the canvas. The second knockdown was the result of a right, left (maybe another left in there somewhere) and that’s all that she wrote. The referee rightfully stopped the bout even though Chisora was trying to get his bearings. T.K.O in the 5th by the Hayemaker. I wonder why Vitali couldn’t do that…?
Liam ‘Destiny’ Walsh improved to 13-0-0 and Domenic Urbano drops to 25-4-1. Lightweights, 12 rounds.
- Liam Walsh remains undefeated after a technically sound and spirited performance against the veteran Urbano. It was a close first round, with Urbano being the aggressor. Urbano continued to show purpose in the second and advanced behind the jab, but Walsh seemed more comfortable. As the fight progressed we saw the jab used well by both boxers, but Walsh was shooting nice lefts to the body and a particularly clubbing right hand. A bit of apparent foul play with his head, resulted in a point deduction for Urbano in the 6th. The 7th round saw Walsh mixing it up nicely with shots to the head and body. Having seen enough, the referee stopped it in the 8th round. Arguably a bit premature, but I just didn’t see Urbano turning it around and more than likely he was only going to take a bigger beating
Gary ‘Celtic Rebel/Spike’ O’Sullivan improves to 15-0-0 against Matthew ‘el Torito’ Hall, who drops to 25-6-0. Middleweights, 12 rounds.
- Not the most spectacular of boxing matches, but enough for a grizzled fight fan like me to enjoy. We had a lot of infighting, with body shots by both boxers. Matthew Hall just a bit busier and being the shorter guy did most of his work on the inside. O’Sullivan threw more clean punches and I preferred his style. Hall was very dogged throughout the match and kept moving forward. Both boxers worked behind a solid guard, which blocked a fair amount of the other guy’s offence. O’Sullivan won the unanimous decision 117-111, 115-114 and 117-111.
Amir ‘King’ Khan drops to (26-3-0) and Danny ‘ Swift’ Garcia improves to 24-0-0. Light welterweights, 12 rounds.
- You’ve all heard how this one went down by now, Garcia by 4th round T.K.O. Khan’s career isn’t over by any means, but he does need to seriously study how and why he lost. How did he go from controlling the first two and part of the third to getting caught by a wicked left behind the ear, which made his world spin. The punishment continued and he was out on his feet, forcing the referee to stop it in the fourth. Congratulations to Danny Garcia. He did what he had to do and it’ll be interesting to see whom he fights next. Garcia’s father has dismissed a rematch, but hopefully GBP makes it happen. It’ll be interesting to hear what Breidis Prescott thinks about Khan’s requests for a rematch.
Unfortunately I missed the vast majority of the undercard and only saw glimpses of the Fernando Guerrero and Phil Lo Greco bouts.
Guerrero looked good en route to his points victory and improving his record to 24-1-0. Lo Greco won by T.K.O, improving his record to 24-0-0, but his opponent looked extremely basic.
Anthony ‘the Man’ Mundine improves to 44-4-0 and Bronco ‘Superman’ McKart falls to 54-10-1. Middleweights, 10 rounds.
- Mundine was definitely ‘the Man’ against McKart. Is McKart on Mundine’s level? No, but it was a solid victory nonetheless. ‘The Man’ hurt McKart in the fifth and finally forced McKart’s corner to throw in the towel in the seventh round. Mundine’s trying to get in the ring with Floyd Mayweather, but only time will tell if he makes that happen. Unlikely, but I only know as much about that as you do fight fans. Even if he did, the safe money is on another Mayweather victory.
Marco Antonio Periban improves to 18-0-0 and Lester ‘El Cubanito’ Gonzalez drops to 12-6-4. Super middleweights, 10 rounds
- Periban was clearly the bigger of the two and it clearly showed. Technically, Gonzalez impressed me much more, but unfortunately for him Periban’s size and power wore him down. Periban should really work on his jab. There is no excuse for a boxer of his size to not utilise an effective jab. The heavy shots that Periban landed, forced Gonzalez and his corner to call an end to it after the 8th.
Antonio Capulin improved to 7-0-0 against Steve Cox, who dropped to 2-8-0.
T.K.O in the 2nd round.
Jesus ‘Negrito’ Sylvestre improved to 25-3-0 against Edwin ‘ la Pantera’ Diaz, who falls to 15-18-0.
Judges awarded the 12 round unanimous decision to Sylvestre, 118-112, 117-11 and 119-110.
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