Boxing Breakdown: Juan Diaz vs Juan Manuel Marquez

Ring Magazine Lightweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez puts his title on the line against former WBA, WBO and IBF Lightweight titlist Juan Diaz tomorrow. It will be the first defence of the title Marquez won from Joel Casamayor last year with an 11th round knockout. Diaz is coming off a win over Michael Katsidis over 12 rounds last September, which was his first fight back since losing his titles to Nate Campbell last March. With Campbell failing to make weight against Ali Funeka earlier this month, his WBA and WBO titles will be on the line for this fight which is a rare situation of the sanctioning bodies working for boxing’s best interests rather then their own.

The fight is interesting. Diaz is young and fairly inexperienced compared to Marquez although he has a very high workrate and is the naturally bigger man in this fight. Marquez on the other hand likes to counter punch and has won world titles in two previous weight classes, although he will likely be giving away a few pounds after the weigh in. This fight comes down to who is able to force their gameplan on the other. Marquez won’t hang with Diaz if he is forced to exchange, he just isn’t busy enough to handle Diaz in a dog fight. On the other hand, if Diaz can’t force the pace in this fight, he’ll be picked apart by the much better technical boxer in Marquez.

I’m leaning towards the naturally bigger man in Diaz in this fight. It’ll be close and it’s one of those fights I really have no idea how it will go down, but I think Diaz’s workrate and size will take it’s toll on Marquez down the stretch. Diaz excels in the later rounds and I think thats where the fight will be won with Diaz coming over the top of Marquez in the last 3-4 rounds. Marquez should have an advantage early on and will need to do some damage early to get Diaz’s respect. Marquez will likely be in control early but Diaz will slowly turn the tide and take over, winning a close decision. Juan Diaz by split decision.

On the undercard, WBA Featherweight Champion Chris John makes his US debut against top five contender Rocky Juarez. For those who haven’t seen John fight, this is a fight to check out because John is an exceptionally good fighter. He’d likely be top ten pound for pound had he fought in the US a bit more. Juarez will provide a decent test for him, but won’t be able to handle the well roundedness of John’s game. John should outbox Juarez with little to no difficulty. Chris John by unanimous decision.

Post UFC 95 Thoughts

Sorry for this being this late. I’ve been busy with other stuff and really couldn’t be bothered posting it. The card was very good for one of those cards that lacked a big name. Sanchez-Stevenson was fairly unevenftul I thought mainly because Stevenson did nothing but follow Sanchez around (how he thinks he won is beyond me, just because you can take his punches and avoid his takedowns it means shit if you don’t do anything back). I’m not looking to see either of these guys again anytime soon to be perfectly honest, let alone in a main event.
The impressive performances came from Demian Maia and Nate Marquadt. Both guys dominated respected opponents and put themselves in the line for a shot at Anderson Silva. Maia I thought was by far the most impressive and out of everyone he has the best shot at beating Silva because of his wicked Jiu Jitsu skills. Silva has been taken down and he has been submitted before and Maia is among the best BJJ guys I’ve seen in MMA. Marquadt has well rounded skills and has improved since Silva raped him at UFC 73, but I don’t think he’s improved that much. Josh Koscheck getting KTFO was sweet as well.

Angry Matchmaker
Before I start, I’d like to thank Joe Silva for taking on board my suggestion of a fight between Cain Velasquez and Heath Herring, which will likely take place on UFC 99.

Demian Maia vs Nate Marquadt
Marquadt hasn’t beaten anyone decent since his loss to Silva, so a win over Maia is the win he needs to push himself into title contention. Maia is in the same boat although his wins have been over better opposition. A win over Marquadt, especially in a co main event or a Fight Night main event would build him up enough to make a Silva-Maia fight marketable.

Diego Sanchez vs Sean Sherk
This fight would let us know a lot about Sanchez. GSP, Hughes and Penn who are (were in Hughes’ case) elite fighters all dominated Sherk so this fight would be a measuring stick to see how Sanchez is. Also, Sanchez’s losses came to top wrestlers at 170lbs and Sherk is one of the top wrestlers at 155lbs.

I’d also like to say that the broadcast was excellent as they showed every fight which definately won’t happen everytime but the more fights they show the better. It’s better then filling up the broadcast with more ads so big props to the UFC there for giving the fans what they want yet again.

Boxing Breakdown: Adamek v Banks

This fight for the Ring Magazine and IBF Cruiserweight belts takes place tomorrow. Reigning champion Tomasz Adamek takes on undefeated Jonathon Banks. This is more of a catch-up post here (I know for any UFC fans who read this site I didn’t put any coverage of UFC 95 up yet, way too bust at work this week, it will be up tomorrow as well as the breakdown of the Diaz-Marquez card), but basically I think Adamek has too much for Banks. Banks was rather unimpressive in the fight of his I did see and Adamek should have too much power and good enough skill to win this one rather comfortably. I think Banks will take too many shots over the duration of the bout and will be finished in the later rounds. Tomasz Adamek by 9th round knockout.

Cotto and Pavlik score KO wins in comeback bouts

World Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik scored a 9th round TKO win over WBC #1 contender Marco Antonio Rubio in his comeback fight after losing to Bernard Hopkins last October in a catchweight bout. Pavlik never looked like losing his WBC and WBO belts in front of his hometown crowd in Youngstown, Ohio. The fight was fought in typical Pavlik fashion, with ‘the Ghost’ firing unanswered combinations as Rubio tried to ride out the never ending storm that is Pavlik. Rubio showed a granite chin as well as some useful blocking but could offer little in the way of return fire as Pavlik repeatedly used his jab, cross and left uppercut to great effect. Rubio rallied in the 7th round, but Pavlik shifted up a gear in the 8th, rocking Rubio with a laser-like right hand. The champion continued to batter his overmatched challenger through until the end of the 9th round when Rubio wisely remained on his stool.

This fight should answer any questions as to what weight division Pavlik belongs in. He always looks like a beast when he’s fighting someone his own size. There’s some decent fights for him at this weight division as well. With Arthur Abraham demolishing all challengers and the likes of Winky Wright and Paul Williams as well as Felix Sturm and Anthony Mundine set to face off later this year, there’s some good fights that can be made. The good thing is that Pavlik is expected back in the ring come June or July instead of just sitting on his belts like some of the other fighters around. Overall, a successful comeback for Pavlik and I await his next opponent.

Also on the PPV, former WBA Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto made his comeback from the devastating loss to Antonio Margarito last year a successful one with a 5th round TKO win over Michael Jennings. The win earns Cotto the WBO Welterweight belt and could set up a rematch with Shane Mosley, who is coming off the win over Margarito and who Cotto beat by unanimous decision in 2007. Cotto took his time early as Jennings moved well although didn’t land anything significant. However, as soon as Cotto caught Jennings it was just a matter of time. In the 4th round Cotto twice dropped Jennings with left hooks to the body although Jennings was game and took as many of the ten count as he could in order to recover. Jennings looked fine at the start of the 5th, although once Cotto caught him it was a different story. A barrage on the ropes dropped Jennings again and after rising at nine, the referee saved Jennings from further punishment. With Mosley and Cotto clearly the top two guys in the division (especially with Margarito suspended) that rematch is a must and would be one of the biggest fights of the year. Hopefully it gets made as none of the other fights at this weight have the same excitement.

I have to give full credit to the Sky Channel in Australia for taking time out of their 24 hour horse racing coverage to show this card. There was two of the biggest names in boxing fighting on the card and while the opponents weren’t great, the fights were entertaining and definately worth being shown down here. Hopefully Sky can pick up more of the fights that Main Event don’t and continue to give a decent coverage of the sport. Maybe a weekly news show run by Australians wouldn’t be a bad idea? Or how about Canvas Classics once a night? (okay that last part wasn’t going to happen but one can dream can’t they?)

Boxing Breakdown: Pavlik vs Rubio, Cotto vs Jennings

I’ve got no need to go into these fights anymore then they need to be gone into. Let’s call a spade a spade; these two (Rubio and Jennings) are being fed to Pavlik and Cotto who are border line top ten pound for pounders if not just inside the ten. Both Cotto and Pavlik are coming off losses and these are two highly ranked (ABC rankings anyway) contenders for them to work off any effects from the losses against.

Kelly Pavlik vs Marco Antonio Rubio
(World Middleweight Championship)
Prediction- Pavlik by 3rd round KO
Pavlik is coming off the half schooling/half beating he took from Bernard Hopkins at a higher weight and is fighting at his natural weight. His opponent, Marco Antonio Rubio, is the WBC mandatory but definately isn’t one of the top contenders in this division. The last fight I remember seeing of him before he earned his mandatory on the Pavlik-Hopkins card, he got iced by Kofi Jantuah in 33 seconds. That fight was nearly five years ago, and he’s gone 16-2 since with decision losses to Kassim Ouma and Zaurbek Baysangurov.
Still, in his last fight against Enrique Ornelas, he appeared to still carry the slow starting habbit. Rubio will definately be a chance if he can take Pavlik past six rounds and if Pavlik isn’t in tip top shape, but it’s likely if the fight goes that long that Rubio will be too  busted up to rally anyway. I think Pavlik will batter him from the start and I’ll be surprised if Rubio sees it past the first four rounds. Pavlik has too much firepower for someone with limited defence like Rubio and I think that unless he is gun shy after failing to land any significant punches on the Executioner last October, that he’ll find his range quickly and make an example of Rubio.

Miguel Cotto vs Michael Jennings
(WBO Welterweight title)
Prediction- Cotto by 5th round KO
I have never seen Jennings and I know very little about him other then he’s British. I very much doubt Cotto’s handlers are after anything other then a workout before the then proposed rematch with Margarito took place, so I don’t expect Jennings to be up to much of a standard. Cotto will break him down with body shots and probably drop him a handful of times before Jennings can’t take anymore. Jennings will likely be tough and game, but Cotto will prove to be a few levels too far for him.

Undercard Action
Two good matchups on the undercard featuring two good prospects. Lightweight contender Anthony Peterson takes on recent World title challenger and always handy Edner Cherry. This will be a good test for Peterson and one I expect him to pass with flying colours if he is to at all impact the packed 135lb division. Also fighting is John Duddy, who has fallen off the radar somewhat after his rumoured fight with Kelly Pavlik for early last year fell through following the complete lack of defence he showed on the Pavlik-Taylor II undercard last year. Duddy’s opponent is Matt Vanda, who always comes to fight and will give Duddy a good workout but shouldn’t cause the upset.

Australian Boxing returns to Fox Sports tonight

Tonight Fox Sports one features a local boxing card live from Newcastle Panthers in what is the first card of its type for the year. As far as these cards go, this is a good one with a few of the lesser known stars of Australian Boxing getting their deserved time in the spotlight as well as some up and comers getting the chance to build on their careers. In the main event, Fox Sports Fight Night regular Rob Medley will take on up and comer Tui Leveni for some regional belt that means nothing except a world ranking. Also on the card, former challenger to Felix Sturms crown Jamie Pittman meets iron chinned Josh Clenshaw and OPBF Cruiserweight champion Dominic Vea takes on former world title challenger Mohammed Azzaoui.

The main event is really a lose-lose for Medley. Leveni has only had nine pro fights and while he does hold the Australian Junior Middleweight title, his resume’ lacks any big name Australian fighters. In saying that, Leveni has shown clear domination over the guys he has been fighting, winning most of them inside the distance. In his only two fights that were televised previously, he destroyed journeyman Fili Mailata and Dion McNabbney in two rounds each. His biggest win came over undefeated Pat Rullo who Leveni took out in four for the vacant national title. Medley has fallen short in two spirited if limited efforts against world rated Isaac Hlatshwayo. He’s sort of stuck in the zone where he’s better then nearly everyone on the domestic scene but lacks the ability to make it to world class. A loss to Leveni at this stage of his career almost confirms his regional fighter tag whereas a loss to Medley for Leveni means little as long as he learns from it and doesn’t take too much punishment.

Tui Leveni has a real shot in this fight and his come forward aggressive style could work two ways. It could overpower Medley like it has done his last eight opponents or it could play into his hands and allow Medley to pick him apart. I know people who train with Leveni and they assure me his game is on the up and that he’s in good shape for this bout but the big question will be how Leveni handles Medley’s experience. Neither man will want to give ground in this fight and even though Medley is a skilled boxer, he definately prefers to be able to walk down his man. Against Leveni that could be hard although I think if he is able to back Leveni up he’ll have an easy nights work. I really think Leveni will be able to dominate Medley if he can get him on the ropes but I think Medley’s experience and conditioning will prove too much especially over a 12 round fight; Leveni has yet to fight 7 rounds let alone 12. For that reason alone I pick Medley to win this fight by close decision although don’t be surprised if he’s taken out inside five.

Jamie Pittman returns to action for the first time since that shocking mismatch on the infamous Central Coast card that ended up with a brawl. Pittmans opponent tonight is the always durable Josh Clenshaw who has only been stopped twice (not including the broken hand stoppage to Julian Holland) and both of those came early in his career. Pittman should win this one comfortably on points as he has a huge advantage in technique and his conditioning will prove too much for Clenshaw to be able to break. Pittman by shutout decision.

The other good fight on the card features two of the top national Cruiserweights in action with Dominic Vea fighting Mohammed Azzaoui. Vea has been in good form, avenging his only loss top Daniel Ammann last year and then destroying three opponents in quick time since. Azzaoui took the easy route to the top and then paid for it when he tried to hang with the big boys. After losing his gift title shot to Enzo Maccaranelli in four rounds, he has since been knocked out two more times before losing a lopsided decision to Jamie Withers in his most recent fight. I expect Vea will prove too strong and win this fight inside the first 3-4 rounds.

The full card, starts 7.30pm on Fox Sports One:

Rob Medley vs Tui Leveni (12 rounds)
Jamie Pittman vs Josh Clenshaw (8 rounds)
Dominic Vea vs Mohammed Azzaoui (6 rounds)
Steve Casserly vs Anthony Brownlee (6 rounds)
Steven Wills vs Ruben Kennedy (6 rounds)
Brendan Batty vs Lucas Mason (4 rounds)
Joel Brunker vs Troy Glover (4 rounds)

UFC 95 Predictions

I’m keeping this brief for a few reasons. First, I don’t give much of a crap about this card. The only fight that interests me is Demian Maia vs Chael Sonnen and the rest don’t really have an impact on anything. Second, I’m going to be away for a few days and couldn’t be bothered writing up a big thing on it.

Main Card
Diego Sanchez vs Joe Stevenson
Prediction- Sanchez by 2nd round TKO

Wilson Gouveia vs Nate Marquadt
Prediction- Marquadt on points

Demian Maia vs Chael Sonnen
Prediction- Maia by 2nd round submission

Josh Koscheck vs Paulo Thiago
Prediction- Koscheck on points

Dan Hardy vs Rory Markham
Prediction- Markham on points

Preliminaries
Junior dos Santos vs Stefan Struve
Prediction- Struve by 1st round submission

Brian Cobb vs Terry Etim
Prediction- Etim by 2nd roubd submission

Mike Ciesnolevicz vs Neil Grove
Prediction- Ciesnolevicz on points

Evan Dunham vs Per Eklund
Prediction- Eklund on points

Paul Kelly vs Troy Mandaloniz
Prediction- Kelly on points

This week in fight sports (February 14)

No this isn’t a new segment and I won’t be doing this very often if ever again, but there’s been a whole bunch of things go on the last few days and I’ve been bust at work so I thought I’d address as many of them as I can in one article.’

Mundine decisions Taylor, calls out Sturm
Mundine won a boring 12 round decision over Shannan Taylor again showing that he isn’t anywhere near a world class puncher as Taylor has been knocked out by smaller opponents before. Taylor resorted to fouling Mundine in the later rounds and probably should have been DQ’d. Mundine boxed well but didn’t take any chances and complained to the ref everytime Taylor mounted an offence. After the fight Mundine decided that since Green has come out of retirement, all of a sudden he doesn’t need to fight him (after he’s called him out ever since Green retired) an said he’ll be fighting Felix Sturm in Germany to ‘avenge his loss to Ottke.’ Hopefully Sturm cleans his clock.

Tank Abbott and Ken Shamrock score wins, set up super fight
Tank Abbott and Ken Shamrock showed yesterday that their recent losses were all flukes by dominating quality opposition yesterday. Tank scored a 29 second KO win over PRIDE veteran Mike Bourke, dropping him with a right hand and finishing him off with ground and pound. The performance was in the league of Rampage Jacksons win in the third fight against Wanderlei Silva although it’s debatable which knockout was more impressive. Ken Shamrock gave up 180lbs in weight but dominated submission specialist Ross Clifton. In a fight that made Arlovski’s first win over Tim Sylvia look normal, Shamrock dropped his opponent with a right hand before finishing with an armbar from side control. The pair are expected to fight in the middle of this year. Shamrock promised to end Tanks career if he doesn’t ‘put his beer down and get in the gym’ while Tank said he wished it was Ken Shamrock who was eating his right hand instead and told the fans to have a beer for him.

Margarito gets one year ban
Antonio Margarito has been suspended for one year for the plastering of the hands incident in his fight with Shane Mosley. This whole thing sucks to be perfectly honest. While I don’t think Margarito should be punished for something that his corner did, the whole incident puts a question mark on some of Margarito’s best performances. While a lot of precaution is taken by officials before the fights and I’m sure that if he had tried it before hand he would probably have been caught, you can’t help but wonder if Margarito has cheated before. If Margarito’s ban doesn’t get overturned I don’t think we’ll see him fight on US soil ever again. The fight puts an end to a likely rematch with Miguel Cotto that was set up for mid this year but could also pave the way for the Mosley-Cotto rematch we all want to see.

Canadian officials ask UFC to bend over for April event
UFC 97: Redemption is in jeopardy after the Quebec governing body that deals with combat sports wants the UFC to change their rules in order for the event to comply with their standards. The changes include no knees, no elbows and the referee checking on a fighters condition in the event of a knockdown before the fight continues. So basically, they want some fucked up hybrid sport with punching, kicking and grappling like a slightly more violent version of Pancrase. Dana White should remind them what the UFC will do for their economy and if he doesn’t budge then tell them to go shit in their hat and pull it over their ears and take the event to Vegas.

Nate Campbell loses titles on scale
Instead of losing his titles in the ring to Ali Funeka, Campbell weighed in at 138lbs, 3lb over the 135lb Lightweight limit and forfeited his belts. The titles are still on the line for Funeka should he be victorious but it further frustrates fans as what is the most talent rich division in boxing again gets put on hold from fighters not making weight. Hopefully Funeka tears Campbell a new one and then doesn’t take the titles back to South Africa and instead does what Campbell would have and fight the winner of Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz. Still, Campbell moving up sucks because there was a few good fights involving him including a rematch with Juan Diaz. Maybe Campbell and Guzman can try and fight each other again (Guzman failed to make weight for their clash last September) at 140lbs with a 5lb allowance.

Mundine vs Taylor tomorrow

I have decided this year that I will cover as much local boxing as I can. The televised domestic year of Australian boxing starts tomorrow with the $50 pay per view of Anthony Mundine vs Shannan Taylor. These guys are two of the bigger names in Australian Boxing with Taylor challenging Shane Mosley for the Welterweight crown some eight years ago and Mundine ‘putting boxing back on the map’ apparently. Taylor has wanted this fight for years and it’s only fitting that Mundine decides to take it now that Taylor is 36 and can’t beat anyone with a winning record anymore. Still, Taylor will come to fight and Mundine hasn’t looked that flash especially when he has to make the Middleweight limit so maybe Taylor has a chance in this one. I think Mundine ends it inside six rounds though, too much speed and power for the smaller man.

Mundine is expected to fight Felix Sturm should he win this fight for the WBA Middleweight title. However, Danny Green announced his comeback today and said he’ll be fighting Mundine in the next 12 months so that title fight may not take place afterall. Green won’t make super middleweight, let alone middleweight so Mundine will have to go back up for this fight. Typical Mundine to go after someone he’s already beaten instead of challenging a real champion. I mean his record against guys who actually hold the belt he’s fighting them for is 0-2 (losses by KO to Sven Ottke and by lopsided decision to Mikkel Kessler). I’m tired of this whole circus to the point where thinking about Mundine makes me feel ill and I’m not exaggerating in the slightest. The fact that someone like him makes a mockery of our sport yet has people pay $50 to watch him while people don’t give a champion like Darchinyan any respect shows again the poor state of boxing in Australia.

The undercard consists of the usual garbage that a Mundine circus has. 40-6 Nadar Hamdan takes on 8-4 Kane McKay. 10-0 Zac Awa fights 10-13 Sean Connell. 10-0 Kerry Foley takes on 4-7 Rasheed Baloch. 1-1 Blair Seager takes on 19-6 Peter Mitrevski jnr. There’s even a guy on there with a 0-9 record with all 9 losses by KO. How guys like that even get licenced is beyond me. The card is a joke and the fact that we have to pay $50 to watch this shit shows how bad the state of Australian boxing is. To be honest, I’m sick of blaming the promoters. If you’re openly selling shit straight from the horses arse and someone is willing to pay $50 for fresh steamers every few months, why would you change your business plan. It’s up to us, the fans, not to pay for this garbage if we want cheaper prices. So if you agree with me, go out and kneecap anyone you know who pays for this shite and hopefully it’ll teach them a lesson. (I may or may not be joking about that last part). But still, boxing will not make it’s way back to free to air TV when there’s morons out there who will fork out $50 for a piece of shit card like this one.

Darchinyan retains titles, stops Arce in 11

WBC-WBA-IBF Junior Flyweight Champion Vic Darchinyan successfully defended his titles and moved closer to a place among the top pound for pound fighters in the World with an 11th round stoppage over former Junior Flyweight Champion and pound for pound contender Jorge Arce. The fight was stopped after 11 rounds due to cuts on Arce’s eyes. After Darchinyan took control of the fight in the first two rounds, Arce responded by hurting the champion in the 3rd round. Darchinyan fired back and the 3rd and 4th rounds were full of action as Arce hurt Darchinyan only to be hurt back by the champions feared punching power.

After rocking Arce with an uppercut in the 4th, the fight became one way traffic as Arce tried valiantly to get back into the fight but was simply outmatched. Darchinyan mixed up the set ups for his combinations, sometimes circling and sometimes stalking the Mexican but always landing with hard power. Although Arce had success with his left hook, he didn’t have any answer for ‘The Raging Bull’s’ firepower. The end came after another cut (which looked to be caused by Arce’s head colliding with the ropes) forced the doctor to stop the fight after the 11th round.

While the fight was good, it didn’t live up to the hype us hardcore fans were giving it over the years. I think this had a lot to do with Arce not being able to wage the war he wanted because he was outgunned by Darchinyans power. Vic had a huge size advantage and his frame would probably suit even 122lbs whereas Arce is really at the highest weight he can be world class in. Darchinyan looked good and now that he’s added some more technique to his overpowering style it will take a strong effort to end his reign. The only marks on his career come at the hands of Z Gorres and Nonito Donaire. I’d be heading wherever I had to to see Vic fight either of those guys (or any live opponent) should it take place in Australia. Forget Mundine and all his crap, Darchinyan is the face of Australian boxing even if the moronic Australian sports media don’t give him much attention.