(Apr 09) Angry Fight Fan World Boxing Rankings

The interesting thing I found this month is how stacked the Bantamweight division is becoming. Last month both Fernando Montiel and Cristian Mijares made their move there to join the likes of Hasegawa who just made the 8th successful defence of his WBC belt with a 1st round KO of Vusi Malinga. The division is that stacked that long time 115lb #1 Mijares lost his 118lb debut (which could be down to ill-effects suffered in the Darchinyan beatdown though. The thing though is that the 115lb division which six months ago was one of the strongest is now probably the weakest after Darchinyan cleaned out all of the top contenders bar Montiel. Now that Darchinyan will face Joseph Agbeko at 118lbs, the division will be a wasteland come July.
The rankings are based on all fights that happened before April 1st 2009, so if there’s a result that happened on March 1st (I’m using boxrec’s calender) then it’ll be included next month. These rankings are my own work and have absolutely no reflection on any ABC rankings or anything else but my own opinion. Please feel free to flame me in the comments section.

Weight Division (weight limit)
(Last Month) Ranking- Fighter (Record)

Pound for Pound 
(1) 1- Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2)
(2) 2- Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1)
(3) 3- Bernard Hopkins (49-5-1)
(4) 4- Israel Vazquez (43-4-0)
(5) 5- Shane Mosley (46-5-0)
(6) 6- Rafael Marquez (37-5-0)
(7) 7- Paul Williams (36-1-0)
(8) 8- Ricky Hatton (45-1-0)
(9) 9- Kelly Pavlik (35-1-0)
(10) 10- Vic Darchinyan (32-1-1)

Active- None

Heavyweight (no limit)
(1) 1- Wladimir Klitschko (52-3-0)
(2) 2- Vitali Klitschko (37-2-0)
(3) 3- Ruslan Chagaev (25-0-1)
(4) 4- Nicolay Valuev (50-1-0)
(5) 5- Alexander Povetkin (16-0-0)
(6) 6- David Haye (22-1-0)
(8) 7- Alexander Dimitrenko (29-0-0)
(9) 8- Sultan Ibragimov (22-1-1)
(NA) 9- Eddie Chambers (34-1-0)
(7) 10- Samuel Peter (30-3-0)

Active- Vitali Klitschko, Eddie Chambers, Samuel Peter (loss)
Out- Oleg Maskaev (10)

Cruiserweight (200lbs)
(1) 1- Tomasz Adamek (37-1-0)
(2) 2- Guillermo Jones (36-3-2)
(3) 3- Steve Cunningham (21-2-0)
(4) 4- Marco Huck (24-1-0)
(5) 5- Jean Marc Mormeck (33-4-0)
(6) 6- O’Neill Bell (26-3-1)
(8) 7- Firat Arslan (29-4-1)
(9) 8- Vadim Tokarev (26-1-1)
(10) 9- Kryzstof Wlodarczyk (41-2-0)
(NA) 10- Giacobbe Fragomeni (26-1-0)

Active- None
Out- Enzo Maccarinelli (loss)

Light Heavyweight (175lbs)
(1) 1- Bernard Hopkins (49-4-1)
(2) 2- Chad Dawson (27-0-0)
(3) 3- Glenn Johnson (49-12-2)
(4) 4-  Antonio Tarver (27-5-0)
(5) 5- Zsolt Erdei (30-0-0)
(6) 6- Clinton Woods (42-4-1)
(7) 7- Hugo Garay (32-3-0)
(8) 8- Roy Jones jnr (52-5-0)
(9) 9- Adrian Diaconu (25-0-0)
(10) 10- Tavoris Cloud (19-0-0)

Active- Roy Jones jnr

Super Middleweight (168lbs)
(1) 1- Mikkel Kessler (41-1-0)
(2) 2- Lucian Bute (24-0-0)
(3) 3- Jermain Taylor (28-2-1)
(4) 4- Carl Froch (24-0-0)
(5) 5- Librado Andrade (27-2-0)
(6) 6- Sakio Bika (27-3-2)
(7) 7- Karoly Balszay (20-0-0)
(8) 8- Dennis Inkin (34-1-0)
(9) 9- Jeff Lacy (24-2-0)
(10) 10- Andre Dirrell (18-0-0)

Active- Lucian Bute, Andre Dirrell
Out- Markus Beyer (10)

Middleweight (160lbs)
(1) 1- Kelly Pavlik (35-1-0)
(2) 2- Arthur Abraham (29-0-0)
(3) 3- Felix Sturm (31-2-1)
(4) 4- Winky Wright (51-4-1)
(5) 5- Anthony Mundine (35-3-0)
(6) 6- Khoren Gevor (30-3-0)
(7) 7- Randy Griffin (24-2-3)
(8) 8- Sebastian Sylvester (29-3-0)
(9) 9- Javier Castillejo (62-8-0)
(10) 10- Amin Asikainen (25-2-0)

Active- Arthur Abraham

Junior Middleweight (154lbs)
(1) 1- Paul Williams (36-1-0)
(2) 2- Vernon Forrest (41-3-0)
(3) 3- Sergei Dzinziruk (36-0-0)
(4) 4- Daniel Santos (32-3-0)
(5) 5- Verno Phillips (42-11-1)
(6) 6- Cory Spinks (36-5-0)
(7) 7- Sergio Manuel Martinez (44-1-1)
(8) 8- Kermit Cintron (30-2-1)
(NA) 9- James Kirkland (25-0-0)
(9) 10- Sergio Mora (21-1-1)

Active- James Kirkland
Out- Alex Bunema (10)

Welterweight (147lbs)
(1) 1- Shane Mosley (46-5-0)
(2) 2- Miguel Cotto (32-1-0)
(3) 3- Andre Berto (24-0-0)
(4) 4- Joshua Clottey (35-2-0)
(5) 5- Carlos Quintana (26-2-0)
(6) 6- Luis Collazo (29-4-0)
(7) 7- Zab Judah (37-6-0)
(8) 8- Mike Jones (17-0-0)
(9) 9- Sebastian Lujan (31-5-2)
(10) 10- Rafal Jackiewicz (33-8-1)

Active- Mike Jones, Sebastian Lujan

Junior Welterweight (140lbs)
(1) 1- Ricky Hatton (45-1-0)
(2) 2- Andreas Kotelnik (30-2-0)
(3) 3- Timothey Bradley (23-0-0)
(4) 4- Kendall Holt (25-2-0)
(5) 5- Ricardo Torres (32-2-0)
(6) 6- Paulie Malignaggi (25-2-0)
(7) 7- Juan Urango (20-1-1)
(8) 8- Junior Witter (37-2-2)
(NA) 9- Victor Ortiz (24-1-1)
(9) 10- Vivian Harris (29-3-1)

Active- Victor Ortiz
Out- Marcos Rene Maidana (10)

Lightweight (135lbs)
(1) 1- Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1)
(2) 2- Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2)
(3) 3- Juan Diaz (34-2-0)
(4) 4- Joel Casmayor (36-4-1)
(5) 5- Julio Diaz (36-4-0)
(6) 6- Joan Guzman (29-0-0)
(7) 7- Antonio Pitualua (46-3-0)
(8) 8- Ali Funeka (30-2-2)
(9) 9- David Diaz (34-2-1)
(10) 10- Anthony Peterson (28-0-0)

Active- None

Junior Lightweight (130lbs)
(1) 1- Edwin Valero (24-0-0)
(2) 2- Cassius Baloyi (36-3-1)
(4) 3- Humberto Soto (47-7-2)
(3) 4- Jorge Linares (26-0-0)
(10) 5- Roman Martinez (22-0-1)
(5) 6- Robert Guerrero (22-1-1)
(6) 7- Mzonke Fana (28-4-0)
(7) 8- Malcolm Klassen (23-4-2)
(8) 9- Nicky Cook (29-2-0)
(9) 10- Alex Arthur (26-2-0)

Active- Humberto Soto, Roman Martinez, Robert Guerrero (No Contest), Nicky Cook (loss)

Featherweight (126lbs)
(1) 1- Chris John (42-0-2)
(2) 2- Cristobal Cruz (38-11-1)
(3) 3- Ricardo Juarez (28-4-1)
(4) 4- Steve Luevano (36-1-1)
(5) 5- Jorge Solis (37-1-2)
(NA) 6- Takahiro Aoh (17-1-1)
(6) 7- Thomas Mashaba (20-2-4)
(7) 8- Guty Espadas Jnr (44-7-0)
(8) 9- Mario Santiago (19-1-1)
(10) 10- Yuriorkis Gamboa (14-0-0)

Active- Takahiro Aoh
Out- Oscar Larios (loss)

Junior Featherweight (122lbs)
(1) 1- Israel Vazquez (43-4-0)
(2) 2- Rafael Marquez (37-5-0)
(3) 3- Celestino Caballero (31-2-0)
(4) 4- Juan Manuel Lopez (24-0-0)
(5) 5- Poonsawat Krattindaenggym (37-1-0)
(7) 6- Daniel Ponce de Leon (35-2-0)
(8) 7- Jhonny Gonzalez (40-6-0)
(9) 8- Steve Molitor (28-1-0)
(10) 9- Toshiaki Nishioka (33-4-3)
(NA) 10- Bernard Dunne (28-1-0)

Active- Bernard Dunne
Out- Ricardo Cordoba (loss)

Bantamweight (118lbs)
(1) 1- Hozumi Hasegawa (26-2-0)
(2) 2- Gerry Penalosa (54-6-2)
(NA) 3- Fernando Montiel (39-2-1)
(3) 4- Anselmo Moreno (24-1-1)
(4) 5- Silence Mabuza (22-2-0)
(5) 6- Wladimir Siderenko (21-1-2)
(6) 7- Abner Mares (17-0-0)
(8) 8- Joseph Agebeko (26-1-0)
(9) 9- Yohnny Perez (18-0-0)
(NA) 10- Nehomar Cermeno (19-0-0)

Active- Hozumi Hasegawa, Fernando Montiel, Nehomar Cermeno
Out- Vusi Malinga (loss), Simone Maludrottu (10)

Junior Bantamweight (115lbs)
(1) 1- Vic Darchinyan (32-1-1)
(4) 2- Alexander Munoz (32-3-0)
(5) 3- Nobuo Nashiro (12-1-0)
(6) 4- Z Gorres (29-2-2)
(7) 5- Jorge Arce (51-5-1)
(NA) 6- Jose Lopez (39-7-2)
(NA) 7- Hugo Cazares (28-5-1)
(8) 8- Dimitri Kirilov (29-4-1)
(9) 9- Jose Navarro (26-4-0)
(NA) 10- Kohei Kono (22-4-0)

Active- Z Gorres, Jose Lopez, Hugo Cazares
Out- Fernando Montiel (moved up), Cristian Mijares (moved up), Pramunsak Posuwan (loss)

Flyweight (112lbs)
(1) 1- Nonito Donaire (20-1-0)
(2) 2- Denkaosan Kaovichit (46-1-1)
(3) 3- Daisuke Naito (34-2-3)
(4) 4- Omar Narvaez (28-0-2)
(5) 5- Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (71-3-1)
(6) 6- Koki Kameda (20-0-0)
(7) 7- Takefumi Sakata (33-5-2)
(8) 8- Bernard Inom (19-1-1)
(9) 9- Jose Cesar Miranda (29-3-1)
(10) 10- Brian Viloria (24-2-0)

Active- Koki Kameda

Junior Flyweight (108lbs)
(1) 1- Ivan Calderon (32-0-0)
(2) 2- Edgar Soto (34-5-0)
(3) 3- Ulises Solis (28-1-2)
(7) 4- Giovanni Segura (19-1-1)
(6) 5- Brahim Asloum (23-2-0)
(8) 6- Juan Carlos Reveco (19-1-0)
(5) 7- Cesar Canchila (27-1-0)
(9) 8- Juanito Rubillar (46-11-7)
(10) 9- Omar Nino Romero (27-3-1)
(NA) 10- Nelson Dieppa (25-5-2)

Active- Giovanni Segura, Juan Carlos Reveco, Cesar Canchila (loss)
Out- Cazares (moved up)

Minimumweight (105lbs)
(1) 1- Roman Gonzalez (23-0-0)
(2) 2- Oleydong Sithsamerchai (30-0-0)
(3) 3- Raul Garcia (25-0-1)
(4) 4- Florante Condes (23-4-1)
(6) 5- Donnie Nietes (24-1-3)
(7) 6- Juan Palacios (25-2-0)
(NA) 7- Milan Melindo (18-0-0)
(8) 8- Nkosinathi Joyi (19-0-0)
(5) 9- Muhammad Rachman (62-7-5)
(9) 10- Manuel Vargas (26-3-1)

Active- Oleydong Sithsamerchai, Milan Melindo, Muhammad Rachman (loss)
Out- Katsunari Takayama (10)

K-1 Yokohama: Bonjasky beats Overeem, Maeda wins 100kg belt

 

Remy Bonjasky took a three round unanimous decision with a third round knockdown to defeat MMA star Alistair Overeem in the main event super fight at the annual K-1 event in Yokohama last night. The Yokohama event usually sees the first action from the major Heavyweight stars since the previous years Grand Prix and this years event didn’t dissapoint with six of last years quarter finalists in action. Overeem seemed the busier fighter for the majority of the fight but was unable to clearly dominate Bonjasky to score a lead on the scorecards. Both judges scored the opening two rounds 10-10 (I gave Overeem the 2nd round) and he was in firm control of the first two minutes of the third round. With roughly 30 seconds remaining, Bonjasky landed a knee to Overeem’s chin followed by an overhand right that dropped the former PRIDE star to the canvas. Overeem beat the count but the 10-8 round was enough to give Bonjasky a unanimous decision win over three rounds.
A lot of MMA fans don’t get the K-1 scoring system. Basically, you have to win the round clearly to get a 10-9 round. K-1 scores a lot of 10-10 rounds for the reason that it’s a three round stand-up battle so in order for the fighter to get a win he needs to show dominance with either a knockdown or a sustained beating to win on points in that time which leads to more action. The extra rounds makes up for this and while some fights end up with dodgey decisions, a lot more fights are decided by the fighters rather then the judges. I thought Bonjasky fought like shit compared to his performance in the last Grand Prix. He didn’t look comfortable under fire leading me to believe he didn’t train as hard as he normally does and I thought without the knockdown that Overeem would have surely won a decision. However, the only real dominating part of the fight was the knockdown which was a clean knockdown in which Overeem was hurt so the right man got the decision (although I wouldn’t have minded seeing a 4th round).

The co feature of this event saw a four man tournament for the vacant K-1 Heavyweight belt which was stripped from Badr Hari after his disgraceful showing in the K-1 WGP Final last year. With Gokhan Saki, Tyrone Spong and Melvin Manhoef making up three of the four, it was last years runner-up at Fukuoka Keijiro Maeda who upset both Manhoef and Saki to win the title. Maeda shocked the heavily favoured Manhoef in the first fight with a short right hand that left Manhoef unable to beat the count in the very first round. The 22 year old who lost his chance at competing in the Grand Prix last year against Ewerton Teixera, frustrated Manhoef with movement and leg kicks before countering a wild attack with a right hand that ended Manhoefs night early.
In the other semi final, nothing could seperate Gokhan Saki and Tyrone Spong for the first three rounds of their fight as they traded evenly with neither getting even the slightest edge. The fight was scored 30-30 and an overtime round decided the fight. In what was another close round, Saki left no doubt as he polaxed Spong with a right hand. The knockout was sudden and completely unexpected. Saki and Maeda battled out another close battle in the final, but Maeda was simply too sharp for last years Grand Prix semi finalist and took the title after an extra round. Whether this means that Maeda gets Hari’s spot in the Final 16 or not I don’t know, but it seems to be the best way to sort that situation out.

Also on the card, three time K-1 champion Peter Aerts made his comeback from his knockout loss to Badr Hari a successful one with a unanimous decision after an extra round against 2008 semi finalist Errol Zimmerman. Aerts successfully attacked the body throughout the fight, landing two and three punch combinations to the body as well as hard body kicks. Zimmerman was game though and answered with some heavy leg kicks and fast punching combinations that looked to have ‘the Dutch Lumberjack’ in trouble briefly in the 2nd round. After three rounds in which Aerts appeared to win comfortably, the judges scored a draw. Aerts again took control with his body attacks and grinded out a four round unanimous decision. Aerts looked much sharper in this fight then against Hari although the Hari that fought in December was a completely different animal to Zimmerman.

In other action, Ewerton Teixera upset Jerome Le Banner with a five round split decision victory. Le Banner fought in spurts and it hurt him on the judges cards in the end. After a slow first two rounds in which Teixera was doing all the work (although not landing with much), Le Banner seemed to outwork him in the 3rd round and then in the first extra round (one judge scored the extra round to Le Banner). In the fifth, Le Banner again fought in spurts and it was enough for Teixera to edge him out. Le Banner seems to think that if the other guy can’t hurt him, then he shouldn’t beat him and often fights to his opponents level. Had he turned the heat on Teixera from the start he would have won that fight easily. Also both Semmy Schilt and Glaube Feitosa scored easy wins over Hesdy Gerges and Junichi Sawayashiki respectively. Schilt controlled ever second of his fight, but despite a 2nd round knockdown couldn’t finish his game opponent. Feitosa repeatedly bounced Sawayashiki off the canvas before the referee intervened in the 2nd round.

K-1 GP 2009 in Yokohama Predictions

First of all I’m sorry for the lack of updates over the recent weeks. I’ve been extremely fucking busy and haven’t even been able to check out news sites let alone update anything. That and there wasn’t all that much worth talking about. That all changes this weekend with the first big K-1 event of the year. Featured is the current K-1 champion Remy Bonjasky against the man who destroyed Badr Hari, Alistair Overeem. Also on the card is a four man tournament to crown the 100kg champion (Hari was stripped of this title for his behaviour in last years GP) featuring Melvin Manhoef, Gokhan Saki, Chalid Die Faust and Tyrone Spong. Plus Peter Aerts, Jerome Le Banner and Errol Zimmerman in action.

Remy Bonjasky vs Alistair Overeem
Prediction- Bonjasky on points
I gotta go with Bonjasky under K-1 rules. Overeem definately has a strong chance in this fight but I think Bonjasky’s defence will be too tight and he’ll make Overeem look amatuerish in certain parts of this fight. Overeems sheer size and strength will pose anyone problems but there’s a few factors in this fight that are different from when Overeem KO’d Badr Hari in the 1st round on New Years Eve and they all favour Bonjasky.
First of all, Hari was three weeks removed from suffering two knockdowns and fighting three times in one night. Surely he didn’t train that much during those three weeks if at all. Second, little was known of how dangerous Overeem’s stand-up actually is. Out-striking an MMA fighter is one thing but against someone as good as Hari not many expected Overeem to last. Hari didn’t know exactly how dangerous he was, Bonjasky now does. The element of surprise that Overeem had over Hari he doesn’t have over Overeem. Last, Bonjasky is a much bigger man then Hari with a more proven chin and despite giving away some size to Overeem, he’s a fully fledged heavyweight (well super heavyweight by K-1 standards) and will be better equipped to deal with Overeem’s physical attributes.
Overeem will likely start fast, but Bonjasky should ride out the storm and pick him apart en route to a decision win (possibly in an extra round, but the longer the fight goes the mroe I favour Bonjasky) or a late stoppage.

K-1 Heavyweight title tournament
Chalid Die Faust vs Melvin Manhoef
Prediction- Manhoef by first round KO
Die Faust is as dangerous as they come when in form and has a bit of size over Manhoef, but Manhoef’s power and explosiveness should prove too much for the hot and cold Chalid. Manhoef I think will catch him heavily during an exchange and end matters with one punch midway through the first round.

Gokhan Saki vs Tyrone Spong
Prediction- Spong on points
I’m going purely off hype here but Spong has plenty of it. He’s won world titles in different organisations from 70kg up to his current weight (90-95kg). Whether he has the power to dent the chins of some of the best Heavyweights in the world or not remains to be seen and Saki may prove too experienced on the big stage, but should Spong live up to his hype Saki could be in trouble.

Either way, I don’t envy whoever wins this fight as Manhoef should prove too dangerous for either man. My overall pick is for Manhoef to win the entire thing and to do it in less then 10 total minutes of fighting. For the competition he’s up against, and I’m not saying it’s bad, I think he brings too much for all three guys right now. Saki has the best chance of upsetting him as he has solid technique with some size behind it, but I think Manhoef would find his chin eventually and end matters.

Peter Aerts vs Errol Zimmerman
Prediction- Aerts by 3rd round KO
Old timer vs young gun and it’s one that’s hard to pick. I’m going with Aerts to outlast Zimmerman and stop him late but it’s hard to know what he has left. Did he use the last ace in his hand against Schilt in September or does he have more up his sleeve? Zimmerman has speed and power and could make things ugly for Aerts if he doesn’t show up or if he’s indeed past his use by date, but he’s shown a lack of stamina in the later rounds in previous fights and if Aerts gets the sniff that I think he’ll get with his years of experience, I think he’ll turn the screws on Zimmerman and force a stoppage.

Jerome Le Banner vs Ewerton Teixera
Prediction- Teixera on points
I’m going for an upset here. I think Le Banner is used goods and Teixera’s style will give him fits if he isn’t in peak condition which I don’t think he will be. Teixera looked good against Zimmerman and while Le Banner is a different kettle of fish, I think he’ll be able to pick Le Banner’s assaults off and land clean counter shots of his own while frustrating the human refrigerator.

Glaube Feitosa vs Junichi Sawayashiki
Prediction- Feitosa by 2nd round KO
Interesting fight between two guys both in need of a win if they want to be in this years Final 16. I’m not at all sold on Sawayashiki and I think Feitosa has too much power for him. At some stage he’ll land and then we’ll see if Sawayashiki has what it takes to make it in K-1.

UFC Updates: Evans vs Machida (not Rampage)

Just thought I’d post something different seeing how there’s limited action over the coming weeks until the K-1 event at the end of March. A few big fights have been announced over the last few weeks. I’ve beek keeping a MMA schedule on the main page (when I get around to updating it anyway) so if you want to see who’s on what card that’s coming up this might be a good place to check out.

Evans to fight Machida, not Rampage
That’s right, like I said Rampage fighting three times in a little over five months was too much especially considering one of those was a hard fought fight with Keith Jardine who is a strong, powerful bastard. Machida will instead get his shot in probably the least exciting fight for a UFC title since the Pat Miletich reign at Welterweight. This fight could be very boring, but then again I’ve been wanting to see what it takes to beat one of these guys for a while so at least that’ll satisfy that bit of curiosity for me, that and the fact that Rampage will likely tear apart whoever wins this fight.

TUF 9 Finale features Sanchez-Guida and Diaz-Stevenson
The two main fights apart from the Finals for TUF 9 will feature another round robin of lightweight clashes. After Nate Diaz and Clay Guida beat Josh Neer and Mac Danzig respectively, Diaz fought Guida and Danzig took on in bouts following. The same has happened again with Guida and Diaz, who will meet Sanchez and Stevenson in respective bouts. The Guida-Sanchez fight has serious implications with the winner probably next in line to battle BJ Penn (or Kenny Florian) as both guys have been in good form and are on winning streaks. Diaz and Stevenson should be another good test for Diaz and one that I think he’ll pass. The big thing will be whether or not he can finish ‘Daddy’ because he’ll deserve serious props if he does.

Coleman to face Bonnar at UFC 100
UFC 100 features a hall of fame member in what will be a sad showing as he’ll likely lose to one of the UFC’s average Light Heavyweights. Former UFC and PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman will take on TUF1 Runner-up Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100. Bonnar should win this fight on conditioning alone as Coleman struggles to fight for more then two minutes without being short of breath.

‘Bad Blood’ in Campbelltown tonight

I’m not sure what the name suggests but there’s an Australian boxing pay per view on tonight that’s being billed as bad blood for some unknown (?) reason. The card is a terrific one (still not worthy of PPV if you ask me, PPV should be saved for the elite world class fighters) with three well matched fights as well as Daniel Geale fighting. The Geale fight was meant to be against US veteran James Obede Toney (not James Obese Toney), but that fight fell through and he’ll now take on Canadian Ian MacKillop. I’m not sure what the main event of this card is anymore, but any of the four main fights would easily be a main event on a typical fox sports Friday night card.

Gairy St Claire vs Leonardo Zappavinga
A good test for the fast rising Zappavinga (who will now be referred to as Zappa) as St Claire is yet to be stopped and is a former IBF Junior Lightweight champion. The thing I’m happy with here is that the fight is being fought over 12 rounds so St Claire has every chance to take him into the deep water and wear him down. St Claire’s defence and awkward style will likely prove difficult to deal with which is what Zappa needs to further his abilities. I think Zappa takes this one over 12 rounds though. St Claire will make things difficult early for Zappa but the workrate and size advantage will prove too much over the 12 rounds and Zappa will take a clear unanimous decision I think. Zappavinga on points.

Daniel Geale vs Ian MacKillop
Rumour has it that Geale will take on Mundine should he win this fight (actually the fights more likely to take place if he loses). I don’t know anything about how MacKillop fights but I’m hoping he’s a rugged customer because that’s what Geale needs to be fighting to improve. His boxing skills are great, but he needs some hard professional rounds under his belt where he’s forced to fight on the inside a lot because that’s where the top guys in the division are going to beat him. Geale should prove too skilled for MacKillop but I’d like to see him sit down on his punches and look for a stoppage in this fight. This isn’t the amateurs anymore and he won’t be able to outlast everyone over 10 or 12 rounds without putting some hurting on them sooner or later. Geale on points.

Solomon Haumono vs Colin Wilson
I’ve got a lot more respect for Haumono then I do Hopoate. Haumono is out testing himself everytime he steps in the ring lately and Wilson is a good opponent for him. Wilson should extend Haumono a few rounds, maybe even the distance and will be in there to beat him. He probably has a good chance if he can get a few shots in early as he may come over the top of Haumono in the later rounds. I think Haumono takes him out mid rounds though. Solomon Haumono by 6th round knockout.

Davey Browne vs Billy Dib
Browne is still fairly inexperienced and I think Dib’s recent competition will give him a big edge in this fight. Browne will be game, but Dib should have way too much skill for the 22 year old. Dib might come out looking for the stoppage and sit down on his punches, but then again he’ll probably play around too much and drag it out longer then it should. Dib on points.

UFC 96: Rampage beats Jardine, Carwin KO’s Gonzaga

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson scored a three round unanimous decision over Keith Jardine in the main event at UFC 96. After Frank Mir pulled out of his main event with Brock Lesnar at UFC 98, Rashad Evans said pre fight that should Rampage defeat Jardine, the two would meet at UFC 98. Rampage started slowly, allowing Jardine to control the tempo of the fight with his awkward style. After a first close round, Rampage attacked Jardine continously in the early goings of the 2nd round, dropping him with a left hook. Jardine scrambled well but ate a few punches and still looked hurt as the fight resumed on their feet after a brief clinch. Rampage then shot in for a successful takedown but again Jardine worked his way back to his feet where he continued to come off 2nd best in the exchanges.

Jardine started well in the 3rd round before again being taken down by Jackson. Jardine showed an underrated (well unseen) ground game as he worked his way back to his feet yet again. With the fight possibly in the balance, Jardine began to use his awkward style to get off first and back Rampage up. Rampage’s strikes became wild towards the end of the round, but with Jardine tiring and his hands below his waist, Rampage dropped Jardine again in the closing seconds of the bout to take any doubt about the decision away. The judges scored the fight 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 for Rampage, who engaged in some post fight trash talk with UFC light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. In his own words, the fight is going to be ’some black on black crime.’

I really thought Rampage fought like shit in this fight and I’d be all for Machida getting the first shot while Rampage gets a bit of rest in. Maybe it wasn’t the two fights in three months (that’s what Rampage said he thought it was after the fight) and maybe it was just Jardine making someone else look bad. If Rampage stayed in the pocket more in this fight he would have won it inside the distance no doubt in my opinion. Jardine’s inside game is horrible and that’s where a guy like Wanderlei Silva can take advantage because of his reckless style. Jardine is a nightmare for counter fighters like Liddell and Rampage.

In the main support bout, Shane Carwin knocked Gabriel Gonzaga out in just over a minute with one solid right hand. He didn’t have it all his own way however, as Gonzaga landed a handful of heavy right hands that looked to have Carwin momentarily hurt before he secured a trip takedown. Carwin scrambled well, and got back to his feet and then caught the former challenger for the UFC crown with one right hand that ended Gonzaga’s two fight winning streak. With the win, Carwin moves to 11-0 with all 11 fights ending in the first round. His UFC career moves to 3-0. Gonzaga drops to 10-4 with a 6-3 mark in the UFC. Carwin definately looked beatable but that power is always going to be an equaliser. Even though I think he looked beatable, Gonzaga is arguably the most dangerous fighter in the UFC with his ground skills and punching power and Carwin survived his onslaught. Carwin really is one of the top dogs in the division now and I’d love to see him in there with another top heavyweight ASAP.

Other Results
Matt Brown KO1 Pete Sell
Matt Hammill KO1 Mark Munoz
Gray Maynard Pts Jim Miller
Kendall Grove KO1 Jason Day
Tamdan McCrory TKO1 Ryan Madigan
Jason Brilz Pts Tim Boetsch
Brandon Vera KO2 Mike Patt
Shane Nelson KO1 Aaron Riley

Boxing Breakdown: Julio v Kirkland Triple Header

Later today, three very interesting fights with two of boxings top prospects as well as a former world titlist takes place. In the main event, two knockout artists in undefeated James Kirkland (24-0, 21 KOs) and Joel Julio (34-2, 31 KOs) will face off in what looks to be an explosive battle. Also on the card is 21 year old Victor Ortiz who has made a name for himself destroying good fighters on the Oscar De La Hoya undercards. He takes on tough Mike Arnatouis, who’s only lost twice against Kendall Holt and Ricardo Torres. The third fight sees former IBF Featherweight champion Robert Guerrero fighting for the 2nd time since relinquishing his belt and moving up in weight. His opponent is 21 year old Indonesian Daud Yordan, who there is little known about.

Julio v Kirkland
I’m giving the edge to Julio for a few reasons but they’re all small. First of all, Julio’s height and southpaw stance will be awkward for the reckless style of Kirkland. Then there’s the experience and level of competition that Julio has been fighting at as well as Julio probably has the better defence and arguably the better chin out of these two. There should be a lot of action early in this fight but I think Julio will be getting his shots in more frequently while taking the odd bomb from Kirkland in return. Kirklands still young and has a lot to learn, sort of where Julio was a few years ago and I think this will be a good learning curve for him. I don’t think he has the composure to last in a fight like this though and I think after 3-4 rounds of two way action, Julio will take over and stop Kirkland in the mid-late rounds. Joel Julio by 7th round knockout.

Arnaoutis vs Ortiz
I think Ortiz is almost as good as the hype around him suggests he is. I think he is better then a few of the guys I rate ahead of him in the top ten, but that Ortiz doesn’t have the names to put him there yet. Arnaoutis will provide a stiff test for the 21 year old, but I think Ortiz will be firmly in control of the fight. Mike will probably last the distance, but I think he’ll go down once or twice in doing it. Victor Ortiz by unanimous decision.

Guerrero vs Yordan
It’s hard to know much about guys like Yordan who have mostly fought in their native country without being overly tested. Yordan was on the undercard of the Marquez-Casamayor card last year although I’m pretty sure they didn’t show his fight. With fights like these I always go with the experienced fighter because most of the time the young undefeated fighter doesn’t live up to the hype and I think it’ll be the same thing here. Robert Guerrero by 6th round knockout.

UFC 96 Predictions

Another UFC card takes place this weekend (making it the fourth this year so far in just over two months, don’t think I’m complaining though) and while some of you bitches out there think this card is shit, I completely disagree. While the main event is no St-Pierre vs Penn, the main card consists of four well matched fights and a typical Matt Hammill fight (why is this guy on the main card again?).
In the main event, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson takes on the always unpredictable Keith Jardine over three rounds. For Rampage, a win should secure him a title shot against Rashad Evans probably in August or September of this year (a loss would mean we have an extra six months of Lyoto Machida as champion). For Jardine, if he wins he’ll probably get a big rematch with Liddell should he beat Shogun or he’ll be fed to whichever Light Heavyweight Joe Silva thinks needs a big win again. So even though the main event isn’t a big fight in the big picture of both fighters careers, it’s still a very good matchup and one that will be very interesting to see how it unfolds.
The undercard sees Heavyweight prospect Shane Carwin’s first real test as he takes on Gabriel Gonzaga in what will be a match between two of the games most powerful fighters. Both of these guys are massive and have huge power in their strikes as well as excellent ground games (although we’re yet to see Carwin fight off his back). Also an interesting Lightweight clash with two of the UFC’s middle tier 155lbers looking to move into the big time with Gray Maynard taking on Jim Miller. The other fight sees two fighters who fight with their hearts on their sleeves in Pete Sell and Matt Brown clashing in what is the favourite to take out fight of the night honours and while I’d rather see Jason Day vs Kendall Grove, I’ll make do with watching another shitty Matt Hammill vs ’some guy with wrestling background and no striking so Hammill is at no risk of losing’ fight.

Main Card
Rampge Jackson vs Keith Jardine
Prediction- Rampage by 1st round KO
Rampage is by far the more dangerous fighter. Jardine is awkward with his movement and has some heavy leg kicks but Jackson’s counter punching style I think will suit a fighter like Jardine who strikes from awkward angles and has a lot of unorthodox ways of moving after he throws his shots. I think Rampage will catch him with a big strike during an exchange and hurt ‘the Dean of Mean’ and then finish him with strikes on the ground.

Shane Carwin vs Gabriel Gonzaga
Prediction- Gonzaga by 2nd round KO
Carwin is still very green and unless he puts a hurting on Gonzaga early I think he’ll be forced to fight at a competitive pace and his body won’t be used to it. This isn’t to say I don’t think Carwin has what it takes because he’s an excellent prospect but I think Gonzaga is a step too far at this stage. The only thing that concerns me with ‘Napao’ is his tendancy to fold when he is put under good pressure but I think he’ll make Carwin fight harder in areas he isn’t used to fighting in (like the clinch) for extended periods of time and wear the bigger man out before knocking him out in the 2nd round.

Matt Brown vs Pete Sell
Prediction- Brown by 2nd round KO
The first round of this fight should be a slugfest. Sell could make things easy and try to take the fight to the ground where his BJJ black belt gives him a big advantage but he won’t. He’ll get drawn into Brown’s fight and end up trading with Brown who fights like a savage dog and Brown will prove to have too much firepower over the course of the fight.

Gray Maynard vs Jim Miller
Prediction- Maynard on points 
On paper, this is probably the most interesting matchup in terms of styles on the card. Both guys have average hands but Maynard is one of the top Lightweights when it comes to wrestling and Miller is one of the best when it comes to Jiu Jitsu. However, these type of fights often end up being really average kickboxing battles and in that department I give an edge to Maynard. Miller is a southpaw so if he’s forced to stand up he might give Maynard, who is still a very inexperienced striker, a lot of problems. Maynard though will have the choice where this fight goes and I think he might avoid Millers ground arsenal and try his luck on his feet. Could be painful but if it hits the mat it might be more entertaining then Brown vs Sell. Still, Maynard has the wrestling to control Miller on the ground and probably the better stand-up skills if he wants to stay up. It’ll be close but I think Maynard will edge him by split decision.

Matt Hammill vs Mike Munoz
Prediction- Hammill by 2nd round KO
As I said, typical matchup for Hammill who needs more babying. Munoz is a collegiate wrestler up against one of the top wrestlers in the game. Hammill gets repeated takedowns that he doesn’t set up with his below average boxing skills and clubs his way to an ugly stoppage win yet again and fails to impress me yet again.

As for the rest, I couldn’t be fucked going into them, but here’s my picks.

Preliminaries
Jason Day vs Kendall Grove
Prediction- Day by 2nd round KO

Ryan Madigan vs Tamdan McCrory 
Prediction- McCrory by 2nd round submission

Tim Boetsch vs Jason Brilz
Prediction- Brilz on points

Mike Patt vs Brandon Vera
Prediction- Vera by 1st round KO

Shane Nelson vs Aaron Riley
Prediction- Riley on points

K-1/DREAM Update: Bonjasky vs Overeem March 28

With the endless supply of boxing and MMA so far this year, I’ve neglected the K-1 season which started two weeks ago on the 23rd of February. Now I still don’t fully understand how everything works and this is the first full season I’ll be watching, but at the MAX event there was an eight man tournament and I’m pretty sure the winner gets a spot in the final 16 for the MAX Grand Prix. Taishin Kohiruumaki won the tournament with a decision win over Yuya Yamamoto in the final after stopping Yahuhiro Kido and decisioning Andy Ologun earlier in the night. Also on the card, last years MAX semi finalist Yoshihiro Sato knocked out Sergey Golyaev and K-1 MAX 2002 Champion Albert Kraus won a decision over Su Hwan Lee.

The next K-1 event takes place March 28th and it’s a big one. There’s a tournament to determine the K-1 100kg champion after Hari was stripped of his title for his actions in the Grand Prix final last year against Remy Bonjasky. The four man tournament features Melvin Manhoef against Chalid Die Faust with the winner to meet the winner of the Gokhan Saki vs Ruslan Karaev rematch from last years GP Quarter Finals that saw Saki win via decision. This tournament should be explosive as the Karaev-Saki fight last year was superb and both Manhoef and Die Faust have serious power. I’d like to see Manhoef win and be a contestant in this years K-1 Grand Prix.

The main event sees K-1 Grand Prix champion Remy Bonjasky take on the man who destroyed Badr Hari at Dynamite, former PRIDE star Alistair Overeem. This matchup has major significance in the K-1 strikers vs MMA strikers debate as it pits arguably the best MMA Heavyweight striker against the K-1 champion and unlike the Badr Hari match, Bonjasky has had significant time to prepare for Overeem. A win for Overeem would make him a big money draw for the UFC should they look to sign him (Overeem was posing for photographs with Dana White at UFC 93) or it could set up a run for the K-1 title at the end of this year.

Also on the card is the rematch between Badr Hari and Errol Zimmerman (who I’m in complete shock about not being in the Heavyweight title tournament) which was an excellent fight last year with both guys being knocked down before Hari won with a third round knockout. Last years quarter finalists Jerome Le Banner and Ewerton Teixera face off as well as Final 16 contestants Glaube Feitosa and Junichi Sawayashiki, two guys who will have to go through qualifying (or get voted in by the fans) in order to make it back this year.

This weekend however is the first DREAM event of the year. DREAM.7 features 6 of the first 7 fights of the 2009 DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix with the other fight to take place at DREAM.8 (plus Kid Yamamoto receiving a bye to make up the final 8). The other fights see Tatsuya Kawajiri and Mitsuhiro Ishida in seperate bouts and Shinya Aoki fighting at Welterweight against Ross Gardner (Aoki is the current favourite for the Welterweight Grand Prix starting at DREAM.8). My picks for the Grand Prix matches are as follows:

Masakatsu Imanari vs Astushi Yamamoto (Imanari by submission 0-10 mins)
Hiroyuki Takaya vs Jong Won Kim (Takaya by KO 0-10 mins)
Yoshiro Maeda vs Micah Miller (Maeda by KO 10-15 mins)
Chase Beebe vs Joe Warren (Beebe by submission 0-10 mins)
Takafumi Otsuka vs Bibiano Fernandes (Fernandes on points)
Akiyo Nishiura vs Abel Callum (Callum by submission 0-10 mins)

Enjoy the action this weekend! The DREAM card caps off a quality weekend with UFC 96 and a decent HBO card on.

Marquez KOs Diaz in war

In a fight that stands head and shoulders above the rest of the field for 2009 fight of the year, World Lightweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez made his 1st defence a successful one with a 9th round KO win over Juan Diaz. Diaz attacked with his trademark relentless aggression from the bell and continualy backed Marquez against the ropes. Marquez used his excellent counter punches to keep Diaz honest, but it was the former WBA/WBO/IBF champion Diaz who was in control early. Midway through the 2nd round Diaz rocked the champion with a peach of a left hook that would have dropped lesser men and then followed it up with a four punch combination that landed flush on Marquez’s head. Marquez showed the chin and determination of a ring legend and fired straight back, ending the round on even terms. Still, Diaz was in front in a fight that had both men firing away with nearly (sometimes over) 100 punches a round each!

Marquez started to find his range more frequently in the 3rd and 4th rounds. Using a left uppercut to follow his cross, Marquez found his mark whenever Diaz was on the outside. Diaz still had plenty of success by backing up Marquez but the champion seemed to be landing the harder blows. Marquez appeared to either slow down or just take the round off in the 5th, as Diaz outworked the older man. Marquez fought well off the ropes, but was struggling to match the pace of the 23 year old challenger. Diaz cut Marquez over his troublesome right eye in the 6th round and continued to launch a two fisted assault against the champion on the ropes but Marquez never looked in trouble or weakened by the younger mans assault and continued to land heavily with his own right crosses and left uppercuts.

With the scorecards getting wider in favour of Diaz, Marquez stepped up a gear in the 7th and began catching Diaz with incrediblly accurate combinations in the 7th round. Countering Diaz’s jab with his right hand, Marquez used the punch to set up three and four punch combinations that were catching ‘the Baby Bull’ more and more. In the 8th round, Marquez opened a cut on Diaz’s right cheek before rocking Diaz with a blistering right hand towards the end of the round. With Diaz hurt for the first time in the fight, Marquez jumped on him and let his hands go, scoring with combinations to the head and (sometimes) body. Diaz survived the round, but the momentum was with Marquez heading into the late rounds.

Marquez didn’t give Diaz a chance to recover and jumped on him early in the 9th. A counter right hand midway through the round off a Diaz jab again rocked the challenger. Marquez threw and landed a five punch combination which forced Diaz to the deck for the first knockdown of the night. Diaz beat the count but his legs didn’t appear there and Marquez was ready to finish him. Two combinations, the second ending with a flush uppercut put Diaz down and out. The referee didn’t bother with the count and crowned Marquez at 2:40 of the 9th round. With the win, Marquez adds the WBA and WBO titles to his Ring Magazine belt (Casamayor previously held the WBC title but was robbed of it, the man he beat, Diego Corrales, previously held the WBO title as well and the man he beat, Jose Luis Castillo, previously held the IBF belt as well) after former titlist Nate Campbell lost the titles at the scales.

The win also puts Marquez in strong contention for the number one pound for pound spot. While I don’t agree with the ranking, I think it’s definately plausible as I thought Marquez won the fight against Pacquiao as well as his solid competition since the split decision loss to the Phillipino last March. Still, I feel you have to count the fight on the basis of the judges decision, plus Pacquiao had a solid resume’ before Marquez which seems to be forgotten by a lot of his haters. Should Pacquiao dethrone Hatton I don’t think there’ll be any question as to who the top fighter is. Still, a third fight between the two makes huge sense at this point. Can anyone remember anytime where the top two pound for pound fighters in the sport fought one another?

I’m yet to watch the Chris John-Ricardo Juarez fight. It may not happen for a while but when it does I’ll put up my scorecard as I hear it was quite a debatable decision.