Lightweight Lightning Results

First of all, this was one of the best all-round boxing cards I’d watched in a long while. All four fights were good matchups and produced memorable fights. This reminded me of a UFC card that lacked a proven name but had a card full of good fights on it. I’d really like to see more of this in the future and with the competition MMA provides boxing these days I think there’s a good chance of it.

Edwin Valero KO2 Antonio Pitalua
Valero made his lightweight debut a successful one, but really did it tell us anything about him we didn’t already know? Fair enough, Pitalua was a solid contender and to knock him out in the 2nd round is a good performance, but I’m not completely sold on Valero yet. We know he can hit hard, but what happens when he can’t land his shots like he’s used to? What happens when he takes a good one on the chin in return? Joan Guzman is the guy I’d like to see Valero in the ring with to answer some of these questions (thats if Guzman can make 135lbs).

Michael Katsidis TKO7 Jesus Chavez
I was sort of right about Chavez, except he had a bit more early on then I anticipated. Katsidis showed little if any improvement and will still struggle against someone who can either box well or go 12 rounds at a good pace. Chavez likely would have beaten Katsidis if he was four years younger and he likely would have won easily. Katsidis needs to ditch his trainer and find a good US trainer if he wants to take it to the next level and he has the potential to do that, but most of the Australian trainers are too far behind the US trainers plus the lack of quality sparring down here will make it hard to Katsidis to be able to beat the Juan Diaz’s or Casamayor’s of the division.

Vicente Escobedo W10 Carlos Hernandez
This fight was certainly a sleeper and I don’t think anyone had any idea it would turn out to be the scrap it was. Even in his advanced boxing age, Hernandez is a game son of a bitch and despite the early knockdowns (that did have him hurt badly) he continued to press forward and deliver hard shots. I really thought the scorecards should have been closer then what they were, but Escobedo was the rightful winner. Hernandez should retire as he’ll likely end up a punching bag for up and comers if he continues on and the mans had a solid career. He’s fought some of the best fighters of the last 20 years like Mayweather, Morales and Genaro Hernandez. I’m not sure what to make of Escobedo. I doubt he stands up to some of the better punchers in the division. Him vs Katsidis might make a good co main event for a big PPV later in the year.

Rolando Reyes KO5 Julio Diaz
Not sure what happened for Diaz but this could end his career as a top 10 contender in this division. Reyes shocked everyone but himself with that 5th round as he was getting beaten comfortably until the stoppage. I’m not sure if Diaz had an off night or didn’t prepare or just simply got caught (I’m assuming the later) but with the talent in this division, a loss like that hurts him a lot.

Other Results from the weekend
Timothey Bradley unified the WBC and WBO titles after surviving two knockdowns (one in the first, one in the last rounds) against Kendall Holt to win a close 12 round decision. Neither guy impressed me too much mainly because Bradley looked shaky when under fire and Holt rarely fired enough to win the fight. I had Bradley winning by two points (114-112) but I haven’t got a scorecard handy to post up. If I was Bradley, I’d be staying away from the likes or Urango, Torres let alone Hatton or Pacquiao as he’s just not ready to handle big punchers like them. Librado Andrade won easily by 12 round decision over Vitali Tsypko on the undercard.
Alexander Povetkin won his tuneup with Jason Estrada and is set to take on Wladimir Klitschko (should he beat David Haye in June) at the end of the year. I haven’t seen the fight but apparently he didn’t look capable of beating Wlad at this stage. I think another fight for him in the meantime would be a good idea as the end of the year is a while off and a guy a bit above Estrada’s level would be ideal to give him some more solid rounds to keep him sharp for Klitschko.

Boxing Breakdown: Bradley vs Holt, Lightweight Lightning

 Some good fights on this weekend again and ones that don’t involve Heavyweights which means we can all have a weekend to wash out our spew buckets and enjoy some proper boxing action. The big one this weekend is the unification of two of the alphabet soup belts at Junior Welterweight between Timothey Bradley and Kendall Holt. Even though Hatton and Pacquiao are fighting for the real strap at this weight, the winner of this fight confirms themself as the next top contender behind the winner. Also this weekend is the slightly weakened Lightweight Lightning card that originally featured Joel Casamayor vs Julio Diaz and Carlos Hernandez vs Jorge Barrios but injuries forced both Casamayor and Barrios out of those fights.

Timothey Bradley vs Kendall Holt (WBC/WBO Junior Welterweight titles)
Gotta go with Bradley in this fight. Neither guy has impressed me enough to think that they’ll be pound for pound contenders anytime soon, but Bradley has looked better against better guys then Holt has in the past. Holt got the win against Torres, but he was getting his arse handed to him before it and he edged out Demetrius Hopkins in a snooze fest last year. I think Bradley will have an easy time of things after the first four rounds in this fight and will box his way to a pretty one sided unanimous decision win. Timothey Bradley on points.

Librado Andrade vs Vitaly Tsypko
Good matchup here and a good chance for Andrade to put on a show to entice Lucian Bute back in the ring for a rematch of their controversial fight last year. I like Andrade, he’s a no fuss fighter who goes out and throws punches and always gives a good show whether he wins or loses. Tsypko is a guy who’s been in against some good fighters, but not as many as he should have because no one has an easy night with him. I think Tsypko will give Andrade some problems, but Andrade will wear him down and then dominate him in the later rounds before stopping him around the 10-11 round mark. Librado Andrade by 11th round knockout.

Antonio Pitalua vs Edwin Valero (WBC Lightweight title)
This could be a fight for the ages or a first round knockout, I’ll be very surprised if it’s anything but. Both guys bring tremendous punching power to the table and both guys start fast. Valero is that guy a lot of you have heard about who knocks everyone out, but hasn’t fought in the USA. He’s made a four defences of the WBA Junior Lightweight belt that he won back in 2006 and his record stands at 24-0-0 with 24 knockouts; with 19 in the first round. Pitalua destroyed Jose Armando Santa Cruz (the guy who should have beaten Casamayor on the Cotto-Mosley undercard) in his last outing and is undefeated for the last seven years. I’m going with the hype and picking Valero and I think he’ll do it in fashionable style. Pitalua represents the biggest test in his career so far, but at 39 years old I find it hard to think he’ll cause the upset. Edwin Valero by 2nd round knockout.

Jesus Chavez vs Michael Katsidis
The big question in this fight is how much Chavez has left. He didn’t look like the same fighter after the tragic fight against Leavander Johnson and after a few years of inactivity because of knee surgery, it’s hard to imagine him being in any kind of great shape. I think Katsidis will blow him away. Katsidis will start too fast and never let Chavez in the fight and I think there’ll be quite a few knockdowns with Katsidis ending things around the 4th round. Chavez needs something to go his way early to have a chance in this fight. He needs to cut Katsidis or drop him in the first or second round or I think he’s going to be cannon fodder. Michael Katsidis by 4th round knockout.

Julio Diaz vs Rolando Reyes
Too much for Reyes to handle in this fight. He’s a capable fighter, but he’s not on this level.Reyes is tough though so he’ll likely go the 10 rounds, but it’ll be all one way traffic. Julio Diaz on points.

Vicente Escobedo vs Carlos Hernandez
Hernandez is another one of those fighters who I’m not sure how much he has left. He was making a good career for himself a few years back, being the only man to ‘drop’ Floyd Mayweather in a challenge for his title in 2001, and then picking up the IBF title at Junior Lightweight two years later. After surrendering the title in a spirited performance against Erik Morales in a unification clash, he dropped a non title fight to Jesus Chavez and then was upset by Bobby Pacquiao on the Castillo-Corrales II undercard. Since then he’s been fairly inactive apart from a loss to Kevin Kelley two and a half years ago. Escobedo is fairly untested, but I think his youth will be enough in this fight. I’m picking that Hernandez is used goods and I think Escobedo uses him as a stepping stone. Vicente Escobedo by unanimous decision.