Over the last decade one of the most popular Boxing venues
has been the StubHub Center (Formally the Home Depot Center) in Carson,
California. A venue that has played host to several of the sport’s memorable
battles in recent years including two of the epic series of fights between
Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez, Timothy Bradley vs. Ruslan Provodnikov, and
Marcos Maidana vs. Josesito Lopez just to name a few. The StubHub Center has
certainly earned it’s place as a big time Boxing venue.
On June 21st the Boxing world again focused it’s attention
on the StubHub center for a card that featured two storylines, three former
world champions beginning their road back into contention and two former top
amateur standouts meeting for a vacant world championship. The card televised by Showtime and it’s
sister channel Showtime Extreme had a good balance of intrigue and the element
of the unknown.
In addition to four fights centered around those two
storylines the night’s action began with a Heavyweight bout. Undefeated
American prospect Dominic Breazeale would face veteran Darvin Vargas.
Breazeale, who entered his fight against Davin Vargas
unbeaten in ten professional fights with nine of those wins coming by knockout
could eventually see himself as a contender down the road. On this night Breazale would be given a test
by a “Game “ Vargas who was more than willing to stand and engage with Breazeale.
Despite his willingness to engage with Breazeale and landing more punches than
any of Breazeale’s previous opponents, Vargas was unable to nullify Breazeale’s
offense suffering a knockdown in the second round from a right hand before the
fight was stopped by Referee Thomas Taylor in round three. Official time of the
stoppage was 2:26 of round three.
This should be looked at as another step in the development
of Breazeale. An impressive performance against a fighter in Vargas who did
provide somewhat of a test. A question that will be asked of Breazeale and
those who handle his career as he progresses will be how soon will he be put in
against a battle tested veteran. It can
be an interesting conundrum for those who handle a fighter to determine when he
should move up in competition. It will be interesting to see where Breazeale
goes from here as he looks to advance up the Heavyweight ranks.
The first former world champion to compete on this card
would be former three-time Light-Heavyweight world champion Chad Dawson.
Dawson, who was fighting for the first time since suffering back to back
knockout losses to Andre Ward and Adonis Stevenson faced veteran George Blades
in a Cruiserweight fight. As I said in
previewing this card the questions that Chad Dawson would have to answer would
be what effect did those two knockout losses have on him and whether there would
be any ring rust after being out of the ring for one year.
Those questions however, would not really have much of an
opportunity to be answered as Dawson made short work of Blades dropping him
with a left hook to the body and then knocking Blades down again for the count
with a right hand to head. Official time was 2:35 of the first round.
Although George Blades was unable to provide much resistance
for Dawson in Dawson’s return to the ring, the win for Dawson was probably
something that restored his confidence after suffering those two setbacks to
Ward and Stevenson. It will be interesting to see if Dawson chooses to remain
as a Cruiserweight going forward or if he will opt to return to the 175lb.
Light-Heavyweight division.
The first of two Welterweight fights on this card would then
take center stage as former two-division world champion Devon Alexander squared
off against former NABF and WBC Continental Americas Welterweight champion
Jesus Sotto Karass. The key to this fight in my eyes was whether or not
Alexander would be able to avoid Soto Karass by out boxing him for the entire
fight or whether Soto Karass’ pressuring style would force Alexander into a
brawl.
The story of this fight was Alexander’s ability to use his
lateral movement to keep Soto Karass from being able to get into a consistent
offensive rhythm. Despite being pressured by Soto Karass from the outset,
Alexander’s movement and quick hands dictated the fight. Although Soto Karass was able to have success
gradually as the fight progressed, he was unable to really limit Alexander’s
movement in my view and Alexander’s ability to get his punches off was the
difference in a fight that Alexander would win a ten round unanimous
decision. I unofficially scored the
fight 97-93 for Alexander.
Even though I felt Alexander quicker hands and movement
allowed him to box his way to victory, it was an entertaining contest to watch
where both fighters were willing to engage. Despite losing the fight Jesus Soto
Karass as always showed his toughness and should still be considered a
dangerous opponent for anyone in the Welterweight division.
The world championship fight on this card, a bout for the
vacant WBO Featherweight world championship was a fight where quite frankly I
did not know what to expect. It is true that Boxing is a sport where one should
always expect the unexpected. In regard to this fight however, an argument
could easily be made for either fighter having an edge over the other.
Would it be the greater professional experience of the
number one contender Gary Russell Jr. who entered the fight undefeated in
twenty-four professional fights or the skill and amateur pedigree of two-time,
two-division Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko who, despite competing in
only his third professional fight is considered as perhaps the greatest amateur
in the history of the sport with an incredible record of 396-1, and who was
already making his second attempt at a world championship.
Although some may have had the opinion prior to this fight
that neither Russell or Lomachenko had really established themselves
professionally to get an opportunity to fight for a world title, it was
nevertheless an interesting fight. Despite having quick hands, Russell was not
able to dictate the pace of this fight, but Lomachenko’s pressure that set the
pace that this fight was fought.
Even though Russell was throwing more in volume,
Lomachenko’s ability to slip much of his opponent’s offense and execute his own
offense by catching Russell in exchanges was the difference in this fight.
There were rounds however, during the course of this fight that were difficult
to score because although Lomachenko was the more effective fighter in my
opinion based on his solid defense and landing the cleaner offense to both the
body and head, Russell was the more active of the two in terms of punches
thrown, which I felt made some of the early rounds close. It was clear as the
fight progressed however, that Lomachenko was in control of the fight and that
is what led to him winning this fight clearly in my eyes at the end of the
twelve round championship bout. Unofficially, I scored this fight 117-111 or
nine rounds to three for Lomachenko.
Despite what appeared to be a clear win for Lomachenko,
there was a mild controversy with regard to the official scorecards. Judge Lisa
Giampa scored this fight a draw 114-114, this was overruled by judges Pat
Russell and Max DeLuca who scored the fight 116-112 or eight rounds to four for
Lomachenko giving him the victory by majority decision.
Although I do not feel that this fight was a draw, Russell’s
activity may have been enough to win some rounds that were close. As I have
often said over the years when it comes to scoring fights it can simply boil
down to what a judge prefers in their own criteria in how they score based on
clean punching, effective aggressiveness, ring generalship, and defense. Even
though I felt that Vasyl Lomachenko won this fight by doing all of the above,
there are those who may have a different opinion based on Russell’s ability to
throw in volume even though he was not able to land consistently. A mild
controversy regarding the decision, but not a controversy that should be the
main story of this fight.
With the win Vasyl Lomachenko has tied the all-time record
of winning a world title in only his third professional fight, which was set by
Saensak Muangsurin of Thailand who set the record in July 1975 knocking out
Perico Fernandez to win the WBC Jr. Welterweight world championship. Although
some may have criticized Lomachenko getting two world title shots so early in
his career, it is not unprecedented. After winning a world title, Muangsurin
went on to become a two-time holder of the WBC Jr. Welterweight world
championship after briefly losing the title in 1976 to Miguel Velazquez, and
defeating Velazquez in the rematch.
Whether or not Lomachenko will have a long reign as a
Featherweight world champion remains to be seen. This observer however, looks
forward to what may be next for the new champion. As for Gary Russell Jr. he
was not disgraced in this fight and this should be looked at as a fight where
he was simply bested by a fighter who on that night was the better. As it will
be interesting to see what is next for Lomachenko, The same could be said for
Gary Russell Jr. as he looks to bounce back from his first defeat as a
professional.
The night’s action would culminate in a twelve round
Welterweight fight between former two-division world champion Robert Guerrero
and Japanese contender Yoshihiro Kamegai. In previewing this card last week, I
stated that this was the fight that could be the fight of the night based on
the exciting styles of both Guerrero and Kamegai and their ability to box as
well as their willingness to go toe to toe with their opponents. Guerrero and
Kamegai would not disappoint anyone on this night.
From the opening bell Guerrero and Kamegai were willing to
engage in a fight that saw plenty of back and forth action. It was Guerrero’s
combination punching and ability to dictate how the fight was being fought that
I felt was the story of the fight. Kamegai however, was very “Game”, very
aggressive and continued to press forward. The battle between Guerrero and
Kamegai will likely be considered a fight of the year candidate. In short, the
fight was a grueling give and take battle where both fighters were able to have
their moments. Guerrero’s ability to land punches in combination and generally
get his punches off first was the difference in this fight and that allowed him
to earn a hard-fought twelve round unanimous decision. Unofficially, I scored
this fight 116-112 in favor of Robert Guerrero. The fight was the first for
Guerrero since losing to Floyd Mayweather last year. This victory will likely
put Guerrero back in world title contention.
Despite suffering the
second loss of his career in twenty-seven professional fights, Yoshihiro
Kamegai has established himself as a fighter who should be viewed by anyone in
the Welterweight division as dangerous and not someone to take lightly. It will
be interesting to see where Kamegai who was rated number seven in the world by
the International Boxing Federation (IBF) coming into his fight with Robert
Guerrero will find himself in the mix of what is one of the most competitive divisions
in the entire sport.
Readers will recall that I stated in previewing this card
that the winner of the Alexander-Soto Karass fight could face the winner of
Guerrero-Kamegai. A fight between Robert Guerrero and Devon Alexander would
certainly be an interesting fight and I can certainly see a fight between the
two being made. There are likely however, other options that could be available
to either Guerrero or Alexander and I think it will boil down to what happens
at the top of the Welterweight division as contenders such as former WBA
champion Marcos Maidana, former Jr. Welterweight world champion Amir Khan, and
undefeated top contender Keith Thurman all could be potential future opponents
for unified WBC/WBA champion Floyd Mayweather. Although an argument could be
made that Maidana will be the most likely opponent for Mayweather in a rematch
of their battle last month, realistically anything can happen in the
Welterweight division and it will likely all depend on who Mayweather fights
next that will determine what will likely happen for those fighters. All of
them are potential opponents.
All in all, the latest card to take place at the StubHub
Center in Carson, California produced a little bit of everything. Former world
champions beginning the road back into contention, highly competitive Boxing
matches, a new world champion, a rising Heavyweight prospect, a couple of
knockouts, and a fight of the year candidate. A card that will likely go down
as another in a growing list of memorable nights of Boxing for one of the
sport’s more popular venues.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
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