Will Williams Fight Trout Next?

The Jr. Middleweight fight between undefeated contender Julian Williams and Luciano Cuello had a familiar premise.  A young unbeaten contender who has been steadily rising up the ranks going against a battle-tested veteran, who had earned a reputation as a fighter who has given prospects and contenders a tough fight when pitted against him. 

Cuello, who entered the fight with an impressive record of 35-3, with 17 Knockouts has been a fighter that one might argue had only lost to fighters who went on to become world champions or those who have neared top contention after losing battles to the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. , Saul Alvarez, and Willie Nelson during the course of his career.  It was on this basis that he appeared to be an ideal opponent for a fighter such as Williams, who appears to be nearing opportunities for big fights in the near future.

The question of how Williams would respond to facing a fighter the caliber of Cuello was answered on September 22nd when the two fighters met for Williams’ WBC Continental America’s Jr. Middleweight championship at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA.  Williams, who entered the bout with a record of 20-0-1, with 12 Knockouts wasted no time making use of his quick hands as he opened up with offense at the start of the fight landing crisp combinations to the body and head of Cuello.  It was not long before the bout would be concluded. 

 

A right hand from Williams would stun Cuello and would put veteran on the ropes. Williams would not let Cuello off the hook as he continued with a barrage of punches until Referee Gary Rosato called a halt to the fight at 1:33 of round one. It was a fight that quite frankly does not require much analysis, Julian Williams simply established an offensive rhythm and once he saw an opening he took full advantage and finished his opponent.

It was however, the perfect kind of performance that a rising contender needs in order to show that he is ready to face the top contenders of whatever division that fighter chooses to campaign.  Julian Williams is clearly ready to take on some of the best in what is a talent deep 154lb. Jr. Middleweight division.  The question is who will Williams fight next?

An interesting possibly emerged shortly after Williams’ victory over Cuello. Williams’ stated in a post-fight interview that he would like to fight longtime Jr. Middleweight contender Austin Trout, but is open to fighting anyone in the division. Trout, who coincidentally was working as a commentator for Fox Sports as part of it’s tier of the Premier Boxing Champions series stated that he respected Williams’ hunger and that quote “We can make it happen.”

This theoretically opens the possibility of what would be an intriguing battle between one fighter, who is starting to emerge as a player in the Jr. Middleweight division against a fighter who has been a cornerstone of the division for several years after previously holding interim/regular champion status in the WBA’s Jr. Middleweight ratings.  In terms of where these two fighters stand in the current landscape of the division, a bout between the two at this point in their respective careers seems to be a good option for both. 

  

Trout, who fought earlier this month scoring a sixth round knockout over Joey Hernandez is currently rated number five in the world by both the WBC and WBA, and number three in the world by the IBF.  Williams is currently rated seven by the WBC and number ten by the WBA.  A fight between the two offers an opportunity for both fighters to potentially move into position for a title shot if they are able to score a victory over the other.  This could especially have an impact on the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) ratings as anyone ranked in the top ten, as this observer has stated before is theoretically one fight away from either challenging the WBA world champion in a weight class or being put into position to fight one of two fighters who are designated as having interim/regular status in the sanctioning organization’s ratings. 

In this observer’s opinion a fight between Williams and Trout would be a very interesting fight where there will likely be a difference of opinion as to who would have the advantage.  It would be a fight that would seem ideal for the increasingly popular and growing Premier Boxing Champions series.   If both fighters are willing to fight each other, this observer says “Why Not?”

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved,

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison

Wilder-Duhaupas Preview

The next chapter in the Heavyweight championship reign of undefeated WBC Heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder will take place on Saturday, September 26th at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL. Wilder, who will be making the second defense of his world title will take on former European Heavyweight champion Johann Duhaupas.

Wilder (34-0, with 33 Knockouts) won the WBC world championship in January of this year scoring an impressive twelve round unanimous decision over Bermane Stiverne. In his last fight this past June, Wilder scored a ninth round knockout over a determined challenger in Eric Molina in a fight where the champion dropped the “Game” Molina three times.

Wilder now prepares for his second title defense as he will face current WBC number eleven rated contender Johann Duhaupas. Duhaupas, (32-2, with 20 Knockouts) is a former European Heavyweight champion, who has also won the South American Heavyweight title in his career. Duhaupas would appear to be someone that could give Wilder, a fighter with a 97% career knockout percentage a test as he has never been stopped in thirty-four professional fights.

Stylistically, this fight would appear to favor the champion Wilder. Duhaupas is a fighter who tends to fight out of a high defensive guard, but does not use much lateral movement or head movement in his fights. Although Duhaupas does throw his jab with consistency and does let his hands go when fighting in close, the task that he will have to contend with is whether or not he will be able nullify the champion’s power and long reach.

Duhaupas is not a fighter who applies consistent pressure against his opponents, but rather appears to be tactical and attempts to execute his offense as his opponents throw their punches. Duhaupas also tends to allow himself to be put on the ropes regularly in his fights. It will be interesting to see whether Wilder will look to apply pressure on Duhaupas from the outset and look to possibly get an early stoppage.

As we saw in Wilder’s last fight however, Eric Molina was able to find some success in landing his right hand to the body and head of the champion. If Duhaupas can find a way to get on the inside of Wilder without sustaining too much punishment as he comes in and can manage to let his hands go in close as he has been able to do in previous fights against the likes of Erkan Teper and Jean Claude Bikoi, he might be the fighter who will continue to ask questions of the champion that critics are still wondering, such as how Wilder will respond to being pressured and how will he deal with adversity.

Duhaupas’ biggest win to date came against former world title challenger Manuel Charr, whom he defeated in April of this year. Although the odds are against Duhaupas, who will be attempting to become the first French-born fighter to win a World Heavyweight championship in the sport, he is not someone that should be overlooked and if this fight does go into the middle and late rounds it will be interesting to see if he can make a fight of it against one of the hardest hitting knockout artists in not just the Heavyweight division, but the entire sport as well.

This fight, which will headline a Premier Boxing Champions card broadcast by NBC in the United States does have one piece of historical significance. It will be the first time in over thirty years since the hotly contested battle between Larry Holmes and Carl “The Truth” Williams squared off on May 20, 1985 that a World Heavyweight championship fight will be televised on Broadcast television in the United States in prime time.

Although there may be some who might believe that this could be an “Easy” fight for the champion as he looks to defend his world title against longtime top contender and current WBC number one contender Alexander Povetkin in the near future and a possible unification clash against unified IBF/WBO/WBA/IBO Heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko possibly sometime in 2016, an opponent should never be taken lightly.

Some may remember at the time that Carl Williams earned his opportunity to challenge Larry Holmes for his crown, Williams was a significant underdog heading into that fight and despite the odds being against him, was able to give Holmes a stern challenge and there were some at the end of the night who felt he had done enough to win the fight in a battle that he ended up losing by a hard-fought fifteen round unanimous decision.

It is important to remember as this observer has often said over the years “Anything can happen at any given time in the sport of Boxing.” This especially holds true in regard to the Heavyweight division. If Wilder is looking past Duhaupas toward potential lucrative fights that might be in store in the future, this could end up being a much more competitive fight than some might be anticipating.

Although this observer is not one who likes to give predictions because after all anything can happen, it would not shock me no matter the outcome or length of this fight to see NBC score a significant victory in the ratings for this card. After all, there is nothing quite like a fight for a World Heavyweight championship that generates interest of not only experts and those who follow the sport on a regular basis, but also the casual observer. If nothing else, this fight will bring the sport back to a time where a World Heavyweight championship fight has the potential to be seen by millions of people without the expense of a pay-per-view price tag or a cable/satellite subscription. It is something that has been long overdue.

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison

Update:

We here at The Boxing Truth ® would like to let our readers know that a preview of the Deontay Wilder- Johann Duhaupas WBC World Heavyweight championship fight is currently in the works and will be released on Tuesday, September 22nd.  Stay tuned. “And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison

 

Thoughts On The Mayweather-Berto PPV Fallout

Much of the discussion regarding the sport of Boxing this week has centered on topics concerning Floyd Mayweather. The first topic of course has been about Floyd Mayweather’s dominant victory in his bout against former two-time world champion Andre Berto on September 12th. A fight, which Mayweather insists was his last.

The second topic has centered on the estimates of how many pay-per-view buys the Mayweather-Berto bout generated. According to several media outlets including Yahoo Sports the pay-per-view broadcast, which was priced at $75 for the high definition broadcast and $65 for the standard definition feed only generated between 400,000-550,000 total buys.

Some readers may recall when the Mayweather-Berto fight was officially announced in August that although this observer was not surprised that the fight would be broadcast on pay-per-view, I was somewhat critical of the decision due in large part to the success and increasing popularity of the Premier Boxing Champions series. I stated that it was my opinion an opportunity was missed by CBS/Showtime to give the American public a chance to see the best pound for pound fighter in the world without a pay-per-view price tag as well as what would likely be a guaranteed ratings winner for CBS by putting the bout and its undercard on pay-per-view as opposed to CBS as was rumored in the weeks prior to the fight being officially announced.

What seemed to be overshadowed by both the Mayweather-Berto fight itself as well as the criticism surrounding the decision to put the fight on pay-per-view was an undercard that was quite frankly very solid. The broadcast featured three well-matched competitive bouts including two world championship fights.  A Jr. Lightweight bout between former Featherweight world champion Jhonny Gonzalez and top Featherweight contender Jonathan Oquendo set the tone for what would end up being an undercard of close battles.

After trading knockdowns in the first two rounds, Gonzalez and Oquendo engaged in a hard-fought battle where Oquendo ultimately would earn a ten round split decision in a fight that this observer unofficially scored a draw. A lot of the rounds in this fight were very close and as the bout progressed, I felt Oquendo seemed to outwork Gonzalez. Gonzalez however, seemed to get a second wind in the later rounds and was able to make the fight close when it appeared that Oquendo was starting to build a lead on the scorecards. It was an entertaining battle that one might argue could see a rematch between the two in the future.

The same can easily be said about the other two fights that took place before Floyd Mayweather and Andre Berto entered the ring. In a clash for the WBC Super-Middleweight world championship champion Badou Jack in his first title defense scored a hard-fought twelve round split decision over multi-time world title challenger George Groves. Groves was able to survive a knockdown in the first round and to his credit made the fight close due to his ability to work behind a consistent jab and his being the busier of the two fighters. Jack however, was able to win this fight in the eyes of this observer based on his effective body punching down the stretch as I unofficially scored in 8-4 in rounds or 116-112 in his favor.

As was the case in the Gonzalez-Oquendo fight, there was some difference of opinion as to who won this fight as one judge felt Groves had done enough to win the fight by only one point. The two other official judges felt that Jack had won the fight by margins of three points and five points on their respective scorecards giving Jack the victory.

The co-main event on the Mayweather-Berto card featured a rematch for the WBO world Jr. Lightweight championship between world champion Roman Martinez and former champion Orlando Salido. The fight was a rematch from a competitive battle earlier this year where Martinez scored a unanimous decision to win the title from Salido. The second encounter between the two did not disappoint.

It was a battle of Martinez’ ability to use lateral movement and quick hands versus Saldio’s constant pressure and body punching. The two fighters traded knockdowns in the third round and traded momentum right up until the final bell in a fight that this observer felt Salido deserved the decision based on how effective he was in getting to the body of Martinez as I unofficially scored the fight 9-3 in rounds or 117-111 in points.

Although my unofficial score may give the appearance of the fight being lopsided in favor of Salido, in reality if one watches the fight round by round as fights are scored on a round by round basis, this fight was very close where I simply felt Salido was able to be more effective than Martinez. It was no surprise to see this fight end in a split decision draw, which theoretically could set up a third encounter between the two. The first two battles between Martinez and Salido will likely be in the running for 2015 fight of the year honors and if a third encounter between the two does take place in the future, I believe it would be a fight that would be welcomed by Boxing fans and experts alike.

Unfortunately, it appears based on the estimates of official pay-per-view buys for this card that what ultimately was an exceptional undercard of what appeared to be well-matched battles prior to the card, was not enough to convince consumers to spend their money on this card. Whether the reason for that has to do with consumers feeling dissatisfied following Floyd Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao earlier this year, a fight that many felt they did not get their money’s worth, or the trend of the sport beginning to be featured more prominently across broadcast and cable television as part of the Premier Boxing Champions series is a subject for debate. Whether or not an official figure will be released regarding how many pay-per-view buys this card generated will be released remains to be seen.

In the eyes of this observer however, I believe that what will likely be viewed as a financial failure for CBS/Showtime by putting this fight card on pay-per-view would have been more positively received and a ratings winner for CBS had this card taken place under the Premier Boxing Champions banner. As much as I felt it would be a shame as I stated when Mayweather-Berto was officially announced if what could be Mayweather’s swansong and the end to a great career was largely rejected by Boxing fans, which ultimately proved to be the case, it is perhaps a bigger shame that Boxing fans, who did not buy the card on pay-per-view missed out on a very entertaining undercard that in this observer’s view gave those who purchased the card  their money’s worth, regardless of how one might feel about the main event.

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison