The best punch trackers on the market
28th April 2021
By: Eric Armit
The Past Week in Action
Highlights:
– Emanuel Navarrete stops a gutsy Chris Diaz in the last round and remains WBO featherweight champion
– Kenshiro Teraji defends the WBC light fly title for the eighth time as he decisions Tetsuya Hisada
– Felix Cash stops Denzil Bentley to unify the British and Commonwealth middleweight titles and Callum Johnson returns with a win
– Edgar Berlanga floors Demond Nicholson four times but has to go the full eight rounds as his streak of 16 consecutive first round wins comes to an end.
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World Title/Major Shows
Kissimmee, FL, USA:
Feather: Emanuel Navarrete (34-1) W TKO 12 Christopher Diaz (26-3)
Super Middle: Edgar Berlanga (17-0) W PTS 8 Demond Nicholson (23-4-1)
Navarrete vs. Diaz
Navarrete stops challenger Diaz in the last round after an exciting title fight.
Round 1
Good opening round for Navarette he was floating around the ring in his customary languid style poking jabs through Diaz’s guard and then unleashing a few powerful swings. Diaz was content to stay out of range but Navarette landed a couple of shots just before the bell.
Score: 10-9 Navarrete
Round 2
Better from Diaz. He dropped a couple of rights over the top of lazy jabs from Navarrete then used quick lateral movement to avoid Navarrete’s attempts to close him down and landed a couple of nice hooks.
Score: 10-9 Diaz TIED 19-19
Round 3
Total change of pace by Navarrete. He was quickly closing Diaz down and connecting with hooks and uppercuts. Navarrete kept pressing firing lots of punches. Navarrete is so unconventional the Diaz could never be sure what punch would be coming from where. Diaz regrouped and attacked at the end of the round but already there was a swelling under his right eye.
Score: 10-9 Navarrete Navarrete 29-28
Round 4
Diaz was having a good round. Fast movement was frustrating Navarrete’s attempts to close him down and connected with a couple of crisp left hooks. Then suddenly it was not such a good round for Diaz. Navarrete started to throw a right and then instead let fly with a left hook and his feet were almost off the ground when it landed but it sent Diaz down. He got up and then dropped down on one knee before getting up at eight. He stepped in close to Navarrete and punched with him to the bell.
Score: 10-8 Navarette Navarrete 39-36
Official Scores: Judge Christopher Flores 39-36 Navarrete, Judge Patricia Moses Jarman 39-36 Navarrete, Judge Alex Levin 39-36 Navarrete.
Round 5
An entertaining round. Showing no ill effects from the knockdown Diaz set out to control the action. He was quicker and was looking to exchange punches with Navarrete and connected with some good hooks. Navarrete spent most of the round on the back foot but again when he landed his power showed but Diaz just edge the round.
Score: 10-9 Diaz Navarrete 48-46
Round 6
Another action-filled found. Diaz was taking the fight to Navarrete. He was forcing Navarrete onto the back foot walking through Navarrete’s counters and scoring with hooks to the body inside. Navarrete was landing heavy counters but could not keep Diaz out and Diaz rocked him a couple of times. Diaz was warned for kidney punches.
Score: 10-9 Diaz Navarette 57-56
Round 7
The pace stayed hot as Diaz continued to try to walk through Navarrete but this time Navarrete was meeting him with bursts of counters. Diaz shrugged them off but in a clinch he again landed a punch to the kidney’s of Navarrete and the referee deducted a point*. Diaz was relentless but he was paying a price for his aggression and by the end of the round he was like a guy walking into a storm and being buffeted by the wind.
Score: 10-9 (10-8*) Navarrete Navarrete 67-64
Round 8
Navarrete started the round with a series of long swinging hooks but again Diaz moved in close trying to deny Navarrete the room he needed for those dangerous long shots. Diaz was having some success but then Navarrete unleashed a salvo of hook and uppercuts and Diaz dropped to the canvas. Diaz was up at eight but a storm of punches from Navarrete forced him to his knees. He arose at eight and was now showing a gash under his left eye. There were only ten seconds left in the round but instead of trying to clinch Diaz traded punches with Navarrete.
Score: 10-7 Navarrete Navarrete 77-71
Official Scores: Judge Christopher Flores 79-69 Navarrete, Judge Patricia Moses Jarman 78-70 Navarrete, Judge Alex Levin 78-70 Navarrete.
Round 9
Navarrete raked Diaz with punches early in the round but Diaz showed no sign of caving in and connected with some good hooks. Navarrete was fighting in bursts and in the act of throwing a combination he tumbled backwards to the floor. Not really surprising as Navarrete must have the worst footwork of any champion and poor balance. He was soon on the attack again with Diaz standing up well to the pressure.
Score: 10-9 Navarrete Navarrete 87-80
Round 10
Diaz seemed to have recovered from the horrors of the seventh round and he outworked Navarrete getting in close and hooking to the body. Navarrete just let his punches go in isolated bunches and effectively took a breather.
Score: 10-9 Diaz Navarrete 96-90
Round 11
Diaz was bouncing around as if it was the first round. He was darting in firing hooks and then tying Navarrete up inside. Navarrete put together some nice sequences of punches but Diaz simply outworked him.
Score: 10-9 Diaz Navarrete 105-100
Round 12
Diaz came out throwing punches and Navarrete again found himself on the back foot as Diaz dug in with hooks to the body but then the energy seemed to drain from Diaz. Despite that he kept moving forward throwing tired punchers and Navarrete was also slowing. It looked as though this one was going the distance until Navarrete scored with two clubbing rights to the head. A left hook had Diaz stumbling and almost going down. Navarrete had Diaz’s head bouncing around with punches from both hands. The referee looked ready to step in when Diaz stumbled to one side and a push from Navarrete sent him to the canvas.
The referee could have stopped it but he gave Diaz a count. Diaz was up at seven and looked in a bad way. Initially the referee stepped back to let the fight continue but then rightly decided to stop the fight. Navarrete was making the first defence of the WBO title with win No 29 by KO/TKO. Some sources say 28 but he scored a stoppage in a non-title fight in Mexico City in June last year but as it was not under the Commission there it shows as a No Decision). The featherweights are not one of the strongest divisions right now and I really can’t see his mandatory challenger James Dickens as any real threat to Navarrete.
This was a highly entertaining fight due in no small part to the way the Diaz chose to take the fight to Navarrete and even in defeat the 26-year-old Puerto Rican must have boosted his stock. His other losses have been on points against Masayuki Ito for the vacant WBA super feather title and Shakur Stevenson.
Berlanga vs. Nicholson
It had to happen sometime and in his seventeenth fight Berlanga finally heard the bell to signal the start of the second round. He floored Nicholson four times but his streak of first round wins was snapped. In the first Berlanga was trying to line Nicholson up for some heavy rights but Nicholson moved well and had no real trouble getting through the first three minutes.
Nicholson was looking to trade with Berlanga in the second and had some success. He went down under a shower of punches in the second but it looked more as though he tumbled forward rather than was knocked down. Berlanga piled on the punches but Nicholson survived. Nicholson was finding flaws in Berlanga’s defence in the fourth but went down again and this time it looked as though Berlanga threw him down. Berlanga was just too strong for Nicholson to really compete with. He showed no real respect for Berlanga’s reputation but he was the one who broke of the exchanges each time.
A fierce attack from Berlanga had Nicholson reeling and going down for a third time in the fifth and taking some heavy punishment in the sixth and seventh. Berlanga came near to finishing it when he put Nicholson on the floor with a right in the eighth but Nicholson got up and was there at the bell. Scores 79-69 twice and 79-68 for Berlanga. Good experience for the 23-year-old. The 16 first round finishes had made it impossible to judge anything other than his power and it was evident here there was things that needed to be worked on. The only fighter to have beaten Nicholson inside the distance is Jesse Hart back in 2018. He had won five fights since then and proved a much needed test for Berlanga.
Osaka, Japan:
Light Fly: Kenshiro Teraji (18-0) W PTS 12 Tetsuya Hisada (34-11-2)
Teraji vs Hisada
In his first fight for sixteen months Teraji makes a successful defence of the WBC title with wide unanimous decision over a strong and gutsy Hisada.
Round 1
Hisada made a confident start taking the fight to the champion and getting the better of the exchanges in a low key round.
Score: 10-9 Hisada
Round 2
Hisada continued to plunge forward with Teraji showcasing some slick skills. He was connecting with eye-catching rights and one of those landed and put Hisada on the floor. It was the first time Hisada had been dropped but he showed his fighting spirit by getting up and again taking the fight to Teraji.
Score: 10-8 Teraji Teraji 19-18
Round 3
Hisada again showed some real aggression in this one. He piled on the pressure walking through counters from Teraji and scoring well to the body and outworking Teraji.
Score: 10-9 Hisada TIED 28-28
Round 4
Teraji began to take control. Hisada found that even though he continued to have some success the speed and accuracy of Teraji’s work was giving him the edge and Teraji’s confidence was growing as he found the range after a slow start.
Score: 10-9 Teraji Teraji 38-37
Official Scores: Judge Yoshikazu Furuta 38-37 Teraji, Judge Hisatoshi Miyazaki 38-37 Teraji, Judge Masahiro Noda 40-35 Teraji
Round 5
This was the best round so far. Teraji continued to pick up the points with his classy boxing and sharp counters. Hisada was not letting Teraji have things all his own way and he had some success as he upped his pace to make it a close round but Teraji was doing most of the scoring.
Score: 10-9 Teraji Teraji 48-46
Round 6
Hisada was not letting up and again he attacked hard scoring with hooks and overhand rights. Teraji had upped his pace and he made Hisada pay for his aggression with some great counters and put together some exciting combinations and landed hurtful body punches.
Score: 10-9 Teraji Teraji 58-55
Round 7
It was a case of for round 7 see round 6. Hisada was putting in a great effort expending lots of energy but the classy work from Teraji meant that Hisada saw very little reward for his efforts as Teraji was superior in defence and attack and although Hisada was making the rounds close he just could not find a way to win one.
Score: 10-9 Teraji ` Teraji 68-64
Round 8
Another round for Teraji. He was outboxing Hisada and had more power. More and more Teraji was raking Hisada with body punches and although Hisada seemed to just absorb them and kept coming you had to feel they were having an effect.
Score: 10-9 Teraji Teraji 78-73
Official Scores: Judge Yoshikazu Furuta 78-73 Teraji, Judge Hisatoshi Miyazaki 78-73 Teraji, Judge Masahiro Noda 79-72 Teraji
Round 9
Teraji continued to target Hisada’s body and the cumulative effect of that assault began to show in the round. Hisada was still full of aggression but his output dropped. Teraji dominated the action piercing the challengers guard with jabs and those body punches and it became to some extent a case of whether Hisada would make it to the final bell.
Score: 10-9 Teraji Teraji 88-82
Round 10
Easily Teraji’s round as Hisada looked to be fading giving Teraji more room to set himself for his punches. He was scoring consistently to head and body whereas Hisada was unable to sustain his aggression and was no real threat to the champion.
Score: 10-9 Teraji Teraji 98-91
Round 11
One thing Hisada still had was determination and he dredged up some energy to again be piling forward but that only made Teraji’s job easier as Hisada was right there in front of him. Teraji finished the round strongly making Hisada wince with a body punch and banging home some savage head punches.
Score: 10-9 Teraji Teraji 108-100
Round 12
Hisada went down fighting. He once again drove forward with Teraji having to adjust to facing a rejuvenated challenger and a level of pressure that he had not had to deal with over the last four rounds. Teraji rose to the challenge and again the quality and accuracy of his punches more than offset Hisada’s brave final fling and Teraji took the round.
Score: 10-9 Teraji Teraji 118-109
Official Scores: Judge Yoshikazu Furuta 118-109 Teraji, Judge Hisatoshi Miyazaki 118-109 Teraji, Judge Masahiro Noda 119-108 Teraji
The 29-year-old Teraji was making the eighth defence of the WBC title. He has a complete set having won the WBC Youth, Japanese and OPBF titles. Fourteen of his eighteen fights have been title fights and he has the ability to unify the four versions of the title if the fights can be made. He is the son of a former Japanese middle and OPBF light heavyweight champion so quite a physical difference between father and son. Originally Teraji fought as Ken Shiro with the name taken from a famous manga character but under any name he is a very talented performer. At 36 it may be the end of the line for Hisada, a former Japanese champion, he lost to Hiroto Kyoguchi for the WBA title in his last fight in October 2019 so it might be a good time to put the gloves away as he is unlikely to get another shot.
Los Angeles, CA, USA:
Light: Frank Martin (13-0) W TKO 7 Jerry Perez (13-0)
Martin vs. Perez
Martin, an outstanding amateur continues his progress for pay as he stops unbeaten Perez in seven rounds. Perez got through with some hard rights in the first but Martin took over from the
second. The Detroit-born southpaw found the target regularly with lefts and used clever movement to spin away from Perez’s attacks. Perez upped his pace in a competitive fifth but he was rocked by a left from Martin late in the round. It was over in the seventh as Martin put Perez down with a left hook. Perez beat the count but was taking punishment when the referee stopped the fight. Both fighters were moving up to ten round level for the first time. Martin, 26, a National Golden Gloves gold medalist and a silver medal winner at the US National Championships gets his tenth inside the distance victory. Californian Perez had registered ten inside the distance wins but did not have to skills or power of Martin.
London. England:
Middle: Felix Cash (14-0) W TKO 3 Denzel Bentley (14-1-1). Light Heavy: Callum Johnson (19-1) W TKO 2 Emil Markic (32-3)
Cash vs. Bentley
Cash stops Bentley in three rounds to unite the Commonwealth and British titles. A frantic start saw Bentley letting his fists fly but then be badly staggered by a right from Cash. Bentley recovered and showed some silky skills but was rocked a couple more times by Cash and who continued to hunt Bentley to the bell. There was plenty of movement and plenty of jabs from Bentley in the second but Cash continued to walk him down. Bentley boxed well and managed to avoid trouble but Cash looked dangerous with his overhand rights particularly as Bentley persistently held his left hand low.
Cash caught up with Bentley in the third. He forced Bentley to the ropes and then connected with a series of head punches that had Bentley slumping and helpless and the referee made a good stoppage. Cash retains the Commonwealth title and takes Bentley’s British title with his tenth and most impressive win. Bentley had drawn with and then stopped Mark Heffron in 2020 and was No 9 with the WBO but he lacked the punch to keep Cash out and paid the price for that and a too casual defence.
Culiacan, Mexico:
Super Light: Erik Leon (14-1-1) W TKO 5 Adalberto Moreno (12-4)
Ginowan, Okinawa:
Bantam: Ryosuke Nishida (4-0) W PTS 12 Daigo Higa (17-2-1).
Nishida vs Higa
Newcomer Nishida breaks through in a big way with wide unanimous decision over former WBC flyweight champion Higa to win the WBO Asia Pacific title. Nishida was just too big for Higa. He was coming down from super bantam and Higa was coming up from flyweight and Nishida had a much longer reach and was 4” taller. Nishida used his southpaw jab to control the action over the opening three rounds. Higa, fighting in front of his own fans, managed to get inside over the fourth and fifth
but Nishida matched him there. All of Higa’s wins have come inside the distance but he did not have the same power in this division and Nishida boxed coolly and continually scored with accurate counters never letting Higa get a toe-hold in the fight.
Scores 117-111 twice and 118-110 for Nishida. In his last fight Nishida, 24, had outpointed former WBO bantamweight title challenger Shohei Omori so a meteoric rise as he will now be looking to crash the world ratings. Higa fell from grace when he failed to make the weight for a defence of the WBC title in
2018. The fight went ahead and Cristofer Rosales stopped Higa to become the new champion. Higa was suspended by the Japanese Board with the suspension ending in October 2019 but Higa had failed to impress in going 2-0-1 since then.
Leon vs. Moreno
Power showing from Leon as he stops Moreno in the fifth round. Leon’s only loss had been on points so he was not about to leave this one to the judges. Moreno was not one to take a step back and he paid for that as he tried to match Leon punch for punch. Leon scored three knockdown before ending it in the fifth round. As they traded punches a booming left cross dropped Moreno flat on his back and his corner immediately threw in the towel. Thirteenth inside the distance win for the tall, 27-year-old Venezuelan. He is now 2-1-1 in 4 fights in Mexico. Naturally being Venezuelan his record back there was rubbish with his twelve victims having combined record of 11-90. Moreno just a 4 and 6 round prelim fighter but he had scored more wins than all eleven of Leon’s opponent in Venezuela combined.
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Fight of the week (Significance): Emanuel Navarrete vs. Christopher Diaz
Fight of the week (Entertainment): Navarrete vs. Diaz gets the nod with a honourable mention to the battle between Jermaine Ortiz and Joseph Adorno
Fighter of the week: Navarrete as he again shows he has the power to crush the best with an honourable mention to Kenshiro Teraji for his eighth title defence
Punch of the week: The left hook from Erik Leon that flattened Adalberto Moreno was impressive
Upset of the week: Ryosuke Nishida (3-0) beating former world flyweight titlist Daigo Higa has to count as an upset.
Prospect watch: Lightweight Frank Martin 13-0 is progressing well.
Observations
It is amazing how Emanuel Navarrete makes so many mistakes and has so many faults and yet it all work for him. I wonder what it must be like to train a fighter who breaks all of the rules on how to box.
