Eric’s Snips and Snipes – The Past Week In Action

The Past Week in Action

Highlights:

-Gervonta Davis halts Mario Barrios in the eleventh round to win the secondary WBA super lightweight title

-Vasyl Lomachenko returns to action and stops Masayoshi Nakatani in nine rounds

-Julio Cesar Martinez defends his WBC flyweight title with stoppage of Joel Cordova and on the same show in Guadalajara Daniel Matellon decisions Jose Argumedo in defence of the interim WBA light flyweight title

-Erickson Lubin stops former IBF and WBA super welterweight title holder Jeison Rosario

-David Morell beats Mario Cazares in the first round in defence of the secondary WBA super middleweight title

-Ricardo Sandoval scores an upset KO win over Jay Harris in IBF flyweight eliminator

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World Title/Major Shows

26th June

Atlanta, GA, USA:

Super Light: Gervonta Davis (25-0) W TKO 11 Mario Barrios (26-1)

Davis vs. Barrios

Davis wins the secondary WBA version of the super lightweight title as he scores late stoppage of Barrios.

Round 1

The tactics for the fight were largely dictated by the 5” height and reach advantages for Barrios. Not much action in a cautious first round. Barrios was boxing at distance firing jabs with Davis looking for openings but with Barrios taking the round with the jabs he landed.

Score: 10-9 Barrios

Round 2

Another round for Barrios. He was scoring with his jab and connected with straight rights with Davis waiting for an opening that did not come and hardly throwing a punch.

Score: 10-9 Barrios Barrios 20-18

Round 3

Davis did better in this round coming forward and throwing some punches. Barrios stuck to his jab and straight rights and worked solidly throughout the round to outscore Davis.

Score: 10-9 Barrios Barrios 30-27

Round 4

Barrios stuck to his game plan just jabbing and launching straight rights. He was not over-committing himself and Davis was still playing the waiting but was unable to find any gaps.

Score: 10-9 Barrios Barrios 40-36

Round 5

Davis changed the fight with the simple tactic of sticking his right jabs way out not to score but blocking Barrios from launching his own left jab. His jab had been his main weapon and now Barrios was forced onto the back foot and Davis was able to get inside and score to the body.

Score: 10-9 Davis Barrios 49-46

Round 6

Davis continued to take the fight to Barrios. He was getting inside and landing with rights and lefts. Barrios seemed almost mesmerised by the right of Davis. Instead of trying to punch holes in Davis’s defence he was jabbing at the extended right of Davis negating his jab by his own actions. Without his jab he was throwing rights but that meant committing himself and left gaps for Davis to score.

Score: 10-9 Davis Barrios 58-56

Round 7

Barrios made an aggressive start to the round letting fly with punches from both hands. That storm blew itself out and Davis again had Barrios on the back foot. He was getting through with jabs and straight lefts with Barrios unable to keep him out.

Score: 10-9 Davis Barrios 67-66

Round 8

Barrios was boxing well at the start of the eighth until a sharp overhand right from Davis put him down. He was up quickly but after the count a left hook from Davis sent him down again. Davis hounded Barrios trying to finish the fight and although Davis connected with more rights and lefts Barrios boxed his way to the bell but it was a disastrous round for Barrios who was also cut under his left eye.

Score: 10-7 Davis Davis 76-74

Round 9

Davis failed to capitalise on his success in the ninth. Barrios was using his jab again and getting home some rights and even threw an uppercut as a change from his jab/straight right tactics. Davis hardly threw a punch and gave the round away.

Score: 10-9 Barrios Davis 85-84

Round 10

An entertaining round. Davis was marching forward getting through with head punches with Barrios on the back foot letting fly with accurate counters. Davis was landing the heavier punches but a fired up Barrios signalled for Davis to bring it on.

Score: 10-9 Davis Davis 95-93

Round 11

Davis was chasing Barrios down in the eleventh and connecting with heavy lefts and rights. There was a small break to sort out loose tape on the left glove of Barrios and then Davis landed a left to the body and Barrios dropped to his hands and knees. He was up at seven but when Davis started to unload on
Barrios again the referee stopped the fight. Davis already holds the WBA super featherweight title and the secondary WBA lightweight title but effectively only holds one genuine title as Teo Lopez is champion at lightweight and Josh Taylor holds all four titles at super lightweight. This just makes
an (even bigger) mockery of the WBA titles. Now 24 inside the distance wins in total for Davis including 16 in a row and he has won all nine of his title fights by KO/TKO. Fights with Teo Lopez or Devin Haney at lightweight or Josh Taylor at super lightweight would legitimise the secondary titles he holds in those two divisions and would be huge events. Barrios was making the second defence of the secondary WBA title and at 26 there is plenty of time for him to work his way to another title fight.

Las Vegas, NV, USA:

Light: Vasyl Lomachenko (15-2) W TKO 9 Masayoshi Nakatani (19-2)

Lomachenko vs. Nakatani

Lomachenko proves much too good for the strong but limited Nakatani and forces a stoppage in the ninth round.

Having learned his lesson from his fight with Teo Lopez this time Lomachenko made a quick start. He was darting past the longer reach of Nakatani in the first and connecting with lefts. A clash of head saw Lomachenko cut high on his forehead in an awkward place that allowed the blood to run down into his eye. The second was a closer round with Lomachenko landing with his jab getting past the guard of Nakatani to score with short lefts inside.

Nakatani landed a few jabs but was finding Lomachenko a difficult target. Nakatani landed a good right at the start of the fourth but Lomachenko was stepping inside the Japanese fighters guard with punches to the body. Lomachenko was dancing around a static Nakatani in the fifth diving in to land punches and then getting out again with Nakatani throwing lots but landing little. Seconds before the bell Lomachenko launched an attack landing four head punches and the retreating Nakatani went down. The referee gave Nakatani a count with Nakatani protesting that he had just been off balance. Lomachenko really cut loose in the sixth pinning Nakatani against the ropes and unloading with punch after punch until Nakatani managed to escape. Lomachenko had Nakatani foundering a couple of times in the seventh as he changed angles and connected with punches as Nakatani tried to reset himself.

The Japanese fighter was relying heavily on using his jab as a range finder for straight rights but with Lomachenko bobbing and weaving Nakatani could not find the target. Lomachenko scored with powerful straight lefts in the eighth with much of the fire having gone out of Nakatani’s work. In the ninth Lomachenko bombarded Nakatani with punches and suddenly Nakatani was in trouble. He was reeling and off balance and when he dropped under another barrage of punches the referee came in and stopped the fight.

In his first fight since losing to Teo Lopez in October Lomachenko looked sharp and had too much class for Nakatani. Lomachenko’s accuracy was impressive as in every round he had between a 40% and 50% plus ratio of punches thrown/landed. Lopez has his postponed fight with George Kambosos to deal with and it would probably be a good idea for Lomachenko to have another fight with a return against Lopez at the end of the year. Nakatani had impressed when he climbed off the floor twice to stop Felix Verdejo in December but Lomachenko was at a different level entirely.

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Chihuahua, Mexico: Super Bantam: Yamileth Mercado (18-2) W PTS 10 Angelica Rascon (10-1,1ND).

Mercado vs. Rascon

Mercado holds on to the WBC Female title with points win over Texan Rascon. Over the first four rounds a confident Rascon took the fight to Mercado and built a useful lead looking to have won the first four rounds. Mercado was cut on her right cheek in a clash of heads in the fifth and over her right eye in the sixth and was also deducted a point for holding in the sixth as Mercado clawed back some rounds. The deduction was levelled out with Mercado losing a point in the ninth also for holding. The fight seemed very close but the judges saw a different fight and scored it 98-90, 97-91 and 96-92 for Mercado with Rascon looking to have earned at least a draw. Mercado was making the second defence of the WBC title. Rascon will challenge for a title again.

27th June

Minneapolis, MN, USA: Super Middle: David Morell (5-0) W KO 1Mario Cazares (12-1)

Morell vs. Cazares

Morell wins the vacant WBA secondary title with first round stoppage of Cazares. There was more wrestling than boxing at the start of this fight with Cazares warned for a low punch and Morell landing a couple of time on the back of Cazares’ head. Morell suddenly landed two straight lefts to the head and Cazares went down heavily spread-eagled on the canvas and the fight was immediately stopped. Cuban southpaw Morell had been interim champion but this win “elevates” him to full secondary champion. Cazares had won a technical decision over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in September.

25th June

Bolton, England:

Fly: Ricardo Sandoval (19-1) W KO 8 Jay Harris (18-2)

Harris vs. Sandoval

Body punches from Sandoval finish Harris after an exciting clash in this IBF eliminator. Harris boxed well in the first firing strong jabs and rights to the head putting Sandoval on the back foot but Sandoval was scoring with some scorching left hooks to the body. Both had some  success in brutal exchanges in the second in an open punch-for-punch scrap. Sandoval upped his output in the third and fourth out jabbing Harris and crashing home rights to the head and left hooks to the body and putting Harris under pressure.

Harris fired back in the fifth but again Sandoval was getting the better of the exchanges. Harris took the sixth with some excellent work with his jab and right crosses and staggered Sandoval with a right in the seventh. Sandoval then banged back to shake Harris and then had Harris pinned to the ropes and under heavy pressure at the end of an exciting round. They were fighting on equal terms in the eighth when Sandoval dug in a left hook to the ribs and Harris dropped to one knee. He beat the count but another body punch sent him down in agony and he was counted out. Huge win for 22-year-old Californian Sandoval-his fifteenth in a row. He was No 2 with the WBO so a fight with title holder Junto Nakatani could happen later this year.

A set-back for Harris who was No 3 with the WBC and must have been hoping for a victory here which would have helped him in his quest for a return match with Julio Cesar Martinez who outpointed him in a WBC title defence in February last year.

Saint-Nazaire, France:

Cruiser: Olivier Vautrain (18-3-1) W PTS 10 Eddy Lacrosse (12-7-2)

Vautrain vs. Lacrosse

Vautrain successfully retains the French title with very close unanimous decision over Lacrosse. The 6’2” southpaw Vautrain never really made full use of his longer reach. He looked good when he did use his jab and when he put together burst of punches but Lacrosse was able to get inside and hounded Vautrain the whole fight. Vautrain did not have the punch to deter Lacrosse but just did enough to win. Scores 97-92,96-93 and 96-95 for the hometown fighter with former champion Lacrosse fighting well.

Civitavecchia, Italy:

Light: Emilio Marsili (40-0-1) W PTS 10 Stephane Jamoye (33-9-1)

Marsili outclasses a disappointing Jamoye. The hometown southpaw dominated the fight from first to last. He found Jamoye an easy target for his right jabs and constantly scored with left hooks and uppercuts. Marsili looked to have scored a knockdown with a left hook in the sixth but the referee did not count it and Marsili eased his way to victory winning every round. Scores 100-90 for Marsili from the judges. Marsili, 44 (45 in August), a former undefeated European and IBO lightweight champion, wins the vacant IBO Mediterranean title. He was to have challenged Dejan Zlaticanin for the WBC title in 2016 but had to pull out with injury and may never now land a title shot. Former world title challenger Jamoye was never in contention.

Krasnaya Polyana, Russia:

Light: Aik Shakhnazaryan (25-4) W PTS 10 Vage Sarukhanyan (20-3-2,1ND)

Shakhnazaryan vs. Sarukhanyan

Shakhnazaryan wins the vacant Russian title with majority verdict over Sarukhanyan. Sarukhanyan was having his first fight for eighteen months but lead early. However the aggressive Shakhnazaryan turned things around and finished strongly winning a controversial decision. Scores 97-95 and 96-94 for Shakhnazaryan and 95-95. Both fighters are Armenian-born Russians.

Hurlingham, Argentina:

Light: Agustin Quintana (14-1-1) W TKO 7 Claudio Daneff (11-2-1).

Quintana vs. Daneff

Quintana wins the WBC Latino Silver title with stoppage of champion Daneff. It was an entertaining match but the power and precision of Quintana wore Daneff down. A right from Quintana drove Daneff into a corner in the seventh and he was given a standing count. When the action resumed Daneff was stumbling and holding and when he was hurt by another right    the referee stopped the fight. Tenth win by KO/TKO and seventh consecutive victory for Quintana. Daneff, the Argentinian No 1, was making the first defence of the Latino title.

Sheffield, England:

Light: Hammed Ghazi (17-0) W TKO 3 Liam Shinkwin (9-2-1)

Ghazi vs Shinkwin

Ghazi continues to progress. After an even first round Ghazi took over. He landed heavily on Shinkwin in the second and was handing out more punishment in the third when the referee stopped the contest. The 25-year-old Afghan-born Ghazi will probably go for the English title next. Shinkwin had won his last three fights with his only loss in a Prizefighter Tournament.

26th June

Oncativo, Argentina:

Heavy: Leandro Robutti (8-4) W PTS 10 Kevin Espindola (6-2)

Robutti uses his edges in height and weight to take a majority decision over Espindola and wins the vacant Argentinian title. Neither fighter has much in the way of technique but they supplied an entertainment brawl. Despite the majority decision Robutti was a clear winner. Scores 97-94 and 97 ½ -95 for Robutti and 95-95. Robutti is now 2-1 in their three meetings.

Brisbane, Australia:

Cruiser: Mark Flanagan (25-8) W TKO 5 Ben Kelleher (14-3-2)

Flanagan vs Kelleher

Flanagan batters a game Kelleher to defeat to win the vacant Australian title. Former champion Flanagan broke Keller down with stiff jabs and body shots. By the fifth Kelleher had nothing left and he was put down by a clubbing right. He managed to pull himself upright but was in no condition to continue. A much needed win for Flanagan who had suffered consecutive losses against Arsen Goulamirian, David Light and Jai Opetaia. Kelleher, also a former Australian champion, had been stopped by Jai Opetaia in October.

Ekaterinburg, Russia:

Super Feather: Mark Urvanov (19-2-1) W PTS 8 Rofhiwa Maemu (19-12-3)

Urvanov vs Maemu

Local fighter Urvanov needs some generous judging to get a majority decision over South African Maemu. The visitor came forward aggressively from the start landing heavily to the head and unsettled Urvanov. Over the second half of the fight Urvanov clawed back with a strong finish but did not look to have done enough to merit the win. Urvanov is the holder of the WBO global title and their No 8. This showing illustrates how ratings are skewed by sanctioning fees rather than by the quality of a fighter’s victories. Maemu is 0-5 in visits to Russia and has won only one of his last seven fights.

Soweto, South Africa:

Super Light: Xolisani Ndongeni (28-2) W TKO 3 Peter Pambeni (16-5-3)

Ndongeni vs Pambeni

Ndongeni returns to form and saves himself some money as he stops Zimbabwean Pambeni in the third round. Ndongeni quickly solved the problem of the switch-hitting Pambeni  and overwhelmed him in the third. Ndongeni wins the vacant WBA Pan African title. A sixth round kayo loss to Prince Dlomo in October raised some questions over Ndongeni’s future but he answered them here. He had said he would pay Pambeni R 1000 ($70) if he lasted more than three rounds so did not have to pay out. In his last fight in November 2019 Pambeni was stopped in eight rounds by Jeremia Nakathila in a fight for the WBO Global title.

Madrid, Spain:

Minimum: Joana Pastrana (18-3) W PTS 10 Anne Sophie Da Costa (28-8)

Pastrana vs Da Costa

Champion Pastrana retained her European female title with a flawless display against French challenger Da Costa. Pastrana looked close to stopping Da Costa a couple of times but Da Costa took the punishment and was still there at the final bell. Scores 100-90 from all three judges for Pastrana.

Fight of the week (Significance): Both the wins for Gervonta Davis and Vasyl Lomachenko keep some potentially big fights in play

Fight of the week (Entertainment): Paul Butler and Willibald Garcia provide ten rounds of intense action. Honourable mention to Yamileth Mercado vs. Angelica Rascon which was a war.

Fighter of the week: Gervonta Davis. His win over Barrios might have only been for the secondary WBA title but the way he came from behind after working out his tactics to overcome the height and reach of Barrios and then finished the fight with two knockdowns showed real class.

Punch of the week: The left to the body by Ricardo Sandoval that finished Jay Harris was wicked.

Upset of the week: Has to be 14-65-5 Brett Fidoe stopping 14-1 Tyrone McCullagh. Fidoe hardly showed any excitement with his win. He just banged his gloves together as a show of satisfaction. This is his second win in a row and he keeps this up he may have take “celebrating” lessons.

Prospect watch: Mexican Super lightweight Gabriel Valenzuela is in good form unbeaten in his last 22 fights.

Observations:

Good to see no rubbish about Davis vs. Barrios as any kind of “unification” fight as Josh Taylor holds all four of the real super lightweight titles in fact although Davis has won titles in three divisions only the lightweight title is a genuine title.

It was a case of the long and the short and the tall*:

Gary Cully 6’2” vs. 5’5” Viorel Simion

Tyrone McCullagh 5’6” vs. 5’2” Brett Fidoe

Mario Barrios 5’10” vs. 5’5 ½” Gervonta Davis

Masayoshi Nakatani 5’ 11 ½” vs. 5’7” Vasyl Lomachenko

Guido Vianello 6’6” vs. 6’1” Marlon Marshall

Leon Lawson 6’5” vs. 5’11” Nathaniel Gallimore

Alantez Fox 6’4” vs. 5’8” Manny Woods