The best punch trackers on the market
25th January 2021
By: Eric Armit
Highlights:
-Stephen Fulton wins the WBO super bantamweight title with unanimous points victory over champion Angelo Leo
-Raeese Aleem scores four knockdowns and stops Vic Pasillas in the eleventh round to collect the vacant WBA interim super bantamweight title
World Title/Major Shows
23 January
Uncasville, CT, USA:
Super Bantam: Stephen Fulton (19-0) W PTS 12 Angelo Leo (20-1).
Super Bantam: Raeese Aleem (18-0) W TKO 11 Vic Pasillas (16-1).
Light: Rolando Romero (13-0) W TKO 7 Avery Sparrow (10-3).
Super Bantam: Sharone Carter (12-3) W PTS 8 McJoe Arroyo (18-3).
Fulton vs. Leo
Fulton proves too clever and too strong for champion Leo and wins WBO title with unanimous points victory.
Round 1
Leo started aggressively but Fulton was spearing him with jabs and connecting with right counters. When Leo managed to get past the jabs he was doing good work inside with clusters of hooks and although Fulton put his punches together well Leo did enough to have an edge.
Score: 10-9 Leo
Round 2
Fulton changed his tactics and stood inside swopping punches with Leo. He was the stronger and outworked Leo as they both focused on body shots. Leo did enough to make the round close but Fulton did most of the scoring. Leo was cut beside his left eye in a clash of heads.
Score: 10-9 Fulton TIED 19-19
Round 3
Fulton started this round on the back foot popping the oncoming Leo with jabs and straight rights before moving inside over the second half of the round. Leo made this round closer with hooks to the body but the cleaner work was coming from Fulton.
Score: 10-9 Fulton Fulton 29-28
Round 4
Leo’s best round so far. He simply outworked Fulton. Leo was blocking Fulton’s jab and scoring well inside. He rocked Fulton twice with rights late in the round.
Score: 10-9 Leo Fulton 38-38
Official Scores: Judge John McKale 39-37 Fulton, Judge Steve Weisfeld 38-38 Tied, Judge Frank Lombardi 39-37 Fulton
Round 5
A gruelling round as they stood toe-to-toe and swapped punches inside. Fulton was proving the stronger man constantly pushing Leo back and scoring with hooks to the body with many of Leo’s punches blocked or low.
Score: 10-9 Fulton Fulton 48-47
Round 6
Once again a close-quarters battle. Fulton was outworking Leo with left hooks to the body and snapping his head back with right uppercuts. He used his strength to force Leo back and did a good job of blocking Leo’s punches inside to take the round.
Score: 10-9 Fulton Fulton 58-56
Round 7
A close round as they both stood trading body punches. Again Fulton was the stronger. He was smothering much of Leo’s work and then putting together a quick burst of hooks and uppercuts throwing more and landing more.
Score: 10-9 Fulton Fulton 68-65
Round 8
For a change it was Leo doing the better work inside. Fulton was just leaning on and not working hard but Leo kept pumping out his punches and finished the round strongly scoring with a series of head shots as Fulton was pinned against the ropes.
Score: 10-9 Leo Fulton 77-75
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Official Scores: Judge John McKale 79-73, Fulton, Judge Steve Weisfeld 78-74 Fulton, Judge Frank Lombardi 79-73 Fulton
Round 9
Fulton went back to basics in this round. He was on the back foot slotting jab after jab into the puffy face of Leo never letting Leo get inside. Leo just kept marching onto the jab and was too slow to cut the ring off allowing Fulton space to score.
Score: 10-9 Fulton Fulton 87-84
Round 10
Once again Fulton changed his approach moving into brawling mode and mixing things with Leo. There was not a lot of clean work by either boxer but Fulton was the one doing most of the scoring and doing a better job of blocking incoming punches.
Score: 10-9 Fulton Fulton 97-93
Round 11
Back to boxing for Fulton. He was finding the target time and again with jabs and occasionally stepping in to connect with hard rights. Leo just kept marching forward but he was dripping blood from the cut and had swelling around his right eye and just could not close the elusive Fulton down.
Score 10-9 Fulton Fulton 107-102
Round 12
In a repeat of the eleventh Fulton jabbed and moved and as Leo rumbled forward Fulton clobbered him with rights to the head. Leo could not get close enough for long enough to do any damage and Fulton was already waiving his arm in triumph as the second ticked away.
Score: 10-9 Fulton Fulton 117-111
Official Scores: Judge John McKale 119-109 Fulton, Judge Steve Weisfeld 118-110 Fulton, Judge Frank Lombardi 119-109 Fulton
Philadelphian “Cool Boy” Fulton a former undefeated IBO champion was supposed to fight Leo for the vacant title last year but was ruled out by a positive COVID-19 test. He has scored wins over some good level but not outstanding opponents.
He will face tougher tests from WBO No 2 Michael Conlan and No 3 Daniel Roman but was a clear winner here. Leo had looked useful in outpointing unbeaten Tramaine Williams to win the title but was shown to be limited and predictable with his march forward tactics and no Plan B.
Aleem vs. Pasillas
Michigan’s Aleem scores four knockdowns on the way to winning the vacant WBA interim title. Pasillas made a confident start but Aleem was quicker and looked dangerous when he connected. Early in the second a right counter from Aleem put Pasillas down. He made to his feet and only just survived follow-up attacks from Aleem. Aleem outboxed Pasillas over the third, fourth and fifth before dropping Pasillas in the sixth.
A left to the side of the head dumped Pasillas on his rump he was not badly shaken but protested the punch had been to the back of the head. Pasillas continued to come forward but was rocked in the seventh. He regrouped and did enough to take the eighth. That success did not last and as he again came forward in the ninth he was clipped by a left counter and put his gloves on the canvas to stay upright resulting in an eight count.
The knockdowns in the sixth and ninth had not been heavy ones but a solid right counter in the eleventh was the real thing. As Pasillas hit the floor the referee waived the fight over. “The Beast” gets his twelfth win by KO/TKO but the interim title often seems to be a dead end and the WBA already have a super, a secondary and a gold champion in this division.
Pasillas had registered a good victory in halting 17-0 Ranfis Encarnacion in September but was out of his depth here.
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Romero vs. Sparrow
Romero gets injury stoppage win over late substitute Sparrow. Romero had Sparrow down very early in the opening round. With just 40 seconds gone a hard left jab sent Sparrow back and his mouthguard flying and a second jab saw Sparrow tumble to the canvas. He was not badly hurt and was up immediately.
Romero was quicker and more skillful than the crude Sparrow and put together some impressive combinations in successive rounds. Sparrow kept walking through the punches and stalking Romero. As they traded punches in the sixth Sparrow turned away and went down clutching his right knee. He got up and the referee treated it as a slip so no count. Romero tried desperately to finish the fight. Sparrow survived but lost a point for a very low blow.
In the seventh Sparrow was noticeably limping and under heavy pressure when his corner signalled to the referee to stop the fight. Romero was to have defended his WBA interim title against Justin Pauldo but Pauldo was 3.8lbs overweight and Sparrow came in at short notice as a substitute in a non-title fight.
Carter vs. Arroyo
Carter springs an upset as he takes the unanimous decision over former IBF super flyweight champion Arroyo. Carter made a fast start and built an early lead. Arroyo began to claw the lead back from the fourth round and it was close from there but Carter just had the edge.
Scores 77-75 for Carter from all three judges. Carter improves to 6 wins in his last 7 fights with the loss being against Angelo Leo. Arroyo, 35, is sliding with 4 losses in his last 5 fights.
Tokyo, Japan:
Super Feather: Kosuke Saka (21-5) W TKO 6 Takuya Watanabe (37-10-1).
Super Bantam: Gakuya Furuhashi (27-8-1) W TKO 9 Yusaku Kuga (19-5-1).
Saka vs. Watanabe
Saka made a successful first defence of the Japanese title with stoppage of experienced Watanabe. Saka took the lead early with his aggressive approach and Watanabe struggled to get into the fight but a clash of heads opened a cut over Saka’s left eye in the fourth.
Saka survived a doctor’s inspection and was in charge in the fifth with the open scoring showing him 49-46 in front on all three cards. Watanabe tried to take the fight to Saka but a monstrous right shook him badly and when he went down under a shower of punches the referee immediately stopped the fight.
Eighteenth inside the distance win for Sato. First inside the distance loss for Watanabe who is 0-3 in Japanese title fights and may now retire.
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Furuhashi vs. Kuga
Furuhashi scores a come from behind victory as he halts champion Kuga in the ninth round. In a fast start Kuga was piling forward putting Furuhashi under pressure with Furuhashi looking to stay inside and punch with Kuga.
The first three rounds went to Kuga clearly but from the fourth Furuhashi was battling back strongly and in the fifth Kuga looked to be wilting. The scores after five rounds had two judges having Kuga up 48-47 and the third had Kuga in front 48-47. They exchanged heavy punches through the sixth and seventh with Kuga just having the edge.
As Kuga seemed to tire in the eighth he was shaken by a big uppercut just before the bell and only just survived the round. Furuhashi jumped on Kuga and floored him at the start of the ninth. Kuga beat the count but was lurching around the ring under Furuhashi’a attack and the fight was stopped.
The 33-year-old Furuhashi wins a National title at his third attempt. Kuga was making the second defence of the title in his second spell as champion.
Tijuana, Mexico:
Fly: Angel Ayala (11-0) W PTS 10 Giovani Gonzalez (10-1).
Light Fly: Hector Flores (17-0-4) W TKO 4 Juan Parra (5-4).
Ayala vs. Gonzalez
Ayala wins this clash of unbeaten fighters and takes the vacant WBC Fecarbox title. Ayala floored Gonzalez with a counter right just ten seconds into the first round and put him down again late in the second with a left to the head.
After that Gonzalez tried hard to take the fight to Ayala but was rocked by head punches in the seventh and eighth. He showed guts but could not cope with the hand speed and power of Ayala and did well to be there at the end although a wide loser on points.
Useful ten rounds of work for 20-year-old Ayala. Gonzalez had won 5 of his last 6 fights inside the distance
Flores vs. Parra
Flores lives up to his “Rapidito” nickname as he scores a dramatic one-punch stoppage of Parra. Flores had worked his way in front over the first three rounds. Southpaw Parra tried to pressure Flores in the fourth but as he walked in he was met by a booming right cross from Flores which sent him down flat on his back as his gumshield went flying across the ring.
Parra’s head thudded onto the canvas and the referee waived the fight off immediately. Eighth win by KO/TKO for Flores who has yet to be tested. Parra had won 3 of his last 4 fights.
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General Madariaga, Argentina:
Super Middle: Sebastian Papeschi (16-3) W PTS 10 Marcelo Coceres (29-2-1).
Welter: Juan Leal (12-1) W PTS 10 Alfredo Blanco (21-9).
Papeschi vs. Coceres
Papeschi climbs off the canvas to a take a split decision over Coceres and gain revenge for a loss in November last year. Papeschi’s better boxing saw him edge the first two rounds but in the third a strong right from Coceres put Papeschi down. He managed to beat the count and luckily for him the bell went before Coceres could land another punch.
From there the rounds were close with Coceres just doing enough to stay in front but Papeschi staged a strong finish and fought his way ahead to take the verdict on a split decision. Scores 97-92 and 96-93 for Papeschi and 95 ½ -94 ½ for Coceres. Papeschi wins the interim Argenrinian title. Coceres lost on an eleventh round stoppage against Billy Joe Saunders for the WBO title in November 2019 but has struggled in his two fights with Papeschi.
There is talk of a third fight to decide the winner in their series.
Leal vs. Blanco
Leal had problems early with the awkward and aggressive Blanco and fell behind in the scoring. Leal’s cooler, more accurate work saw him come on strong over the middle rounds and then edge ahead as he refused to be drawn into a brawl by Blanco.
Realising he was behind Blanco put in a big effort over the last two rounds but Leal remained in control. Scores 97-93 twice and 96-94 for Leal who wins the vacant Argentinian title with his seventh victory in a row.
The more experienced and much travelled Blanco was 5-1 going in with his loss being against Alexander Besputin in April 2019.
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Fight of the week (Significance): Stephen Fulton’s win over Angelo Leo provides a new champion at super bantamweight
Fight of the week (Entertainment): Gakuya Furuhashi vs. Yusaku Kuga was a war
Fighter of the week: Stephen Fulton the new champion
Punch of the week: Counter right from Hector Flores that flattened Juan Parra was monstrous
Upset of the week: Sebastian Papeschi’s win over Marcelo Coceres was a shock result as was Sharone Carter’s victory over McJoe Arroyo
Prospect watch: None that caught my eye this week
