Once again, it is the time of the week for Under the Radar Fight Results. This is where I gather all the even remotely prominent results of the week that I had not already covered in previous articles. This was a quiet week in terms of US television with only a PBC Toe-to-Toe Tuesday to speak of, but the world scene always keeps on churning. This week we have a pair of world title fights, a whole slew of Olympians, a former heavyweight titleholder, a son of a legend, and much more
On the Radar Results
Avalos stops Flores controversially on FS1
Under the Radar Fight Results
Sunday, July 23rd
Hiroto Kyoguchi (8-0, 6 KOs) UD12 Jose Argumedo (20-4-1, 12 KOs), IBF minimumweight title – Japan
This is the second minimumweight title fight in two weeks. In it 23 year old Kyoguchi became yet another in a rapidly growing list of young Japanese prospects to win a world title very early in their career at the lowest weights in the sport. He did it in record time for a Japanese fighter too, going from pro debut to world titlist in fifteen months. The country now holds seven of the twelve belts at flyweight and below, ten overall. This is a really good win for Kyoguchi even beyond the belt as Arumedo not only had the IBF belt, but he has successfully defended it three times.
It was an ugly fight though. Kyoguchi is game, but raw and there were a ton of wide, winging shots that led to bad positioning more so than landing. Bad positioning coupled with Argumedo looking to avoid contact led to holding, rabbit punches, and a barely watchable affair for large stretches of the contest. Yet, the fight did big numbers on Japanese television, peaking at over four million viewers. If the same percentage of the American population were to watch a fight, it would have over ten million eye balls on it. I am curious to see if Kyoguchi stays at 105 or moves up to light flyweight. Milan Melindo’s IBF belt up there is the only one not already held by a Japanese fighter.
Ryoichi Taguchi (26-2-2, 12 KOs) TKO9 Robert Barrera (18-2, 12 KOs), WBA light flyweight title – Japan
I don’t see Taguchi as a super strong titlist, but nonetheless this was his sixth defense since winning the belt on New Year’s Eve 2014. He just hasn’t been defending against strong competition. Barrera, for example, dropped from flyweight for this fight, but I didn’t have him ranked in my top twenty five in that class either. That is a division that I have difficulty rounding out the last few spots in too. In the Venezuelan challenger’s eighteen wins, only four had come against opponents with winning records and without double digit losses. Regardless of what I think, Taguchi reigns on by stopping Barrera in nine.
The itself fight was reasonably competitive for a few rounds, but Taguchi’s commitment to the body broke his undeserving challenger down. The last few rounds were rough and this could have been stopped a round earlier. Supposedly light flyweight unification is up next, which is awesome, as Taguchi and WBO titlist Kosei Tanaka are circling each other. I would be shocked if that fight ended well for Taguchi as I rate Tanaka very, very highly.
Kohei Kono (33-10-1, 14 KOs) TKO5 Rambo Sithsaithong (8-5, 4 KOs), bantamweights – Japan
Well, this is a fight that happened. I have Kono ranked number ten in a division that I believe is one of the best in the sport. He has had multiple world title reigns and, for example, holds a win over Koki Kameda not too long ago. Here, he smashed an overmatched Thai fighter as is a bit of an unfortunate recent tradition in Asian boxing. Don’t feel bad for Thailand though, as no where is the practice more prominent than it is there at home. Plus, these guys are often experience Muay Thai fighters at least. Thankfully, this was just a stay busy fight while Kono bides his time waiting for his fall showdown with unbeaten, promising Chinese prospect Rex Tso tentatively scheduled for October.
Saturday, July 22nd
Tim Tszyu (6-0, 5 KOs) TKO2 Christopher Khan (1-2-1, 1 KO), middleweights – Australia
22 year old Tim Tszyu, son of Kostya, is still keeping busy in Australia. In reading Aussie press, they are starting to refer to him as “Tszyu 2” and it does sound like he is starting to gather a following. As a prospect, Tszyu looks better than I’d expect given his limited amateur career. He throws very straight shots, keeps his punching range really well, and possesses somewhat surprising reflexes. He doesn’t physically look like an athlete in the way his father did, but he might just be one anyway. Praise aside though, Tim is still raw overall and will need a lot of seasoning. No video for this fight as of yet, but there are others up on youtube if you wish to peruse.
Isaac Dogboe (17-0, 11 KOs) RTD6 Javier Nicolas Chacon (25-4-1, 7 KOs), super bantamweights – Ghana
Dogboe is seventeen fights into his career and fought in the 2012 London games, yet he remains only 22. Here he outclassed his Argentinian opponent pretty comfortably. Chacon hadn’t won a round and was taking a minor beating when he retired after six citing a hand injury. Dogboe is a real prospect to watch. He is an impressive young athlete that moves really well while throwing basically every punch in the book in the process. I especially like how he digs the body. He isn’t perfect though. For instance, Dogboe will forget where he is in the ring and inexplicably back himself into corners. He also flurries too excitedly when he thinks he hurt his opponent which sometimes leads to slapping. Regardless, Dogboe has done well to collect a variety of minor WBO belts along the way and accordingly is ranked in their top five. Eventually him versus their titlist Jessie Magdaleno would be a very exciting matchup.
Olanrewaju Durodola (26-4, 24 KOs) KO2 Karama Nyilawila (24-17-3, 14 KOs), cruiserweights – Ghana
Durodola is a good fighter right outside my top 15 in what is a notably deep cruiserweight division. His standing is largely built off one fight, however, a second round stoppage upset of Russian power puncher and WBSS participant Dmitry Kudryashov late in 2015. Identifying a second best win on his ledger is pretty difficult as all others are equally low level. Kudryashov avenged that win in June too via exciting fifth round stoppage, so Durodola is very much in need of a good victory going forward. This was a quick comeback fight barely a month after being stopped and Durodola is listed has having another scheduled only a couple weeks from now. The fight will be against South Africa’s once beaten Kevin Lerena, a fringe top 25 guy who would definitely be a step in the right direction should Durodola prevail.
Jhonny Gonzalez (64-10, 54 KOs) KO2 Jessie Cris Rosales (21-1-1, 9 KOs), junior lightweights – Mexico
18 years and almost 75 fights into his career, Jhonny Gonzales just keeps on doing his thing. After a slow first frame, here he destroyed an unbeaten fighter in two on a fairly prominent Televisa card. After dropping his untested Filipino opponent with a left hook upstairs, Gonzalez finished him with a brutal left hook to the body. It has been almost four years since Gonzalez’s last big win, a shocking TKO1 upset of Abner Mares, but I have written him off so many times in the last decade that I am just not going to do that again. Unfortunately, Gonzalez kind of seems like he is on a crash course for a Miguel Berchelt title fight. He has had a million WBC title fights in his career and has been fighting for and defending minor WBC belts in every fight of his current six fight win streak. I don’t think he can even really be competitive in that fight. Oh, there I go again, writing him off two lines after I said I wouldn’t. Who really knows with Jhonny Gonzales?
Misael Rodriguez (2-0, 1 KO) KO2 Jose David Mosquera (16-10-1, 14 KOs), middleweights & Lindolfo Delgado (2-0, 2 KOs) KO1 Gerson Escobar (2-3, 1 KO), junior welterweights – Mexico
A pair of 2016 Mexican Olympians in Rodriguez and Delgado were also in action on the Televisa card. Misael Rodriguez won bronze. This is kind of a big deal as Mexico doesn’t really medal all that often despite their pro success. They just don’t have a big amateur system. Yet, despite his improbable Olympic success, I don’t see a prominent prospect at all in either of Rodriguez’s pro fights. He is very slow and technically all over the place. He doesn’t seem to have the great power he would need to make up for it either. As it stands, he is a lumbering brawler. Delgado seems much sharper, but this was my first time seeing him. He got his wide open opponent out of there so fast that it is hard to take a ton from it. I liked the accuracy of his counters though, brief as they were.
Mikhail Aloyan (2-0) UD12 Marvin Solano (19-2, 7 KOs), super flyweights – Russia
Learn this name. 28 year old Mikhail Aloyan is a big deal. He is a two time Olympian, winning bronze and silver in 2012 and 2016 respectively. He flat out won the world championships in 2011 and 2013. Aloyan owns amateur wins over former world titleholders Amnat Ruenroeng and Rau’shee Warren, current belt holder Khalid Yafai, prominent prospects Andrew Selby and Nordine Oubaali, as well as most impressively two time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramírez. Here he picked up a WBC silver belt in only his second fight and has world title fight on his mind in his next few fights. 115 is absolutely loaded too so any route he takes will have to go over a really, really good fighter. Maybe those guys will be too much for Aloyan, but with his pedigree I can’t count him out.
Egor Mekhontsev (13-0-1, 8 KOs) MD8 Gusmyr Perdomo (24-8, 16 KOs), light heavyweights – Russia
Mekhontsev did what even Aloyan couldn’t, winning light heavyweight gold in 2012. His pro career hasn’t quite panned out as hoped though. Last August, Egor fought to a disappointing eight round draw against Alexander Johnson, a fighter other prominent prospects had handled with much more ease. It isn’t like Mekhontsev was looking real impressive before that fight either. Until this fight, Mekhontsev had fought his entire career for Top Rank, but this was in Russia and he is no longer listed on their website. Even here the former gold medalist struggled to win against a regional level fighter.
Fedor Chudinov (15-2, 11 KOs) TKO2 Jonathan Geronimo Barbadillo (17-4-1, 14 KOs), super middleweights – Russia
Former world titlist Fedor Chudinov won his belt in 2015 over Felix Sturm, then lost it back to him after one defense in early 2016 in a complete robbery. Chudinov would not fight again until it was for his belt that he should have never lost, sitting out well over a year until he and George Groves met for it in May. Unfortunately for the Russian ex-titleholder, Groves really did a number on him in an exciting fight, forcing a sixth round stoppage. Back in Russia, this fight was a surprisingly quick turnaround for the normally inactive fighter. I hope this is his new mindset as the 29 year does a lot well in the ring and can earn his way back to contention. He just has to get in the ring consistently.
David Oliver Joyce (2-0, 2 KOs) TKO3 Lesther Cantillano (3-6, 2 KOs), lightweights – England
2016 Irish Olympian David Oliver Joyce will obviously have a built in fanbase, but I need to see more of him. He won his first fight at the games, but lost in the second round. I can’t find a video of this fight and I had mixed feelings about his debut. He seemed a bit like a mauler, but I couldn’t get a good read on his potential. Hopefully someone tosses his next contest up online.
Friday, July 21st
Alexander Brand (26-2, 20 KOs) KO3 Miguel Lengua (0-5), heavyweights? – Colombia
Colombian fighter Alexander Brand brought his empty record to Oakland last year to serve as Andre Ward’s test dummy at the weight. Unlike with Ward’s second opponent at light heavyweight Sullivan Barrera, we aren’t going to get any surprises going forward. Brand was not, is not, and at 40, will not be a contender. Boxrec claims this fight was at heavyweight too. That won’t help.
Erkan Teper (17-2, 11 KOs) TKO1 Zoltan Csala (11-12, 9 KOs), heavyweights – Germany
After back to back wins against Johann Duhaupas and David Price, 2015 Erkan Teper looked like a real emerging contender at heavyweight. Then a sluggish, narrow win over American journeyman Derric Rossy was followed by losses to Mariusz Wach and Christian Hammer. 2017 Erkan Teper is left in a confusing place. This first round stoppage over a club fighter won’t help much, but he needed a win so he found one. 35 isn’t super old at heavyweight like it is at smaller classes, but it is still too old for Teper to really be expected to improve much. He is probably what his results tell us, a top 25 heavyweight, but only barely. He did get back down to the 240s for this fight, so that should help going forward if Teper maintains the lighter weight.
Jonathan Oquendo (27-5, 17 KOs) RTD5 Orlando Rizo (19-11, 11 KOs), junior lightweights – Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Oquendo is not a top tier fighter, but he did score a narrow 2015 win over the always unpredictable, sometimes great Jhonny Gonzalez. This earned him a title shot against Jesus Cuellar a couple months later. That was not a good night for Jonathan Oquendo. The Puerto Rican challenger was super tentative on that night, clearly looking to limit the engagements in the fight. It was a really poor, unsatisfying showing in which he did get buzzed a couple times anyway in an otherwise tedious fight. Oquendo had been out for seventeen months following the poor performance. Here he returned to dominate a journeyman on his native island.
Robson Conceição (4-0, 3 KOs) KO1 Bernardo Gomez Uribe (18-8, 11 KOs), lightweights – Puerto Rico
Three time Olympian Robson Conceição finally broke through and won gold in his native Brazil in 2016 after first round exits his first two times in the games. He is a really interesting pro prospect now too. He throws some shots really poorly, especially wide, winging, slapping hooks that he wildly piles on. Yet, his athleticism is undeniable. He also seems to carry really power in shots that look like he shouldn’t have power in due to poor form. He does straighten up his shots at times too to throw powerful, blitzing straight line bursts that remind me of the devastation Manny Pacquiao would bring with his more limited game earlier in his career. I don’t know what Top Rank will be able to do with Conceição given that he is going to turn 29 shortly, but it should be a fun ride. There is a lot of talent to polish here.
Shingo Wake (21-5-2, 13 KOs) TKO5 Mikihito Seto (34-13-3, 18 KOs), super bantamweights – Japan
From 2013 to 2015, Wake had a two year, six fight run as the OPBF super bantamweight titlist. This is basically the Japan-South East Asia-Australia equivalent of the European belt. He parlayed that into a world title shot against Jonathan Guzman, but he was dominated and stopped in eleven. I figured that was the last we would hear of Wake on the world level, but then an interesting thing happened. Out of no where, Guzman was upset by Yukinori Oguni last New Year’s Eve. Oguni has one loss, a stoppage to Wake early in his career. I would confidently bet that rematch happens over the next year or so.
Tuesday, July 18th
Charles Martin (25-1-1, 23 KOs) KO1 Michael Marrone (21-8, 15 KOs), heavyweights – Louisiana
Former HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION Charles Martin fought off television, again, on a PBC on FS1 undercard, again. This was his second fight back since SHOCKINGLY seeming to lose his title in a big upset to Anthony Joshua. Martin is so good, they are afraid to put him on television. He is so good, there is no point in him even being in my top 25 because it is a given where he ranks. Charles Martin is so obviously good, he was given a title shot just for existing. And then to prove once and for all just how good he is, he won that belt mentally without landing punches. THEN to show his humanitarian side, he chose to grant his belt to poverty stricken Anthony Joshua with a bit of playacting, just another side of his goodness. Here he won on a clean body shot, but you could tell he pulled back on it because Michael Marrone survived. All hail Prince Charles, first of his name. Long may he let us all live.
Edwin Rodriguez (29-2, 20 KOs) TKO2 Melvin Russell (10-2-2, 6 KOs), cruiserweights – Louisiana
High octane light heavyweight Edwin Rodriguez has gone from real prospect, to mindless action star over the last few years. This fight was off television on PBC on FS1 and not even mentioned, but it is good to see him back in the win column. If you haven’t seen either of his last two fights against Michael Seals or Thomas Williams Jr, stop reading now and go find some video.
