It is once again that time of the week for Under the Radar Fight Results. This is where I collect all the prominent results of the week that I had not already discussed separately and break them down. This week we have a couple really big upsets, an imaginary Chinese heavyweight, major prospects, and much more.
On the Radar Fight Results
Mikey Garcia dominates Adrien Broner on Showtime
Sadam Ali wins tough bout on ESPN2
Victor Ortiz wins pointless bout, DeLoach falls to Gallimore
Under the Radar Fight Results
Sunday, July 30th
Jun Long Zhang (18-0, 18 KOs) KO1 Osborne Machimana (22-10-2, 17 KOs), heavyweights – China
This is a fight that probably, almost definitely, maybe actually happened! Jun Long Zhang, not to be confused with Zhilei Zhang, is the Chinese minor WBA heavyweight titleholder who the WBA demanded video proof of his fights actually happening a couple fights into his Oceania title reign. Yes, the WBA put a belt on someone and then later questioned if he was having real fights or not. Here he knocked out some guy in one. Or he didn’t. Hell if I know. Like there would be video of a Jun Long Zhang fight.
Mark John Yap (27-12, 13 KOs) TKO4 Kentaro Masuda (27-8, 15 KOs), bantamweights – Japan
This OPBF bantamweight title fight was absolutely one to remember. Unfortunately the only current video I can find is a vertical cell phone recording, but it was worth the watch anyway. Mark John Yap was absolutely destroyed in the first round, going down three times officially and in absolutely terrible shape. I thought he went down a fourth time too at the end of the round, but obviously my video wasn’t great. The fight could have easily been stopped, but it wasn’t. He used the second to recover, started to take over in the third, and then Yap blew out Masuda in the fourth with two huge knockdowns of his own to complete an improbable comeback. This fight is right on that minor OPBF/Euro level that I sometimes leave out, but when I read it was this much fun, I knew I had to include it. Filipino Yap is now on a seven fight winning streak following an awful 2010-2014 stretch in which he went 6-10.
Karlos Balderas (2-0, 2 KOs) KO1 Eder Fajardo (3-4, 2 KOs), lightweights & Eimantas Stanionis (2-0, 2 KOs) KO3 Isaac Freeman (3-6-1, 3 KOs), welterweights & Money Powell IV (3-0, 2 KOs) UD4 Carlos Lozano (7-7, 4 KOs), junior middleweights – California
Three of Richard Schaefer’s Ringstar Promotions top prospects were in action on the Ortiz/Corral PBC on FS1 bill. Balderas, 20, made TV while Stanionis, 22, got brief highlights. Balderas and Stanionis both fought in Rio, both winning one fight for the US and Lithuania respectively. Powell was a top amateur too. Still only 19, Powell also grew up a military kid in Germany and is therefore comfortable both in the US and in Europe. Schaefer’s strategy here has been an interesting one. Instead of poaching a top fighter to build around, he is vacuuming up top amateurs for Ringstar Promotions. This is a slower game than I have ever seen anyone try, but his patience could really be rewarded if these kids start panning out and stick with him.
Saturday, July 29th
Emanuel Navarrete (21-1, 18 KOs) TKO5 Jhon Gemino (16-9-1, 7 KOs), featherweights – Mexico
Main eventing a TV Azteca card in Mexico, 22 year old Emanuel Navarrette continued his rise in the junior/full featherweight corridor of the sport. This was really good exposure for Navarette in Mexico, but it wasn’t a step up for him as he has been fighting on this level since early last year and he is a very active prospect. This was Emanuel’s fourth fight already in 2017. Navarrete possesses a fighting style that is both patient and action friendly at the same time. He keeps his range well while pressuring and, as a switch hitter, has some pop out of both stances. He doesn’t have world level athleticism, but he will usually have a size and strength advantage if he can stay at junior featherweight for his first run at a title.
Cristian Mijares (57-8-2, 26 KOs) UD10 Rafael Hernandez (21-8-2, 16 KOs), junior lightweights – Mexico
A decade ago, Cristian Mijares was absolutely a world class fighter. He won seven straight world title fights at super flyweight and unified two of the belts before falling to Vic Darchinyan in a three belt unification fight. Mijares then moved up to bantamweight, losing two narrow split decisions in title fights before dropping back down and winning another super flyweight belt in 2010. After defending that once, he moved up and has never really quite gotten himself completely back to world level. Both his losses since then came in super bantamweight world title fights. Now 35, Mijares is a really good Mexican regional fighter at featherweight and junior lightweight. I wouldn’t be surprised if he popped up as say a Miguel Berchelt voluntary title defense in Mexico at some point, but he couldn’t possibly win a fight like that.
Brad Solomon (27-1, 9 KOs) UD9 David Bency (11-7-1, 4 KOs), welterweights – Panama
Brad Solomon was one of those Top Rank prospects that just seemed to stay a known prospect forever without ever really stepping past that status. He seemed on the verge of contention following a 2011 Friday Night Fights win over former title challenger Demetris Hopkins, but he didn’t even continue on that level, let alone step up further. After nearly losing a decision to Adrian Granados in a fight he probably shouldn’t have won, Solomon was put in what was basically a Top Rank prospect eliminator with Konstantin Ponomarev on the Pacquiao/Bradley III undercard, losing a forgettable split decision. Solomon took this fight in Panama and is no longer listed on Top Rank’s website, so I assume they cut him following that loss. At 34, his ceiling is well marked, but maybe he will find someone who can put him into that bigger fight that Arum never bothered to or maybe couldn’t find.
Jonathan Taconing (25-3-1, 21 KOs) KO3 Silem Serang (8-14-1, 1 KO), light flyweights – Philippines
The top of the division at light flyweight is really great right now and I have the Philippine’s Jonathan Taconing ranked at fifteenth in the weight class. To be honest, however, after the top twelve or so, I am really just throwing darts at the board and hoping to hit. Basically I just have a group of guys who are, like Taconing, defined by their losses to the top tier of the division without any real top wins of their own. His seemed better (less worse?) than most others though, so fifteenth it is. Here he bashed out a nothing, club fighter opponent in a stay busy fight.
Rafael Chiruta (13-39-1, 6 KOs) TKO1 Reece Cartwright (17-1 10 KOs) middleweights, England
Reece Cartwright was not a real prospect and this result means little to the sport, but is it ever a funny one. Just look at those records, this result, and marvel. Improbably, Chiruta is on a minor career run here too. After starting 9-38, the 37 year old Spain based Romanian is now 4-1 in his last five. That stretch includes this fight and a decision win over a 19-0 Spaniard last time out. He just had to wait for that old man strength to come in, I guess.
Rau’shee Warren (15-2, 4 KOs) UD12 McJoe Arroyo (17-2, 8 KOs), super flyweights – New York
In a fight that in terms of quality of matchup absolutely deserved to be on Showtime’s broadcast Saturday night, Rau’shee Warren picked up a great, wide win over a former world titleholder deep on the Garcia/Broner undercard. The only three time Olympian in US amateur boxing history, Warren turned pro up at bantamweight, winning and losing a title there over the last two years. That is above his ideal weight, however, and with all the money suddenly congregating at super flyweight, his drop down was a no brainer. This fight was an IBF eliminator and now Warren is in line to fight talented Filipino titlist Jerwin Ancajas. Warren’s plan is to try to win that belt and then drop down again to flyweight to become a three division titlist. I am just speculating here, but super flyweight would seem to be a natural permanent landing spot after a shot at a flyweight belt. Relative to the history of the very small weight classes, this is a very much a money division right now. With yet another top fighter moving into it in Warren, it might just be time to crown it the clear best division in the sport.
Billy Dib (42-4, 24 KOs) NC3 Yardley Cruz (22-8, 12 KOs), lightweights – New York
Somehow, Billy Dib had a world title for three fights starting in 2011. He lost it in a dreadful fight to Evgeny Gradovich and then again lost the rematch. In 2015, he was swatted away in three in what was hopefully his final title bid against Takashi Miura. Dib is not pleasant to watch as a fighter and I am not excited to even as much as write a paragraph about him. This was stopped due to a head clash on the Garcia/Broner undercard.
Patrick Teixeira (27-1, 22 KOs) UD8 Andrew Hernandez (19-6-1, 9 KOs), junior middleweights – Arizona
Patrick Teixeira was presented by Golden Boy last May as a legitimate prospect coming out of Brazil to face Curtis Stevens on the Khanelo undercard. That lasted about four minutes before Stevens blasted him out. Losing to Curtis Stevens is not a good sign as he has never been able to beat fighters who can beat anyone else of note, but Golden Boy is at least giving Teixeira a chance to buck that trend here by keeping him on. Hernandez is far from world class, but beating him comfortably is a sign that Teixeira is closer than him at least. It is a respectable comeback win.
Tramaine Williams (12-0, 5 KOs) KO1 William Gonzalez (30-8, 26 KOs), featherweights – California
In 2014, Williams was a rising prospect signed with Top Rank who was set to make his Madison Square Garden debut on the Wladimir Klitschko/Bryant Jennings undercard. Two days prior to that event, however, he was arrested as part of a raid on narcotics and firearms. After about a year in prison, Williams returned to the sport without much direction until Roc Nation signed him up. He is 4-0 with three stoppages since his comeback. This was his second straight fight on a higher, journeyman instead of club fighter level and it was his second straight early stoppage win. The fight was broadcast as the main event of a CBS Sports Network card. Hopefully he can stay out of trouble as there is some talent here.
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Friday, July 28th
Sho Kimura (15-1-2, 8 KOs) TKO11 Zou Shiming (9-2, 2 KOs), WBO flyweight title – China
A lot of the boxing fanbase reaction has been to dismiss this fight as not being a big upset. After all, Shiming, who had ditched both Freddy Roach and Top Rank, was kind of a bogus two time gold medalist, a joke of a titleholder, and never had looked good as a professional fighter. Yet, to dismiss this in that way is to ignore that this sport operates on countless levels of quality. There is not just world class and everyone else.
Zou Shiming was a profitable titleholder helping grow the sport in a lucrative potential new market. His weakness as a pro fighter was known and his opponents, like Sho Kimura, were selected accordingly. Kimura had no wins over fighters with double digit wins of their own and only three wins over fighters with winning records at all, two of those being 3-0-1 and 6-5-5. Yes, Zou Shiming was not a top fighter. This is still an absolutely massive upset regardless of that truth.
As for the fight itself, Kimura brought the pressure from minute one. At first Shiming handled it reasonably well, but the tide slowly turned over the course of each passing round. Shiming is 36, ancient for the small weights, and by the second half of the fight he was folding under the pressure. At the end, he took a beating before collapsing partly from shots, and partly from exhaustion. As of now, he is saying he wants to avenge the loss and not retire. In Asian boxing, that is a huge money fight to be made. He would be wise to get back with Freddy Roach, if only for improving the rematch narrative alone.
Daniel Lozano (14-4, 11 KOs) KO2 David Carmona (20-5-5, 8 KOs), bantamweights – Florida
When this is only the second biggest upset of the week, boxing has had a good one. David Carmona is a good fighter. He has two wins over former title challenger and fellow Mexican super flyweight Ricardo Rodriguez. He nearly won an interim title fight that came back a split draw. He went the distance with and won a couple rounds from Naoya Inoue, things people don’t do against the Japanese sensation. Last time out, he fought very competitively with Carlos Cuadras, a top five, maybe top three fighter in what I consider the best division in boxing. He also beat this very same Daniel Lozano by comfortable decision just two years ago.
Yet, that is not what happened here. Originally, Carmona was supposed to fight undefeated Puerto Rican prospect Jose Martinez, but he came in four pounds overweight and Martinez dropped out. Camona needed a new opponent at a higher weight class and this rematch with Lozano came together in less than 24 hours. This feels a bit like karma at work here. Camona missed weight badly, drove away his original opponent, and then brought in a short notice opponent that he had already beaten, only two get dropped twice and stopped in the second round. Carmona was my eleventh ranked super flyweight. Now he will not be.
Wednesday, July 26th
Carlos Adames (12-0, 10 KOs) UD11 Carlos Molina (28-7-2, 8 KOs), welterweights – Dominican Republic
A rare Caribbean fighter with extensive amateur experience, Carlos Adames really announced his presence here with this win. This was over the good Carlos Molina, not the one that Adrien Broner fought. This is the Carlos Molina that maybe should have gotten a decision against Erislandy Lara, the one that beat Kermit Cintron and was winning against James Kirkland before that bizarre finish. He beat Cory Spinks in a title eliminator and then won the belt from Ishe Smith before surprisingly losing it to K9 Bundrage in 2015. Unfortunately for Molina, a complicated legal situation has made it impossible to fight in the United States and his career has stalled out in Mexico. Yet, until this night, he was also still winning easily against domestic opposition. Molina, now 34, was dropped in the second and near shut out on the cards in this eleven round fight for a minor WBA belt. Molina probably isn’t what he was, but this is still a statement win early in Adames’s career.
Viktor Polyakov (13-1-1, 6 KOs) UD12 Giovanni De Carolis (24-8-1, 12 KOs), super middleweights – Italy
Prior to this bout, De Carolis had been in four bouts for one of those titles that the WBA acts like is a true world title, but isn’t. In those, two a piece against Victor Feigenbutz and Tyron Zeuge, he went 1-2-1, a respectable showing against talented opposition. Viktor Polyakov was a 2004 (yes, 2004) Olympian from Ukraine who was a win from medaling. He fought his first twelve fights in the United States, all wins, and then vanished from 2012 until February of this year when he returned. Already having fought three times this year and going 1-1-1, he wasn’t supposed to win this fight. Not only did he win, however, he did it on wide cards. I can’t figure out why Polyakov disappeared for five years, but he appears to be getting his grove back now. Somehow this is only the third biggest upset of the week.
