Welcome to Under the Radar Fight Results, my Tuesday column in which I catch you up on all the significant results in the sport that didn’t make their own results articles. With the start of the World Boxing Super Series and title fights on both HBO and Showtime, it was an active week in the sport. Those deeper undercards provided plenty of action while the rest of the world kept churning as well. This week we have a fighter returning from tragedy, a major card in Kazakhstan, an ex-MMA fighter, and the return of Kid Chocolate, Peter Quillin.
On the Radar Results
David Benavidez very narrowly wins his first title on Showtime
Oleksandr Usyk advances in the WBSS by stopping Marco Huck
Sor Rungvisai destroys Chocolatito in the rematch, Inoue and Estrada impress on HBO
Under the Radar Fight Results
Saturday, September 9th
Erik Bazinyan (17-0, 12 KOs) KO2 Bernard Donfack (23-17-3, 11 KOs), light heavyweights – Quebec
Montreal based Armenian-Canadian prospect Erik Bazinyan picked up a stay busy, record building win at home on Saturday. In Montreal, one of the better fight cities of the world, Bazinyan is now a headliner and that alone makes him notable. Though he fought here and many other times at light heavyweight, he also cuts to super middleweight semi-regularly so I assume that is where he will pursue becoming a contender eventually. He does reportedly struggle with that limit a bit though. As a prospect, Bazinyan is a solid if unspectacular one. He is a sharp, accurate puncher who throws straight shots and works behind the jab, but he also seems to get tired and a bit lazy with putting himself on the ropes. These things can be corrected in the gym though
Ryan Ford (13-0, 8 KOs) RTD4 Joaquin Murrieta (5-6-2, 3 KOs), light heavyweights – Quebec
In this post MayMac, potentially pre-Cyborg and Aldo world of crossover attractions, Ryan Ford is doing it for real. Ford was never a star in the MMA world, but he was a competent professional who won fights in Bellator and the World Series of Fighting, two pretty good organizations. His boxing career is going reasonably well too up to this point. While this was obviously a can crushing, last time out Ford did stop a high level journeyman in Robert Berridge which was a win at a higher level than I ever would have expected him to climb to. At 35, Ford has limited time to work with, but if he keeps working over the Canadian regional scene then he will at least get a chance at a moderately higher level opponent. Here he fought on Bazinyan’s undercard.
Noel Gevor (23-1, 10 KOs) UD10 Isiah Thomas (15-2, 6 KOs), cruiserweights – Germany
Do yourself a favor. If you ever see the name Isiah Thomas on any fight card, immediately destroy whatever you are watching it on. Smash your television, cancel your internet, whatever it takes. It is not worth the risk. One of the most negative fighters in the game, Thomas is a plus athlete who goes in the ring with the exclusive intent of making sure no fight takes place whatsoever. A pacifist in a pugilist’s gloves, Thomas would be better served as a UN Peacekeeper than a professional fighter. This took place as the Usyk/Huck co-feature. Gevor is a fringe contender in an extremely deep cruiserweight division. He got the decision here because he was the only fighter present for the judges to render a decision for.
Patrick Wojcicki (10-0, 4 KOs) UD8 Fouad El Massoudi (14-10, 1 KO), middleweights & Leon Bunn (6-0, 6 KOs) TKO5 Tomasz Gargula (18-8-1, 5 KOs), light heavyweights – Germany
Also on the undercard in Germany are these two native prospects. Middleweight Patrick Wojcicki is from Germany’s 2012 Olympic class, but I don’t think he has the real physical skills to amount to a real world class pro. More interesting is Leon Bunn, an older prospect at 25 who never did fight in the Olympics, but one who seems to be treated more as a really significant prospect than Wojcicki. At this stage in his career, Bunn is a come forward pressure fighter who likes to work the body inside, but he also comes forward behind very little to protect himself so this will need to be corrected for the future.
Kanat Islam (25-0, 20 KOs) TKO9 Brandon Cook (18-1, 11 KOs), junior middleweights – Kazakhstan
33 year old Kanat Islam dominated this WBA #1 slot eliminator, hurting his Canadian opponent in nearly every round of the fight. It must be noted that Brandon Cook was extremely game, however, and never stopped trying. In fact he was able to land quite regularly against his defensively open opponent, but he was unable to deal physically with the heat Islam was bringing in return.
This was Islam’s second fight in Kazakhstan. Although ethnically he is Kazakhstani, Kanat was raised in China and fought in the Olympics twice for them, winning bronze in 2012. He didn’t receive citizenship in his genetic homeland until a few years ago. The likely future title contender now bases his career out of Florida and has four of his last six fights stateside. He is offensively a very good fighter, but Islam is also aging rapidly and needs to secure this shot sooner rather than later.
The WBA has three titleholder as junior middleweight because of course they do. Supposedly they are consolidating these, but they’ve done nothing of the sort at 154 lbs. I imagine we will see Islam in against Lara, Andrade, or Castaño soon. Any one of those three matchups is a good fight at the very least.
Ali Akhmedov (9-0, 7 KOs) KO8 Justin Thomas (18-3, 7 KOs), light heavyweights & Ruslan Myrsatayev (4-0, 4 KOs) TKO4 Andres Matias Afranllie (5-1, 5 KOs), heavyweights & Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (2-0, 1 KO) UD6 Gilberto Pereira dos Santos (14-6, 10 KOs), light heavyweights – Kazakhstan
Supporting the Islam/Cook card was a trio of really intriguing Kazakhstani prospects. First and foremost, Ali Akhmedov is a premiere prospect in the sport. He never got to participate in major international amateur tournaments because of the politics of being stuck behind a well connected legend in the brilliant amateur program of their country, but at 22 he is a world class prospect expected to win titles. Ruslan Myrsatayev and Zhanibek Alimkhanuly are both former Olympic quarter finalists, though Myrsatayev did so back in 2008. It is only in recent history that these elite Kazakhstani amateurs would even turn pro with this changing in part due to the visible American success of Gennady Golovkin, but as long as their amateur program stays on this level, expect to be flooded with names like these in the next decade.
Paulus Moses (40-3, 25 KOs) TKO5 Saidi Mundi (19-4-1, 11 KOs), lightweights – Namibia
In 2009, Namibian lightweight Paulus Moses went to Japan to win the a lightweight belt, defending it once before losing it to Miguel Acosta at home in Namibia. Three years later, he went to the UK to try to win the WBO version against Ricky Burns, but he was easily outpointed. It is hard to imagine him doing much more at 39, but he is 12-1 with a no contest since the Burns fight in 2012. I wouldn’t be shocked to see someone use him for a soft defense somewhere down the line. He has been defending a WBO regional belt and is calling out Terry Flanagan. I wouldn’t exactly be shocked if that fight happened, as much of a waste of time as it probably would be.
Kevin Lerena (19-1, 9 KOs) SD12 Youri Kalenga (23-4, 16 KOs), cruiserweights – South Africa
South African cruiserweight Kevin Lerena picked up a career best win here in a mild upset over former title challenger Youri Kalenga. The fight was very competitive with Kalenga working inside effectively, especially early, and Lerena countering when there was space. For Lerena, this marks his transition from fringe contender to true contender. He is undefeated Lennox Lewis style as well having avenged his loss to Johnn Muller via knockout. For Kalenga, the news is worse. He is now 2-3 in his last five. While all three of those losses were to high level opponents and reasonably competitive, he is now marked as below the top of the division for all to see. He is just too crude in his work.
Kemahl Russell (12-1, 10 KOs) TKO7 Ian Green (12-2, 9 KOs), junior middleweights – New York
When Jamaican prospect Kemahl Russell met Sergiy Derevyanchenko in March, it was obviously way too much for a fighter who had never seen a world class operator before. Yet, until he was stopped in the fifth, I felt Russell was actually fighting pretty well given what he was up against. Ian Green had scored an upset over an unbeaten fighter on ShoBox not too long ago too, so on paper this was a pretty great matchup at this level of the sport. Unfortunately, I can’t find video. As a result without context, however, this is a damn good one for the Jamaican provided it was clean and without controversy. Don’t write him off quite yet as a middleweight prospect.
Brian Viloria (38-5, 23 KOs) KO5 Miguel Cartagena (15-4-1, 6 KOs), super flyweight – California
Former two division world titleholder Brian Viloria last fought on the big stage in October of 2015, finding himself dropped, battered, and eventually stopped by the then still unbeatable Chocolatito Gonzalez. After nearly a year and a half off following that defeat, Viloria has now fought twice this year over lower competition one division up in the current money filled field of super flyweight. The Hawaiian fighter is now 36, however, which is absolutely ancient for flyweight weight classes. I am sure he can use his name and some mid-level wins to get a shot at becoming a three division titleholder, but it would be a miracle if he pulled that off, especially given the ridiculous depth to the division.
Friday, September 10th
Juan Carlos Reveco (39-3, 19 KOs) UD12 Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking (22-5, 15 KOs), flyweights – Argentina
Former light and full flyweight titleholder Juan Carlos Reveco of Argentina punched his ticket to another title shot over Thailand’s Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking (given name: Komgrich Nantapech). Last time out the Thai fighter fought for the IBF belt against Donnie Nietes and Reveco posted about the same result that the titleholder did. It will be a quick turn around for the Argentinian too as his world title shot against the very same Nietes is already booked for November.
David Toussaint (12-0, 8 KOs) TD6 Liam Hutchinson (11-5-1, 5 KOs), middleweights – Australia
You might remember David Toussaint for rather easily beating Shane Mosley Jr on the Pacquiao/Horn ESPN undercard. That win doesn’t mean anywhere near as much as the Mosley name might suggest, but it was a great forum on which Toussaint became an international prospect rather than a little known Australian regional fighter. Here he picked up a win back on that Australian domestic level. Between Horn, Toussaint, the Moloney twins, Luke Jackson, Damien Hooper, and Jai Opetaia, the next generation is only probably two years from being fully in place for Australian boxing. If some of these fighters really pan out, we may be on the verge of an Aussie renaissance. New Zealand’s Joseph Parker basically functions in that market as well.
Adam Braidwood (9-1, 8 KOs) KO1 Wilfrido Leal (10-11-2, 8 KOs), heavyweights – British Columbia
To the sport as a whole, Adam Braidwood doesn’t really register. He is a regional level Canadian heavyweight functioning in an area without competition who has already taken a loss. From the human perspective, however, I was shocked to see this result. Less than three months ago, Adram Braidwood delivered the blows to ex-UFC fighter and reported all around good guy Tim Hague that resulted in his death later that night. I hope this quick turn around and willingness to show the aggression needed for a first round knockout means Braidwood is in a good place mentally following the tragedy.
Peter Quillin (33-1-1, 23 KOs) UD8 Dashon Johnson (22-22-3, 7 KOs), light heavyweights – Nevada
There is no footage of this bout that was buried deep off television on Friday’s David Benavidez/Ronald Gavril Showtime card, but from those in the arena, Kid Chocolate did not look good here. While he supposedly did hurt Johnson along the way, reportedly Quillin himself was hurt by the career journeyman at the end of the third and looked altogether very tentative in the ring. Maybe it was ring rust after nearly two years off following his first round blow out loss to Danny Jacobs, but given that result plus this one, I worry that maybe he just isn’t mentally in the game anymore one way or another.
Xavier Martinez (9-0, 5 KOs) TKO5 Jesus Aguinaga (5-6-2), junior lightweights – Nevada
19 year old PBC prospect Xavier Martinez also returned off television on the Benavidez/Gavril card. His last fight was on FS1 in June against a fellow unbeaten prospect in which Martinez looked quite excellent for his age. Here he was given a record building fight, but at 19 there is plenty of time for those. I would expect to see this extremely sharp young fighter on a lot of PBC undercards over the next few years.
