Welcome to Under the Radar Fight Results, the weekly column in which I go over all the results of the week that I hadn’t already covered. This is the second extremely busy week for UTR in a row. This week we have Sakio Bika, MMA crossover fighters, many Olympians, and much more. Make sure to check out the On the Radar links if you’re curious about any of my thoughts.
On the Radar Results
Warrington and Catterall get big wins
Ryan Burnett unifies in Belfast
Murat Gassiev destroys and advances
Alberto Machado gets his first belt on HBO
Murata, Higa, and Shiro win at home
Under the Radar Fight Results
Sunday, October 22nd
Sakio Bika (34-7-3, 22 KOs) UD12 Geard Ajetovic (31-17-1, 16 KOs), super middleweights – Australia
After more than two years out of the ring following his 2015 defeat against Adonis Stevenson, Sakio Bika has now fought twice in three months against lower level competition. Assuredly the always super game Australian based Cameroonian will want another crack at world level, but at 38 he is very unlikely to be successful in this goal. Bika never really got the wins against top fighters to begin with, though he did draw with Anthony Dirrell in 2013.
Tim Tszyu (7-0, 5 KOs) UD10 Wade Ryan (14-6, 3 KOs), junior middleweights – Australia
In his sixth fight of the year, 22 year old prospect Tim Tszyu found some real firsts in this fight. For one, he found himself on the canvas in the first round. Then he found himself going ten rounds for the first time in his career to pick up his first minor title. He also cut to junior middleweight for the first time here. Given his frame, he belongs there much more than he does at middleweight. Though he struggled a bit with all this at once, in the end the son of the legend passed the big test which was winning the fight. He didn’t get the main event here, but young Tszyu does seem to be getting most of the post-event headlines as I search through Australian press. There is some real star potential for him down under.
Saturday, October 21st
Andrew Moloney (15-0, 10 KOs) TKO4 Hashimu Zuberi (13-2, 3 KOs), super flyweights & Jason Moloney (15-0, 12 KOs) KO1 Julias Kisarawe (27-5-1, 14 KOs), bantamweights & Jai Opetaia (13-0, 10 KOs) TKO1 Frankie Lopez (9-1, 7 KOs), cruiserweights – Australia
Australia’s next generation of boxers is almost ready to graduate from a group of prospects to contenders. The Moloney twins both recently dropped one division at the same time and both always fight for minor WBA belts. Andrew, who also picked up the Commonwealth belt here, is the more prominent prospect and always headlines, but Jason is real prospect too. Samoan-Australian cruiserweight Jai Opetaia is not as skilled as the Moloneys, but he looks to be a real good athlete with some pop. He also fought in the 2012 games and is still only 22. These three plus Luke Jackson, David Touissant, Tim Tzsyu, Damien Hooper, and Jeff Horn give Australia the best looking future I can remember it having in the sport.
Abrahan Nova (8-0, 7 KOs) TKO3 Dato Nanava (8-4, 3 KOs), junior lightweights – Belgium
Abrahan Nova is a known prospect who was getting slots on PBC cards for three of his first four fights, but since then he has been a complete nomad. His last four fights, in order, have taken place in Mexico, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, and now Belgium. The former amateur standout is certainly taking the road less traveled as a prospect. Of note, Nova was born in Puerto Rico to Dominican parents who then mostly grew up in New York City. There is some interesting marketing potential here along with very real talent.
Ryan Ford (14-0, 9 KOs) TKO3 Miguel Cubos (11-14, 8 KOs), light heavyweights – Canada
Former well established MMA fighter Ryan Ford here took his second consecutive easy fight following his May upset win over fringe contender Robert Berridge. I assume the Canadian is just trying to build up the appearance of his record while waiting for another opportunity similar or better than the Berridge fight. He won’t win at a higher level, partially because he is already 35, but it is incredible that he has even made it this far really.
Erkan Teper NOPE Evgenios Lazaridis, heavyweights – Germany
Here is a new one. Fringe contender Erkan Teper was supposed to take a fight this weekend, but the ring was reportedly two feet too small and the fight was canceled by the German boxing commission. Apparently it was actually a kickboxing ring. Oh, boxing. You never cease to amaze us with your weirdness.
Cristofer Rosales (25-3, 16 KOs) RTD7 Mohammed Obbadi (13-1, 10 KOs), flyweights – Italy
While Cristofer Rosales is bet known for traveling to the UK and getting outpointed in a title eliminator versus Andrew Selby, he has pulled off his second consecutive quality win here since then. While I don’t have Obbadi ranked like I did Martin Tecuapetla, he was a known rising prospect on the verge of making my top 25. With the win, Rosales approaches a top ten ranking. Obbadi did not come out for the eighth round.
Carlos Jimenez (12-8-1, 7 KOs) TKO7 Pedro Campa (27-1, 19 KOs), junior welterweights – Mexico
This is the upset of the week right here. Pedro Campa was a rising Mexican prospect who was beginning to blossom into a contender. Carlos Jimenez is a complete journeyman who last year lost to a 6-3-1 fighter. Campa was stepping back down in competition for this stay busy fight too having already won much above this level. With a brave effort, however, Carlos Jimenez threw that script right out the window in Saturday’s Box Azteca main event. And while the great knockout shot definitely was a surprise, it isn’t as if it was some fluke in a fight Campa was otherwise dominating. I had this fun war even after six before the finish. This fight is definitely worth a watch.
Paul Hyland Jr (17-0, 6 KOs) MD12 Stephen Ormond (24-5, 13 KOs), lightweights – Northern Ireland
The co-feature to Ryan Burnett’s unifying win in Belfast was an entertaining but unfortunately controversial one. Hyland did well and dropped Ormond early, but the Northern Irish prospect was fortunate to walk away with the decision. I had Ormond winning 115-112 and I felt pretty comfortable with the score. He was especially controlling the last third of the bout. I really don’t like the “R” word, but this was at best a borderline robbery. I’d have a tough time rescoring this and trying to reasonably come up with a Hyland verdict.
Josh Kelly (4-0, 3 KOs) TKO2 Jose Luis Zuniga (13-3-1, 7 KOs), junior middleweights & Anthony Fowler (4-0, 3 KOs) PTS6 Laszlo Fazekas (31-28-1, 18 KOs), middleweights & David Oliver Joyce (4-0, 3 KOs) TKO1 Andy Harris (3-53-1), lightweights – Northern Ireland
A trio of Matchroom’s Olympic prospects were on display on this weekend’s undercard in Belfast. Of the three, Josh Kelly is comfortably the most promising in my view. He seems to be the best athlete and have the right attitude. Anthony Fowler has some promise, but not in the same way as Kelly and I worry about his head space. Plus, he is already 26 as compared to Kelly’s 23. This is a big difference at this stage of their careers. I don’t think David Oliver Joyce is a serious prospect at all, but the 30 year old will get a push because the Irish sell.
Zelfa Barrett (19-0, 12 KOs) KO4 Chris Conwell (9-3, 2 KOs), super featherweights – England
In what surely must have been an administrative oversight, Manchester prospect Zelfa Barrett fought someone with a winning record. Barrett has looked like a pretty good athlete in his slow build up, but of course he has given his competition. This is his second match against someone with a winning record and it is his 19th pro fight. Though he seems like he is passing the eye test each time out, I remain skeptical. Good prospects are matched weak for a while, yes, but not like this. His resume suggests a lack of confidence from his handlers.
Tommy Langford (19-1, 6 KOs) PTS6 Miguel Aguilar (11-37-1, 5 KOs), middleweights – England
Tommy Langford was a domestic level British prospect who was rather ambitiously thrown to the wolves by being matched with Avtandil Khurtsidze, or maybe thrown to the mafia would be more apt given the Georgian’s recent legal woes. Regardless, Langford didn’t belong in that fight and it showed. This extremely low level non-contest was his first fight back from that drubbing. The British fighter has little potential to go beyond that scene.
Maciej Sulecki (26-0, 10 KOs) UD10 Jack Culcay (22-3, 11 KOs), junior middleweights – New Jersey
In a really important fight for both of their careers, Polish junior middleweight Maciej Sulecki remained undefeated by prevailing over Germany’s Jack Culcay. Between this win and the suddenly solid looking win over Hugo Centeno (since Centeno’s destruction of Immanuel Aleem), Sulecki is emerging as a real contender at junior middleweight. This was also a WBC semifinal eliminator, meaning Sulceki will now go on to fight in a final eliminator for a shot at the WBC junior middleweight belt.
Mateusz Masternak (40-4, 27 KOs) RTD7 Stivens Bujaj (16-2-1, 11 KOs), cruiserweights – New Jersey
In what is being billed as a World Boxing Super Series reserve match, Polish cruiserweight Mateusz Masternak picked up the win. Presumably he will be a possible substitute should someone bail out, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that as that would ruin the whole thing. Still, Masternak is a decent fighter. He has lost to all top contenders he has faced, but he has been reasonably competitive against the likes of Tony Bellew and Youri Kalenga. I don’t have him in my top 25, but maybe that deserves some re-evaluation. He is now 4-0 since his 2015 loss to Bellew.
Money Powell (5-0, 3 KOs) UD6 Brandon Adams (4-5-1, 2 KOs), middleweights & Efe Ajagba (2-0, 2 KOs) TKO1 Luke Lyons (5-1, 2 KOs), heavyweights – New Jersey
Money Powell and Efe Ajagba are a pair of Richard Schaefer Ringstar prospects. He has a really nice stable of these early career fighters. Both were amateur standouts. Money Powell would have been a major American Olympic favorite in 2020, but at 19 he’d rather be getting paid. Of note, Powell is a military kid who spent a major part of his youth in Germany. He is comfortable both in the US and in Europe. Ajagba was a super heavyweight in the 2016 Olympics for Nigeria. He lost in the quarterfinals to Ivan Dychko, but he is also a major power puncher by nature and that is much easier to implement in the pros. He is 23 which might as well be 19 too for heavyweights. The future is very bright for these two.
Lamont Roach (15-0, 6 KOs) TKO1 Luis Hinojosa (30-13, 17 KOs), lightweights & D’Mitrius Ballard (18-0, 12 KOs) UD10 Jaime Solorio (11-3-2, 8 KOs), light heavyweights – New York
Lamont Roach and D’Mitrius Ballard are a pair of middling Golden Boy prospects on the verge of contention. To be blunt, neither has ever been particularly impressive to me. Roach showed some power here to a point, but Hinojosa has been stopped again and again. Still, that is what he is missing. Should Roach find some power, he can develop into a contender. Ballard just doesn’t seem to be the athlete he needs to be to move to the higher levels of the sport.
Sharif Bogere (30-1, 20 KOs) UD10 Jose Luis Rodriguez (22-11, 13 KOs), lightweights – Nevada
Sharif Bogere has made himself the forgotten man at lightweight, or else his team has anyway. A very narrow 2011 win over Ray Beltran catapulted him into a title shot against Richar Abril a few fights later in 2013. He lost that and has fought eight times since, winning seven with a no contest. Yet, none of those fights came anywhere near the top of the division. The little name value Bogere had four years ago is now long gone. Time will tell if Mayweather Promotions can correct this.
Karim Mayfield (20-4-1, 11 KOs) UD6 Miguel Dumas (10-1, 7 KOs), welterweights – California
General consensus is that Karim Mayfield should have gotten the decision last time out against Bakhtiyar Eyubov. That was over a year ago now. Here Mayfield won a six round decision against an unbeaten but completely untested prospect. One bad decision can really tank a fighter’s momentum. With that said, it isn’t like he went into that fight with a ton either as a loser of three out of four. Had he gotten the win, however, better fights would have been available to him.
Xavier Martinez (10-0, 6 KOs) KO2 Raymond Chacon (7-27-1), featherweights – California
19 year old Californian Xavier Martinez is a really promising prospect. He isn’t a big puncher, but he should a great skillset in a PBC on FS1 match with a fellow unbeaten fighter early this summer. He has taken two easy record building fights since then, but as of now he is listed as meeting unbeaten Olympic silver medalist Tugstsogt Nyambayar of Mongolia and his perfect knockout percentage. If this fight actually goes down as booked, it is an absolutely absurd early stage prospect fight. As of now it is scheduled for the November 18th PBC on Bounce show headlined by Julian Williams and Ishe Smith.
Friday, October 20th
Jeremias Nicolas Ponce (13-0, 8 KOs) TKO1 Brian Damian Chaves (11-1, 3 KOs), junior welterweights – Argentina
The last time I discussed Brian Chaves in one of these, I strongly stated that I did not think he was a real prospect. Instead I contended he was being elevated because of his brother Diego’s stature in Argentinian boxing. I don’t know much about Jeremias Ponce, but I do know he is the first fighter that Chaves has faced with a good pro record. I think this result speaks for itself.
Renold Quinlan (12-2, 8 KOs) KO1 Alexander Bajawa (41-6-4, 14 KOs), super middleweights – Singapore
Reonald Quinlan’s name value is more or less living off a win over a shot Daniel Geale. I was considering not including him anymore, but then I noticed he is a scheduled to meet Fedor Chudinov next so I will keep him around at least for that. Quinlan has lost at domestic Australian level and wasn’t particularly competitive against Chris Eubank Jr. This was his first fight back from that February stoppage loss.
Joe Joyce (1-0, 1 KO) TKO8 Ian Lewison (12-4-1, 8 KOs), heavyweights & Willy Hutchinson (1-0, 1 KO) TKO1 Attila Tibor Nagy (10-28-1, 7 KOs), light heavyweights & Michael Page (1-0, 1 KO) TKO1 Jonathan Castano (2-12-1, 2 KOs), light heavyweights – England
Joe Joyce probably should be your 2016 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist. Most thought he beat Tony Yoka in the gold medal match, but he didn’t get the nod and had to settle for silver. He didn’t look great here against Lewinson, but Lewinson is a strong opponent for a pro debut. At 32, however, Joyce needs to be moved quickly against strong opponents so he can get his title crack in the next two years tops. Willy Hutchinson is a major Scottish prospect who won gold at the 2016 youth amateur championships and Michael Page is a flashy MMA fighter for Bellator making his boxing debut here. I doubt this will become a full time gig for “MVP” though. Joyce has immediate big event potential, but it is Hutchinson who has the brightest future here in my view.
