Welcome to Under the Radar Fight Results, the weekly column in which I take a look at all the results for the week not otherwise covered in separate articles. This week we have a few prominent names, several top of the line prospects, a totally unexpected return to the sport, and more.
On the Radar Results
Browne and Kownacki win on Youtube
Easter Jr wins a questionable decision over Fortuna
Spence Jr beats down Peterson on Showtime
Under the Radar Fight Results
Saturday, January 20th
Mohamed Mimoune (20-2, 2 KOs) UD12 Emiliano Dominguez Rodriguez (21-1, 7 KOs), junior welterweights – France
In October, France’s Mohamed Mimoune scored a career trajectory altering upset win over then rising British star Sam Eggington in defense of his European welterweight title. Overnight, Mimoune went from a European level footnote to a contender. That win is even a little more impressive now given that Eggington is moving up t0 154 lbs as a reaction to the loss and here Mimoune dropped down to 140 lbs to pick up a secondary sanctioning body’s belt. He also dropped down in class given that Rodriguez isn’t near Eggington’s level, but the 30 year old Frenchman should have some opportunity at junior welterweight moving forward
Enrico Koelling (24-2, 7 KOs) TKO2 Robert Mueller (3-12, 2 KOs), light heavyweights – Germany
Recent overmatched world title challenger Enrico Koelling returned home to Germany for as about as soft of a touch as possible. Koelling was outboxed and finished in the final round against Artur Beterbiev in November in a vacant IBF title fight. Frankly, he never belonged there to begin with, but the sanctioning bodies do what they do. There really isn’t much else to say here.
Emanuel Navarrete (23-1, 20 KOs) KO2 Glenn Porras (31-7, 19 KOs), super bantamweights – Mexico
Emanuel Navarrete might not be stepping up in class with these fights, but the 23 year old rising Mexican prospect is still showing some improvement. Here he worked much more from range and with his jab than I had seen him previously. Navarrete doesn’t necessarily seem like a natural athlete in there, but the kid hits like a truck. He brings that kind of thudding knock you over power into the ring. The Mexican prospect scored a funny, Tszyu v Judah-esque knockdown at the very end of the first round in which Porras went down twice from the same shot. It was such a subtle shot that the commentary team never saw it and I had to slow down my video to find it, but it was definitely there near the top of the head. There was nothing subtle about the third knockdown of the fight, however, as Navarrete put Porras out in the second round with a thudding right hand. Ignore the loss on Navarrete’s record, by the way, as it came as a teenager.
Anthony Peterson (38-1, 24 KOs) UD10 Luis Eduardo Florez (23-9, 19 KOs), junior welterweights – New York
It feels like forever ago now, but before his 2010 disaster of a showing against Brandon Rios where he seemingly intentionally got disqualified to escape the fight, Anthony was actually considered the superior Peterson brother by most. He certainly was considered the more exciting one, as hard as that is to believe given the aggressive brawler Lamont has turned into. At the time Lamont was content to box on the outside to win careful decisions while Anthony was the knockout puncher. Now nearly eight years removed from his terrible night in Las Vegas, Anthony Peterson still hasn’t stepped back up. At 32, it does seem like now or never. I suspect that at this point he will elect to choose never. This certainly wasn’t stepping back up.
Ivan Golub (14-1, 12 KOs) TKO3 Fidel Monterrosa Munoz (38-16-1, 30 KOs), welterweights – New York
Ivan Golub is a solid, if unspectacular Ukrainian welterweight prospect who probably should still be undefeated. In June he lost a decision to Jamontay Clark on FS1, but most felt it probably should have went the other way. This was his first fight back, but I just briefly want to rant on an important way PBC has fallen behind Top Rank and Golden Boy instead of talking about this fight. Why? Because I couldn’t see it, nor I could I watch the Peterson or Price fights above or below this. Top Rank and Golden Boy both do shows with ESPN and their entire cards are available on the WatchESPN app. Top Rank doesn’t work with any other channels, so every one of their fights is available to watch. When Golden Boy works with HBO, they make their early undercards available on Ring.TV. This is 2018 now and you’re a major promoter, PBC. Get your pre-broadcast prelims up on the internet somehow.
Dylan Price (5-0, 5 KOs) TKO1 Nestor Ramos (7-8-1, 3 KOs), bantamweights – New York
Dylan Price was a highly successful junior amateur who was too young to try to qualify for the Olympics and decided to turn pro instead of waiting for 2020. I have basically no film on him thanks to the above rant though. He is signed to Mayweather Promotions and reads like a top prospect at least. Price, a Philadelphia native, debuted at flyweight and then has fought at bantamweight for his other four fights, all of which have taken place inside the last twelve months. I am sure he can make super flyweight based on that, but who knows where he will be in terms of weight when it is time to fight live bodies. He won’t be 19 then.
James McKenzie Morrison (13-0-2, 11 KOs) UD4 Ronny Hale (3-10, 3 KOs), heavyweights – Oklahoma
Son of former prominent heavyweight Tommy Morrison, James Morrison is not really a prospect. At 27, he is still in six round fights. In them he either knocks his opponent out or really struggles to earn a decision as displayed by his two draws. Morrison is purely a local fighter who had fought every single one of his fights at the same venue in Oklahoma until this fight, but he was still in the Sooner state. His half brother Trey Lippe Morrison, also 27, is a better prospect than James almost by default as he works with Freddie Roach, but he isn’t considered a blue chipper either.
Friday, January 19th
Giovanni De Carolis (25-8-1, 13 KOs) KO2 Bojan Radovic (6-21, 4 KOs), light heavyweights – Italy
Giovanni De Carolis was a pretty relevant fighter at a very high European level in 2015 and 2016 with a series of fights against Vincent Feigenbutz and Tyron Zeuge. He only went 1-2-1 in those four contests, but that is real solid German competition and he briefly held a secondary WBA belt. 2017 wasn’t as kind. De Carolis only fought once and it was a loss to 2004, yes, 2004 Olympian Viktor Polyakov in a fight he wasn’t supposed to lose. 2018 is off to a better start, but Radovic and his record obviously were meant to be an easy win and nothing else.
Thursday, January 18th
Allan Green (33-5, 22 KOs) UD6 Edgar Perez (7-23, 3 KOs), light heavyweights – Oklahoma
Sometimes when skimming through the results of the week, I find some really unexpected gems. This is one. Way back in 2005, Allan Green was a red hot prospect following his absolutely devastating and merciless first round finish of fellow unbeaten prospect Jaidon Codrington on ShoBox. Green moved up the ranks as someone expected to become a titleholder, but he never delivered. First he barely showed up to his first HBO fight against then feared puncher Edison Miranda. A few years later he found himself in the Super Six round robin competition in which he was dominated by Andre Ward and then finished by a 41 year old Glen Johnson. One last shot at the top of the division ended in a fourth round destruction loss to Mikkel Kessler in 2012. 2013 brought a loss in Australia to Blake Caparello, marking the first time Green lost to a fighter not perceived as world class at the time. It also marked retirement for the Oklahoma fighter. Now he is back, apparently, at 38 years old.
Wednesday, January 17th
Anthony Mundine (48-8, 28 KOs) TKO2 Tommy Browne (35-7-2, 13 KOs), middleweights – Australia
Anthony Mundine looked every bit his 42 years old in this fight. That is, he did until suddenly he didn’t. Tommy Browne put a lot of pressure on the aging, but still popular Australian in the first round. He made Mundine quite uncomfortable and clearly won it. After a good thirty seconds or go to open the second round for the former Rugby star, Browne took back off and was on his way to banking a second round. Unfortunately for him, he was badly buzzed with a little over ten seconds to go by a sharp right hand. He looked like he was going to make it to see the third by simply covering up on the ropes, but Tommy Browne made the poor decision of trying to fight back. He paid for it in the form of a crisp left hook that landed right at the bell to end the fight. Despite the win and pretty finish, however, Jeff Horn would clearly dominate and likely finish Mundine at this point if that fight ever comes to fruition. It does make sense for me as a domestic bounce back for Horn should he fight and lose to Crawford next.
Jai Opetaia (14-0, 11 KOs) TKO3 Benjamin Kelleher (7-1-2, 4 KOs), cruiserweights – Australia
Jai Opetaia is one of the better keep secrets in boxing. He is not an absolute blue chip prospect, but he is a real solid Olympian tucked away down under that gets little acknowledgement even amongst the hardcore fans of the sport. Opetaia is a very fluid athlete who keeps his range quite well to get the right leverage on his shots. He also has the strong physical lower body base that you’d expect from his Samoan bloodline. Still only 22, Opetaia does need to work on incorporating some technique into his defense rather than just relying on his athleticism, but there really is a lot of potential here. I like what I see. This fight was marred by a hand injury suffered by Kelleher in the second right, but Jai still looked the part with what he had in front of him.
