Welcome to Under the Radar Fight Results, the weekly column in which I go over all the prominent results in boxing not otherwise covered in separate articles. This week we have the returns of Arthur Abraham and Erickson Lubin, the usual feat of prospects, a huge statement win in Spain, and much more. Enjoy.
Saturday, April 28th
Arthur Abraham (47-6, 30 KOs) SD12 Patrick Nielsen (29-3, 14 KOs), super middleweights & Nieky Holzken (14-1, 11 KOs) KO3 Bernard Donfack (23-19-4, 11 KOs), light heavyweights & Erkan Teper (19-2, 12 KOs) TKO2 Davit Gorgiladze (16-11, 14 KOs), heavyweights – Germany
I think it might be safe to say that Chris Eubank Jr ended Arthur Abraham as a real commodity in the sport. We all know at 38 that he isn’t suddenly going to start competing at world class again, but there isn’t even as much as a full fight youtube video for this one. I’ve got written recaps and some highlights, but that is it. Reportedly Abraham started slow as always. He gave early rounds away and then came on late as Nielsen tired with some solid aggression. Abraham is credited for a tenth round knockdown, but I can’t tell if it is legit from the video I have. It didn’t matter in the scoring in the end at least. From how I am reading these recaps, it seems that Arthur should have gotten this unanimously.
Former ultra elite kickboxer Nieky Holzek returned from his last second substitution into the World Boxing Super Series against Callum Smith and subsequent first loss here too with a low level knockout. Heavyweight fringe contender Erkan Teper did the same on a different show in Germany on Saturday. Teper was riding high after a 2015 that left him unbeaten with wins over Johann Duhaupas and David Price, but he is struggled since then and really needs another solid win to stay relevant. This wasn’t it.
Shun Kubo (13-1, 9 KOs) SD10 Hiroshige Osawa (33-5-4, 19 KOs), featherweights – Japan
This was a nice matchup of top domestic Japanese fighters with former secondary super bantamweight titleholder Shun Kubo making his featherweight debut against recent former title challenger Hiroshige Osawa. Kubo started fast here and looked way too much for the plodding Osawa for a few rounds, but the pressure actually started to work for Hiroshige midway through the fight. Kubo really needed to steal this fight back in the final couple of rounds to secure the narrow split decision he ended up with. The WBA liked having Kubo in their ridiculous “world title” three belt carousel at 122, so don’t be surprised when he gets a shot at ending up there at featherweight too.
Jesus Galicia (17-10-1, 8 KOs) SD8 Rodrigo Guerrero (26-7-2, 16 KOs), super bantamweights – Mexico
This was a pretty horrible night for the career of Rodrigo Guerrero. First he missed the bantamweight limit by so much that he weighed in as a full super bantamweight. Then he lost the fight to an unheralded journeyman. Back in 2011 Guerrero briefly held a super flyweight title and he has challenged for other world titles on two different occasions, but it is pretty clear that he is past those days at this point. 30 can be deceptively old at the sport’s smallest weight classes.
Melvin Lopez (14-0, 9 KOs) UD10 Yonathan Padilla (18-4, 8 KOs), bantamweights & Felix Alvarado (33-2, 29 KOs) TKO4 Ivan Meneses Flores (19-17-1, 11 KOs), flyweights & Keyvin Lara (25-2-1, 9) TKO6 Moises Mojica (5-4-2, 4 KOs), bantamweights – Nicaragua
Popular but somewhat controversial Nicaraguan prospect Melvin Lopez headlined the local scene over the weekend alongside two borderline world level co-headliners. Lopez hurt Padilla here in the first round, dropping him, and controlled the fight the rest of the way. He also made weight which is important as he has struggled constantly with that since turning pro in 2015, needing to move from 108, to 112, to 115, and now to 118. The Nicaraguan papers are very hard on him for this when googling around and rightfully so. Power punching two weight title challenger Felix Alvarado and one time challenger Keyvin Lara stayed busy with easy wins on the undercard while waiting for another title shot each. Alvarado is particularly close as the IBF has him #1 at flyweight and that title is vacant.
Kerman Lejarraga (25-0, 20 KOs) TKO2 Bradley Skeete (27-2, 12 KOs), welterweights – Spain
I have been covering and high on rat tail sporting Spaniard Kerman Lejarraga since his impressive ShoBox showing last June, but even I didn’t expect this. After a feeling out first round in which little happen, Lejarraga caught Skeete with what looked initially like a clean but glancing right hand. The thing with the Spaniard, however, is that he carries enough power that any clean shot can be serious, glancing or not. Shook, the normally durable Brit took a knee. When he got up he covered his head arms up. This exposed his body and the rat tail took full advantage by landing the brutal shot to the midsection that did the most damage. Skeete surprisingly rose and tried to move around, but the onslaught continued until he went down a third time and his corner threw in the towel. This is a super impressive win for the unbeaten Spanish emerging contender. Bradley Skeete is a high Euro level fighter and Lejarraga just dismissed him like only a world class contender would.
Daniyar Yeleussinov (1-0, 1 KOs) TKO3 Noah Kidd (3-1-1, 2 KOs), junior middleweights & Shohjahon Ergashev (12-0, 11 KOs) UD10 Zhimin Wang (10-3, 3 KOs), junior welterweights – New York
Two major European prospects were in action on the pre-TV undercard of HBO’s Danny Jacobs show Saturday night. I haven’t seen Ergashev’s fight yet as I can’t find video, but he is coming off a super impressive three round ShoBox thrashing of then fellow unbeaten prospect Sonny Frederickson. That performance was an eye opener. Maybe even more exciting was the pro debut of two time Olympian and 2016 gold medalist Daniyar Yeleussinov. Long one of the best amateurs in the game, the 27 year old turned pro with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing here. He also scored a beautiful third round finish that started with an electric straight shot to drop Kidd hard. Some of the other work was a little slow in that fight, but the shot that started the finish was highlight reel stuff.
Shakur Stevenson (6-0, 3 KOs) TKO2 Roxberg Patrick Riley (12-1, 6 KOs), featherweights & Robson Conceicao (7-0, 4 KOs) UD6 Alex Torres Rynn (6-2, 3 KOs), junior lightweights – Pennsylvania
Top Rank had two of their top prospects in action on the ESPN+ prelims portion of their card. I really like talking about these two together too because they offer an interesting contrast. American silver medalist Shakur Stevenson is the much more hyped prospect of the two, but it was Brazilian Robson Conceicao who was a three time Olympian and brought home the gold. Yet despite the lesser amateur pedigree, Stevenson is also the more technically skilled fighter of the two. He’s sharp and quick in there. The 20 year old has been a little stiff though and doesn’t sit down on his punches, so it was nice to see him make an effort to change that here. Conceicao, conversely, sits down on his punches too much and is far too loose in the ring. He’s the better athlete of the two right now, but he is far too open in his style offensively and especially defensively. Plus, he is 29 and in his athletic prime while Stevenson is still a kid and his athleticism will improve. I really look forward to watching both these guys from sort of a boxing academic experience as they both have real obvious world level strengths combined with equally obvious flaws that could hold them back. Conceicao needs to use his high level athleticism to put himself in position, not remove himself from it. Stevenson needs to put something on his shots to deter guys from coming in. Shakur at least has time on his side, but Conceicao doesn’t and will need to find himself sooner.
Duarn Vue (14-1-2, 4 KOs) UD12 Nehomar Cermeno (26-8-1, 15 KOs), featherweights – Wisconsin
38 year old Panamanian based Venezuelan Nehomar Cermeno continued his late career slide in Wisconsin of all places this weekend. Cermeno has held fake WBA “world titles” in two divisions, but he was never their highest champion in either. The belts he held were secondary titles. He lost the super bantamweight version in April of last year, retiring after ten against Shun Kubo despite the fight seemingly even at the time. I don’t think we ever got a clear answer as to why he quit either. Here he went to Wisconsin to lose to a regional level fighter in Duarn Vue. Cermeno should probably think about hanging them up if he can afford to.
Erickson Lubin (19-1, 14 KOs) KO4 Silverio Ortiz (37-22, 18 KOs), middleweights & Kevin Watts (15-2, 5 KOs) TKO5 Ryan Karl (15-2, 9 KOs), junior welterweights & Miguel Flores (23-2, 11 KOs) TKO2 Raul Chirino (11-8, 6 KOs), junior lightweights
Here is some deep undercard action from the PBC on FOX show. Erickson Lubin was considered one of the best prospects in all of boxing until his shocking KO1 defeat at the hands of Jermell Charlo in October. This was his first fight back. I’d give him a couple more of these low profile affairs to help him feel comfortable again, but with all that talent at 22 years old I do think he’ll still pan out. Kevin Watts and Ryan Karl are middling welterweights who have been PBC on FS1 staples. I am surprised Watts got the win here, especially by stoppage. I wish PBC put up video of their pre-TV fights somehow like Top Rank and Golden Boy because I bet this was a fun fight. Miguel Flores was another PBC on FS1 staple, but he was considered more of a real prospect than the other two. That is he was until he was upset by Dat Nguyen by stoppage and then stopped again somewhat controversially again in his next fight on cuts to Chris Avalos. Like with Lubin, this was Miguel’s first fight back. I don’t think he pans out as a real contender at this point though. He’s too hittable and doesn’t back enough power himself.
Luke Jackson (16-0, 7 KOs) TKO2 Surachet Thongmala (7-9, 4 KOs), junior lightweights – Australia
2012 Australian Olympian Luke Jackson stayed busy at home with this nothing win over a Thai club fighter. This wasn’t the original plan as Jackson was originally supposed to fight Argentinian Javier Herrera, but the South American was forced to pull out last minute when he was unable to secure the required visa. Not that Herrera was set to be a stellar opponent as the Argentinian had never even fought more than a six round fight, but it would have been better than this anyway. Jackson’s team is adamant about getting him a title shot in 2018. At first I chuckled at the idea, but then I realized he fights for minor WBO belts. The real WBO featherweight title is held by Oscar Valdez who is promoted by Bob Arum and Top Rank. Through Jeff Horn Top Rank has gotten into the Australian boxing business already and I don’t think they’d mind the likely soft defense for Valdez. The matchup seems more likely the more I think about it.
Friday, April 27th
Jeyvier Cintron (5-0, 3 KOs) TKO4 Jonathan Burgos (13-5-1, 8 KOs), super bantamweights – Colombia
Jeyvier Cintron’s claim to fame is being the only two time Olympian in Puerto Rico’s famed boxing history. Despite competing in both the 2012 and 2016 games, he is also only 23 years old still. He’s also signed with Top Rank, though clearly this card in Colombia clearly had nothing to do with the promotional giant. Unfortunately, I do not have much video on Cintron and cannot evaluate him as a pro prospect as of yet. Hopefully he starts actually fighting on Top Rank cards soon and we can catch him on the ESPN+ prelims.
Francisco Santana (25-6-1, 12 KOs) MD10 Felix Diaz (19-3, 9 KOs), welterweights & Chris van Heerden (26-2-1, 12 KOs) UD10 Timo Schwarzkopf (18-2, 10 KOs), welterweights & Brad Solomon (28-1, 9 KOs) SD10 Paddy Gallagher (13-4, 8 KOs), welterweights & Fredrick Lawson (27-1, 21 KOs) UD10 Baishanbo Nasiyiwula (13-2-1, 6 KOs), welterweights – Kentucky
This was the first round of the WBC’s and Evander Holyfields’ Real Deal Promotions welterweight tournament. The big story here is clearly the fall of Felix Diaz in the first round. Most everyone had the former Olympic gold medalist favored to win the whole tournament, but now that is obviously not the case. Still, even though we are obviously not dealing with world class welterweights here, it isn’t a bad field. Solomon and Lawson will be favored by at least me in the semifinals over Santana and van Heerden. If we get that finale, the winner will still only have one loss and have to be considered at least a fringe contender. That is a big if though as Brad Solomon struggled mightily at times in his fight and will not be able to do that again in the next round.
Giovanni Santillan (24-0, 14 KOs) KO2 Alejandro Barboza (11-2, 7 KOs), welterweights – California
Mid-major promoter Thompson Boxing’s biggest prospect is pretty clearly 26 year old welterweight Giovanni Santillan. This is his third straight early knockout, a steak started by an impressive on the road second round stoppage of Florida based All-Star Boxing’s prospect Sammy Valentin in July of last year. The very same Valentin knocked out this very same Alejandro Barboza in Barboza’s last fight so this win was far from a step up, but idea here probably is to keep Santillan busy with little risk while Thompson Boxing tries to get him a bigger fight for some real money and a title. It remains to be seen how much inroad a smaller promoter can get in glamour division like welterweight loaded with he major players though.
Wednesday, April 26th
Takeshi Inoue (13-0-1, 7 KOs) UD12 Yuki Nonaka (31-10-3, 10 KOs), junior middleweights – Japan
Another Inoue? Not exactly. Takeshi isn’t related to Naoya and his family, but he is becoming a notable prospect in his own right. It isn’t because I think he is good as he is a reasonably basic heart and pressure style fighter, but because of the larger implications of this fight. This entertaining battle was for the #2 slot in the IBF junior middleweight rankings. This means Takeshi Inoue will be put into a title eliminator very soon. If he win that, he will get a crack at the belt currently held by Sadam Ali. I don’t think he can really compete on the world stage, but he certainly has a viable path to try on.
Tuesday, April 25th
Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking (24-5, 15 KOs) UD12 Crison Omayao (23-16-4, 7 KOs), flyweights – Thailand
Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking, given name Komgrich Nantapech, fought twice in a row last year for flyweight world titles against world class competition in Donnie Nietes and Juan Carlos Reveco. He lost both widely, but he wasn’t embarrassed in there by any means. The Thai contender is a competent fighter who is very likely to find himself in for a third world title sooner or later, especially given the lack of depth at 112 lbs. Here he routed a journeyman in style at home in beautiful Thailand.
